alas for Billy! Only two days before had the distribution been made,
and every man in the graduating class was already wearing the beautiful
token of their brotherhood. The civilian garb, the Derby hat, the
_monocle_, the stick, the cigarette, and the false moustache were all
very well in their way, but in the beam of light from the windows of
that ill-starred saloon there flashed upon his hand a gem that two pairs
of quick, though reluctant eyes could not and did not fail to see,--the
_class ring_ of 187-.

CHAPTER V.

A MIDNIGHT INSPECTION.

There was a sense of constraint among the occupants of Colonel Stanley's
carriage as they were driven back to the Point. They had been calling on
old friends of his among the pretty villas below the Falls; had been
chatting joyously until that sudden swerve that pitched the colonel's
hat and Miriam's fan into the dust, and the veteran cavalryman could not
account for the lull that followed. Miriam had instantly grasped the
situation. All her father's stories of cadet days had enabled her to
understand at once that here was a cadet--a classmate of
Philip's--"running it" in disguise. Mr. Lee, of course, needed no
information on the subject. What she hoped was, that he had not seen;
but the cloud on his frank, handsome face still hovered there, and she
knew him too well not to see that he understood everything. And now what
was his duty? Something told her that an inspection of barracks would be
made immediately upon his return to the Point, and in that way the name
of the absentee be discovered. She knew the regulation every cadet was
expected to obey and every officer on honor to enforce. She knew that
every cadet found absent from his quarters after taps was called upon by
the commandant for prompt account of his whereabouts, and if unable to
say that he was on cadet limits during the period of his absence,
dismissal stared him in the face.

The colonel did most of the talking on the way back to the south gate.
Once within the portals he called to the driver to stop at the Mess.
"I'm thirsty," said the jovial warrior, "and I want a julep and a fresh
cigar. You, too, might have a claret punch, Mimi; you are drooping a
little to-night. What is it, daughter,--tired?"

"Yes, tired and a little headachy." Then sudden thought occurs to her.
"If you don't mind I think I will go right on to the hotel. Then you and
Mr. Lee can enjoy your cigars at leisure." She knows well that