"Is the whole regiment stationed at Fort Cutler?" "Fort Butler, Mother. No; only the second battalion of the regiment. Major Tipton will be my immediate commanding officer. And now you'll excuse me, won't you?" "You're going around to Noll's?" "Yes. We made a request that we be assigned to the same battalion. I'm mighty anxious to know whether it has been convenient to grant our wish." "Does Mr. Ad Interim have anything to with _that_?" demanded Mrs. Overton. "I believe not," laughed Hal, then vanished through the doorway. "Strange to me what complete fascination there can be about the Army," mused Mrs. Overton. "That boy of mine, now that he's ordered to join his regiment again, is wholly and unreasonably happy." Noll had received his orders just before Hal arrived. Lieutenant Terry was also ordered to Fort Butler. "There isn't a thing left that we can ask for!" exclaimed Hal contentedly. "I hope we'll have as good luck with each step upward," beamed young Terry. "There may come a time in our upward progress when we can't serve in the same regiment," warned Hal. "That will be when we become lieutenant-colonels. The present law allows but one lieutenant-colonel to a regiment, you know." "Oh, as far as that's concerned, cheer up, chum," grinned Lieutenant Noll. "Before we get anywhere near as high as lieutenant-colonel we may each be occupying a two-by-six in a soldiers' cemetery." "It would please the Hepburns and Sayles better if we did now," laughed Hal. "But let's forget malice toward others--we've been able to get everything on earth that we've wanted so far. Noll, to-morrow morning, we must pay another visit to Sergeant Wright." Several times since their return home the Army boys had been to call on Wright, a retired old Army sergeant living in this Jersey town. It was Sergeant Wright who had first inspired the boys with a desire for the Army life. "We've got several visits to make, and very little time in which to do it," decided Noll. It is difficult, indeed, to keep the press from learning all that is happening. The next morning the _Sphere_ contained this paragraph: "Most of our citizens will be glad to learn that Lieutenants Overton and Terry, of the Regular Army, are leaving soon to go to their new station in far-away Texas." There was nothing libelous in that paragraph. It could be taken either way--as a piece of congratulation or as a covert sneer. So Hal and Noll concluded to let it pass as a joke, and each clipped out the paragraph to show at Fort Butler. All the good home times ended at last. Divided between pangs of regret and eager thoughts of the new service as line officers, Hal and Noll boarded a train one morning and started west. The new life, the goal of their youthful dreams, lay before them. What would it bring? CHAPTER VII AN OLD FRIEND IN A NEW GUISE