There was no delay, no hesitation; the whole crowd fell in under one leader, stole down the street, signaled the sentry; and then came a dash and a tramp of feet that almost shook the ground. The class was gone. Gone to stop that fight or die!
One hates to tax a reader's credulity. To say that that sleepy moonlit camp was once more a witness of the same unusual scene not half a minute later seems beyond the possibility of belief. Yet so it was. There was no signal this time; they simply met, five of them, all plebes, two from an A Company and three from a B Company tent just in the rear. They, too, fell in under a leader, a leader who punctuated his orders with a whispered "Wow!" And they, too, crossed the sentry post and vanished in the woods.
There was some one to trail the trailers!
We shall skip forward to those in advance. The four would-be duelists had no idea of their detection. They thought that their early start had done the work. They climbed down the bank of the river, passed the riding hall, and came out on the railroad track below, just at the mouth of the tunnel.
"The boat is down near Highland Falls," said Harden, briefly; and then there was silence again. Wright had not said one word since the start.
They set out down the track. They stole by the little station, with its single light and its half-sleeping telegraph operator. And then--hark! What was that?
Tramp, tramp! The four turned in amazement. Great heavens, they were followed! Clearly visible in the moonlight, their white trousers glittering, the company was marching steadily behind them. They were in line and had a captain. At concealment there was no attempt; they seemed to say, every one of them. "Well, here we are. Now what are you going to do about it?" And the four stared at each other in amazement.
"Shall we resort to flight?" inquired the learned Parson.
"They're too many; they'd catch us," said Harden, emphatically. "I don't know just what to do. I rather think we're outwitted. I--what's that?"
"A train!" exclaimed Mark. "That'll scatter 'em. But it'll do us no good."
A moment later there was a glare of light in the tunnel, light that shone upon the figures on the track; and then the heavy train shot out and came rushing down upon them. The cadets scattered of course; and in the temporary confusion Mark saw a golden chance. It was a slow train; he could see. A freight! And a moment later as the engine rushed past them, he shouted to the other three: