Barely half an hour later, however, the two battalions
again marched on to the plain. Then the most fascinating, the
most inspiring of all military ceremonies was gone through with
by the best body of soldiery in the world. The cadets of the
United States Military Academy went through all the solemnity
of dress parade. It is a sight which, once seen at West Point,
can never be forgotten by a lover of his flag.
One bespectacled young spectator there was who found his breath
coming in quick, sharp gasps as he looked on at this magnificent
display. He was tall, yet with a slight stoop in his shoulders.
His face was covered with a bushy, sandy beard. He was neither
particularly well nor very badly dressed, and would have attracted
little attention in any crowd.
Yet this stranger was not looking on a new sight. For nearly four
years it had been as the breath of life to him.
Stoop-shouldered as a matter of disguise, and with beard and
spectacles adding to his security from recognition, this slouching
young man bent most of his gaze upon the stalwart, erect figure of
Cadet Captain Prescott.
"You drove me out of here! You cheated me of all the glory of
this career, Prescott! Have you been fool enough to think that
I'd forget---that I could forget? You are close to your diploma,
now---but before that moment arrives I shall find the way to spoil
your chances of a career in the Army.
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