"Yes, sir."
"Then you broke one of the rules."
"Yes, sir, but I thought that if it rained, and my book got wet, I'd get a demerit for that, so I decided I would take a chance on going after taps. I started before the bugle sounded."
"Ha! I will look into that afterward. You are sure you were not near the gun?"
"Yes, sir."
"I might add," went on Stiver, "that, after I called to Hamilton to halt, and he would not, I saw his dog running after him, and the animal seemed to have something tied to its tail."
"To it's tail?"
"Yes, sir."
"What was it?"
"It seemed like a piece of string."
"A piece of string. That may explain it. Hamilton, what do you know of this?"
"Nothing, Captain Hayden. Grit was not with me. I left him in his kennel, in the stable, chained up."
"We must look into this. Lieutenant Stiver, tell Sander to bring the bulldog here."
"Perhaps I had better go along," suggested Dick. "Grit might make a fuss."
"If he goes, you had better make sure he doesn't slip the string off the dog's tail," put in Dutton, with a sneer.
Dick started, and looked angrily at his enemy.
"That will do, Dutton," said Captain Hayden
