I. GLASSFELL, DRAKE AND STONEWELL 9 II. THE COMMANDANT OF MIDSHIPMEN 22 III. A HAPPY SURPRISE 36 IV. ACADEMY LIFE BEGINS 46 V. A MYSTERIOUS CRY 61 VI. THE GATES FORWARD PASS 77 VII. THE WEST POINT GAME 88 VIII. "THE MAN WORE A SLOUCH HAT" 101 IX. ROBERT GETS BAD NEWS 111 X. ROBERT GETS GOOD NEWS 124 XI. "THREE GROANS FOR THE SUPERINTENDENT" 133 XII. ROBERT MAKES A DISCOVERY 142 XIII. HARRY BLUNT IS REBUFFED 155 XIV. A MYSTERY SOLVED 166 XV. STONEWELL RECEIVES A LETTER 181 XVI. BLIGH MAKES A FRIEND 194 XVII. AN ILL-FAVORED, RED-BEARDED ROGUE 205 XVIII. AN OLD COLORED MAN IS IN TROUBLE 217 XIX. THE KIDNAPPERS 227 XX. SIX-POUNDER TARGET PRACTICE 237 XXI. A GOOD SHOT WITH THE SIX-POUNDER 255 XXII. GRICE APPEARS AGAIN 265 XXIII. ROBERT RESIGNS 275 XXIV. IT WAS STONEWELL 287 XXV. JOHN 15:13 298 XXVI. COMMANDER DALTON BECOMES ANGRY 305 XXVII. ROBERT FINALLY ANSWERS 320 XXVIII. "BLIGH, BLIGH, BLIGH!" 334 XXIX. THE END OF A LONG DAY 343 XXX. GRADUATION 350 Illustrations PAGE HE GLANCED AT THE WRITTEN ORDER _Frontispiece_ AROUND THE END 68 THE STRANGER THREW OFF HIS HAT 152 HE HALF AROSE FROM HIS SEAT 200 HE SAW TWO DARK FIGURES 272 "THAT WILL DO, GENTLEMEN" 296 IT MUST HAVE BEEN A VERY PRETTY SPEECH 355 An Annapolis First Classman CHAPTER I GLASSFELL, DRAKE AND STONEWELL "Hello, Stone! Hello, Bob! By George, but I'm glad to see you!" "Hello, Glass, you old sinner, I can just imagine you've led those dear old aunts of yours a lively life the last two weeks." "You'll win, Stone, but you ought to get them to tell you about it; ha, ha, ha! the dear old ladies never dropped once." Explosively enthusiastic greetings were exchanged between three stalwart young men in the Union Station, Chicago, on the twentieth of September, of the year nineteen hundred and something. Passers-by noticed them and smiled, and in approving accents said, "College boys!" All three were tall, broad-shouldered, bronzed in face, and possessed a lithesomeness of movement that betokened health and strength.