"I am; just to show the fellows that I bear him no ill will," replied Richard. "Nevers was degraded for that affair with me; and, as I licked him, I think I can afford to do the handsome thing."
"Then he will be elected captain of Company D," said Bailey.
"I don't know about that," added Richard. "I am willing to see him restored to the place he was in before I came, but I shall not give him my vote for captain, or any thing else."
The victim of the Regulators took out his pencil and wrote his name upon the petition. Though he fully believed that Nevers was the "Dobbin" of the party that had assaulted him, he could not prove it and he was disposed to give him a fair chance, so that neither he nor his friends should have any good ground for complaint. His example was followed by all the boys present, and from that moment the number of names on the paper increased very rapidly.
At dress parade, Colonel Brockridge, to whom the petition had been presented early in the afternoon, called Nevers forward, and after a few remarks, restored him to his former position as first sergeant of Company D, observing at the same time that the name of Richard Grant on the paper had had more influence upon his mind than that of all the others. It was a magnanimous act, which he heartily approved.
"Three cheers for Nevers!" shouted some friend of the first sergeant, when the company broke ranks.
They were given, but it was only a partial demonstration, evidently confined to about a dozen of the company.
"Three cheers for Grant!" said Bailey, when those for the first sergeant had been given.
The call was promptly responded to, and though the cheers seemed to proceed from the entire company, there were probably about a dozen who did not join.
"Tiger!" added Bailey, with an earnestness that assured Richard he was not a member of the Regulators.