verdict of 'not guilty, and couldn't be,' that I crave sir."
"You may depend upon me, Mr. Prescott, to do all in my power for
you," promised Lieutenant Topham.




CHAPTER XV

ON TRIAL BY COURT-MARTIAL


Tuesday was the day for the court-martial.

In the Army there is little patience with the law's delays.

A trial must move ahead as promptly as any other detail of the
soldier's life. Nothing can hinder a trial but the inability
to get all the evidence ready early. In Cadet Prescott's case
the evidence seemed so simple as to require no delay whatever.

The weather had been growing warmer within a short time. When
Dick and Greg awoke at sound of reveille, they heard the heavy
rain no sign of daylight yet.

When the battalion turned out and formed to march to breakfast a
more dispiriting day could not be imagined. The rain was converting
deep snow into a dismal flood.

But Dick barely noticed the weather. He was full of grit, burning