"Very!" responded the other. "And I only wish that you could send for my daughter to come over, too. I hope those surgeons are taking care of her."
"As much as if she were their own," answered the colonel. "I cannot tell you how glad I was to learn that she is beyond danger."
"It is God's mercy," said the other, with feeling. "She could not have had a much narrower escape."
And after that neither said anything until a knock at the door signaled the arrival of the orderly.
"Come in," called the superintendent, and two figures stepped into the room. One was the messenger, and the other was Mark.
"This," said the superintendent after a moment's pause, "is Cadet Mallory."
And Cadet Mallory it was. The same old Mark, only paler and more weak just then.
Judge Fuller rose and bowed gravely.
"Sit down," said he, "you are not strong enough to stand."
And after that no one said anything for fully a minute; the last speaker resumed his seat and fell to studying Mark's face in silence. And Mark waited respectfully for him to begin.