"
"Then as an American, I'm proud of West Point, if it has fellows
with no more false shame than that," cried Foss heartily.
"Why, I always thought West Point a very swell place, extremely
so," murmured Bessie Frost. "In fact--pardon me, won't you---I
have always heard that the young men at West Point are very much
puffed up and very exclusive."
Dick laughed good-humoredly.
"Of course, Miss Frost, the cadet is expected to learn how to
become a gentleman as well as an officer. Yet why should any
of us feel unduly conceited? We are privileged to secure one
of the best educations to be obtained in the world, but we obtain
it at public expense. Not only our education, but all our living
expenses are paid for out of the nation's treasury, and that money
is contributed by all tax-payers alike. If we of the cadet corps
should get any notion that we belong to a superior race of beings,
to whom would we owe it all? Are the cadets not indebted for
their opportunities to all the citizens of the United States?"
"Did Bert Dodge have any especial trouble at West Point?" asked
another girl.
"Mr. Dodge did not make us his confidants," evaded Dick coolly.
"What do you say, Mr. Holmes?" persisted the same girl.
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