Dick started. It was, in a measure telling him that he had not spoken the truth and for a brief moment he felt the hot blood mount to his head. Then he calmed down as he remembered that he was captain of the eleven, and, in a measure responsible to his men for his conduct. Besides, he reflected quickly, Porter might be trying to force him into a quarrel, and that would never do. "Very well," answered Dick, as quietly as he could, "I'll report to the major. Good night!" He swung on his heel and turned aside. "Um!" was the only reply that Porter grunted out, as he resumed the patrolling of his post. "Well?" asked Paul, as his chum entered. "Not well--bad. I was caught." "By whom?" "Porter." "Porter. Hum! Was he in earnest about it?" "He seemed so," and Dick recounted the conversation. "Well, there's something in what he says," agreed Paul. "Sentry-go is no fun, but as long as we're at a military school we have to do it once in a while. Still if enough of us enforced the rules, as I suppose we ought to do, there'd be one of two things happen. They'd either abolish it, or running the guard would stop, and there wouldn't be anything for the sentries to do." "That's so. Well, I'm the goat to-night. Might as well have a bad job over with. I'm going to report." "Then you didn't see Hatfield?" "No, we'll have to wait until morning to hear." Dick went off in no very happy frame of mind, and he was a little uneasy as to what form of punishment the major would mete out. But he was fortunate in finding that old soldier entertaining a war comrade in his room, and swapping campaign stories. The major was, therefore, in a very amiable mood, and after listening to Dick's frank report said: "Hum! Well, don't do it again. You may write me out a page of field tactics and consider yourself relieved of arrest. Don't do it again. Good night, Captain Hamilton." Dick saluted and swung away, highly pleased at the lightness of his task. He heard the major and his comrade-in-arms laughing as he strode away, and the instructor in tactics exclaimed: "That's not a circumstance to what we used to do, eh, Ned, when we were camped near some city and wanted to go in and have a good time?" "That's right," agreed his friend. Dick's little escapade was known all over the academy next morning, and there was almost universal condemnation of Porter's act. But Dick, to the no small astonishment of his chums, declared that the deposed left-end had done just right. "What are you sticking up for him for?" asked Paul in some indignation. "It'll get so all the other sentries will do the same thing." "Well, that might not be so bad. Besides, I do think he did right--even though class custom is against it. Then, too, I don't want to get on unfriendly terms with him. I hope to keep in touch with that old miser Duncaster through Porter." "Oh, yes, about your father's business. How is it coming on?"