"Fainted?" echoed the surgeon, as he noticed the young man's white lips and bloodless cheek. "Fainted! I should say so! Why, he's almost as near dead as she! We must take him to the hospital."
CHAPTER XXVIII.
MARK MEETS THE SUPERINTENDENT.
"Yes, colonel, the lad is a hero, and I want to tell him so, too!"
The speaker was a tall, gray-haired gentleman, and he whacked his cane on the floor for emphasis as he spoke.
"It was a splendid act, sir, splendid!" he continued. "And I want to thank Mark Mallory for it right here in your office."
The man he addressed wore the uniform of the United States army; he was Colonel Harvey, the superintendent of the West Point Academy.
"I shall be most happy to have you do so," he replied, smiling at this visitor's enthusiasm. "You have certainly," he added, "much to thank the young man for."
"Much!" echoed the other. "Much! Why, my dear sir, if that daughter of mine had been drowned I believe it would have killed me. She is my only child, and, if I do say it myself, sir, the sweetest girl that ever lived."
"Wasn't it rather reckless, judge," inquired the other, "for you to allow her to go sailing alone?"