"Good! Wait here for a moment." The Captain left the tent. He returned presently with the Major of the battalion and another Captain. From the box where the documents of Company B were kept, he produced enlistment papers. For several minutes, while Tom stood tense and erect, the Captain wrote. The other two officers talked in an undertone. "Sign here," said the Captain. Tom signed. The Major picked up the paper and glanced through it. "Hold up your right hand," said the Major. Then Tom heard the oath which bound him to serve the United States of America honorably as a soldier. "I do," he replied, and let his hand drop to his side again. The two officers signed the papers, shook hands with him, nodded to Captain Moffat and left the tent. It all happened so quickly that Tom could scarcely realize that he was now a soldier. When he had entered the tent he was a civilian, bound merely by promises of service; now he was a soldier, without a uniform, to be sure, but none the less a soldier. His eyes dimmed and he looked away from the Captain. Captain Moffat folded the paper, returned it to the box, and faced Tom. He looked at him thoughtfully for a few seconds; then placed his hands upon his shoulders. "Private Tom Burns," he said softly. "Good luck to you. It will be Second Lieutenant Tom Burns if this expedition is a success. Good luck, my boy, and may God be with you." He took Tom's hand and shook it. And then Tom found himself walking down the street of Company B--a soldier of Company B--and he scarcely knew that his feet were treading ground. There were two men in the tent, talking with Bert, and Tom waited impatiently for them to leave. "Tonight," he said shortly, as the tent flap dropped behind them. "Tonight?" "Yes." They sat silently until Bert exclaimed, "I envy you! You're the luckiest boy in the world, walking right into such a chance as this." "I wish you were going." "So do I." Silence overcame them again. "I'd better write a letter home," Tom said presently. "I'll say that I've enlisted and let it go at that."