Upon going to our rooms at the signal of “Call to quarters,” Cadet H⸺d called to say that if we expected to pass our preliminary examination we had better “bone up” for it; he also informed us that we could not retire until after “Tattoo.” A cadet’s bed is “made down,” when it is ready to get into, and it is “made up” when it is piled according to regulations and not ready for use. We were too tired to talk. At 9:30 we were turned out to Tattoo. After Tattoo I folded each blanket lengthwise and laid it on the floor, then spread the sheets and comforter on the blankets, undressed and got in bed, leaving H⸺rd, the room orderly, to turn out the gas. Our bones did not fit the hard floor very well, but we soon fell asleep. “Taps” sounded at 10 p. m., and, oh, how sweet and soothing it was. In a few moments more our room door was opened (for they are never locked), a dark lantern flashed in our faces and the door closed again. The same thing was repeated once more during the night, but this time by an officer of the army, called by the cadets a “Tactical Officer.” These inspections were made to make sure that our lights were out and that we were in bed. We slept in the alcoves, heads near the wall farthest from the door. H⸺rd, K⸺p and I, when fast asleep, were suddenly awakened. We had been “yanked,” that is, some old cadets had come into our room, seized our blankets, and with a quick jerk carried us some distance from the wall, and then ran out of the room. We fell asleep once more and slept soundly until we were awakened by the “Reveille Gun” that is fired at sunrise and followed by the beating off of “Reveille.” This music was very pretty, too, but we could not half appreciate it, as we had to get up at once, fall in and begin another day. After reveille we made up our beds. H⸺rd swept out and brought a bucket of fresh water. Cadet H⸺d inspected our quarters twenty minutes after reveille, and said, “Mr. H⸺rd, your wash bowl is not inverted, and your floor not half swept. Attend to them at once.” We had another hour’s drill before breakfast (omitted now), which made us very hungry. Sick call sounded soon after this drill, but while the candidates were all half sick, it was not medicine they wanted, so none of them went to the hospital. Breakfast was at seven o’clock, and after it the candidates furnished the cadets with the customary half-hour’s entertainment before call to quarters sounded. Cadet H⸺d again cautioned us to “bone up” when he inspected quarters about nine o’clock, and said: “The mantel is dusty, and the floor very dirty.” Captain H⸺t, a Tactical Officer of the Army, also inspected us before noon, but he did not say anything. While I had then been only a day at West Point, so much had happened that it seemed an age.