And so saying, he shoved a note into the other's hand. Mark took it hurriedly, tore it open and read it.
It took him but a moment to do so, and when he finished his face was a picture of amazement and incredulity.
"Who gave you this?" he demanded, angrily.
"Ssh!" whispered the boy, glancing fearfully at the bed where Texas lay. "Ssh! You may wake him. She did."
"Now, look here!" said Mark, in a recklessly loud voice, for he was angry, believing that the boy was lying. "Now, look here! I've been fooled with one letter this way, and I don't mean to be fooled again. If this is a trap of those cadets, as sure as I'm alive, I'll report the matter to the superintendent and have you court-martialed. Remember! And now I give you a chance to take it back. If you tell me the truth I'll let you go unhurt. Now, once more, who gave you this?"
And Mark looked the trembling boy in the eye; but the boy still clung to his story.
"She did, indeed she did," he protested.
"Where?" asked Mark.
"Down at her house."