air will be as good for you girls as
for the boys."

Now as Dorothy fell into step with the Captain, she realized that here
was one thing, however slight, that she could do to prove her love for
sweet Lady Gray. She could use her influence to keep up what the others
considered a temporary game, entered into merely to gratify the vanity
of an ex-sharpshooter; and as she now marched along by his side, she
begged:

"Do please, Captain, set a regular hour for this drill, and make us
stick to it, just as in the regular army. I promise I'll not oversleep
again--I'll try not, I mean. Will you?"

"Sure, Little One, and I'll app'int you First Leftenant, Company B, San
Leon Life Guards. Halt!"

He stopped and faced his followers:

"It has been proposed 't we make this a regular company, same as Company
A, of the boys. I second the proposition. I'd be proud to train ye, if
so be you'll hold up your end the musket. I mean, no shirkin' duty and
bein' marched to the guard house, or sentinel work, for bad behavior.
Put on your thinkin' caps and keep 'em on a minute. Down to West Point,
where some of us is hankerin' to be, they don't allow no lyin'. A broken
promise is the worst kind of a lie. So before you pledge your word, gals
and boys alike, you--_think_. Think hard, think deep. I'll time ye. When
one minute is up, to the second, I'll call for your answer. Everybody
turn their eyes inside themselves and--_think_."

With that the wise and shrewd old fellow pulled his silver time-piece
from his pocket and placed it in the hollow of his hand. Then he fixed
his eyes upon its white face and stood motionless, watching the second
hand make its little circuit. When the sixty seconds had been counted,
he held up his hand with profound gravity and called:

"All in favor of forming a new Company, say 'Aye!' Contrary 'No!'"

Every hand went up--but Leslie's. Every voice uttered an earnest "Aye!"
save his, and Dorothy flashed an indignant, as well as disappointed
glance upon him, exclaiming:

"Oh! What a mean--I mean, what a rude boy! Wh