The silence had lasted five days when, one evening, a class meeting was called.  Though Cadet Prescott was class president, he did not attend, for he knew very well that he was not wanted.

Greg’s sense of delicacy told the latter that it was not for him to attend the meeting, either.

The vice president of the class was called to the chair.  Then Durville and others made heated addresses in which they declared that Prescott could no longer consistently retain the class presidency.

A motion was made that Prescott be called upon to resign.  It was seconded by several first classmen.

Then Anstey, the Virginian, claimed the floor in behalf of the humiliated class president.  The blood of Virginian orators flowed in Anstey’s veins, nor did he discredit his ancestry.

In an impassioned yet deliberate and logical speech Anstey declared that great injustice had been done Cadet Richard Prescott, and by the members of his own class.

“Every man within reach of my voice knows Mr. Prescott’s record,” declared the Virginian warmly.  “When we were plebes, who stood up most staunchly as our class champion?  Why, suh, why did we choose Mr. Prescott as our class president?  Was it not because we believed, with all our hearts, that in Richard Prescott lay all the best elements of noble, upright and manly cadethood?  Do you remember, suh, and fellow classmen, the wild enthusiasm that prevailed when we, by our suffrages, had declared Mr. Prescott to be our ideal of the man to lead the class in all the paths of honor?”

Anstey paused for an instant.  Then, lowering his voice somewhat, he continued, with scathing irony: 

“And now you give this best man of our class the silence, and seek to remove him from the presidency of the class!”

“It’s a shame!” roared another cadet.

There were cheers.

“It is a shame,” cried Anstey in a ringing voice.  “And now you seek to deepen the shame by further degrading Prescott, who has always been the champion of our class.  Mr. President, I move that we lay the motion on the table indefinitely.  As soon as that has been done I shall make another motion, that we remove the silence from the grand, good fellow who has had it put upon him.”

There were others, however, with nearly Anstey’s gift for oratory.  One of them now took the floor, pointing out that the class would not have rebuked Prescott for having reported Jordan in the tour of pontoon bridge construction.

“That may have been justified,” continued the speaker.  “But, afterwards, Mr. Jordan and Mr. Prescott had words.  There must have been some bitterness in that.  That same night Mr. Jordan was caught and reported by Mr. Prescott, who was not cadet officer of the day, and who therefore must have deliberately shadowed Mr. Jordan in order to catch him.”

“Prescott did not shadow Mr. Jordan, or do anything of a sneaky nature,” shouted Anstey.