Also the entire Corps of Cadets, two battalions of them, in spick
and span full-dress uniform, and with all metal accoutrements
glistening, in the sun, stood drawn up as the visitors were escorted
to their carriages by waiting Army officers.
Now, the imposing procession started up the steep slope, at a little
past mid-afternoon.
Just as the head of the line reached the flat plain above, most
of the members of the Board of Visitors felt tempted to clap their
hands to their ears. For a second detachment of artillery, waiting
on the plain, now thundered forth the official artillery salute to
the visitors.
One of these visitors, a member of the national House of
Representatives, who had served with distinction in the Civil War,
having then risen to the grade of major general of volunteers,
looked out over the plain, then at the stalwart cadets behind,
with moist eyes. He had been a cadet here in the late fifties.
He was now too old to fight, but all the ardor of the soldier
still burned in his veins!
Yet only a moment did the line of carriages pause at the plain.
Then the members of the Board were carried on to the West Point
Hotel, where the best quarters had been reserved for such as were
not to be personal guests of officers on the post.
During the brief wait at the station, Cadet Captain Prescott,
standing before the company that he had commanded during this
year, caught a brief glimpse of a familiar figure---his mother.
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