As soon as he was alone---for his tentmate was away on a cavalry
drill, Jordan rose, his eyes flashing with triumph.
"Dick Prescott, I believe I have you where I want you! What a
rage you'll be in, if you get the 'silence'! 'Whom the gods would
destroy they first make mad,'" Jordan went on, under his breath,
wholly unaware that he had parodied the meaning of that famous
quotation. "You'll rage with anger, Prescott. You'll do the
very things that will warrant the class in giving you the long
'cut.'"
The "silence" is a form of rebuke that the cadet corps, once in
many years, administers to one of the many Army officers who are
stationed over them. When the cadet corps decides to give an
officer the "silence," the proceeding is a unique one.
Whenever an officer under this ban approaches a group of cadets
they cease talking, and remain silent as long as he is near them.
They salute the officer; they make any official communications
that may be required, and do so in a faultlessly respectful manner;
they answer any questions addressed to them by the officer under
ban. But they will not talk, while he is within hearing, on anything
except matters of duty.
An officer under the ban of the "silence" may approach a gathering
of a hundred or more cadets, all talking animatedly until they
perceive his approach. Then, all in an instant, they become mute.
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