"I've been right here," said Mark, "writing a letter home. Did you want me to go to the hop?"
"No, I didn't. But I wanted you to tell me all 'bout that crazy Mary Adams last night an' what you did. You ain't had time to tell me all day."
Mark told him the story then. They were still discussing it when they turned out and lined up for roll call; and that ceremony being over, they scattered again, Texas still eagerly asking questions about the strange affair.
Taps sounded half an hour later—ten o'clock—"lights out and all quiet." They stopped then.
Sentry No. 3 that night was "Baby" Edwards. His beat lay along the northern edge of the camp, skirting the tents of Company A. And Baby Edwards let quite a number pass his beat that night.
For instance, he was on duty from midnight until two. It was bright moonlight then, and Baby could have seen any one who crossed his post; but he heard a signaling whistle and faced out in order not to see any one. The person who entered was a boy clad in a blue uniform, an "orderly," as they are called.
He ran silently and swiftly in and made straight for one tent. When he got there he hesitated not a moment, but stepped in and crept up to one of the sleepers.
It was Mark who awoke at his touch, and Mark sat up in alarm and stared at him.
"Sh!" said the boy. "Sh! Don't wake any one."
"What do you want?" Mark demanded.