Then they
moved forward again until noon, when they reached a small village where
dinner already awaited them.
"We have covered twelve miles," said Captain Putnam. "Eight more, and
the day's march will be over."
The cadets were glad enough to eat their dinner and take it easy on the
porch of the old country hotel at which they had stopped.
"Imagine us marching off to war," observed Sam. "How would you like it,
Tom"?
"Oh, I don't think I would complain," was the answer. "Anything for a
bit of excitement."
The day's march was completed long before sundown, and the battalion
came to a halt in an open field through which flowed a shaded brook.
The tents were at hand and the students lost no time in putting up the
shelters.
Food was supplied for the occasion by a farmer living near, for it was
not deemed advisable to unload the cook stoves and build the necessary
fires.
The farmer gave the students permission to visit his apple orchard, and
this the majority did, returning to the temporary camp with their
pockets fairly bulging with apples.
The weather remained clear and warm, so the first night in the open
proved very agreeable. A camp-fire was lit just for the look of things,
and around this the cadets gathered, telling stories and singing songs
until it was time to turn in.
Sleeping in a tent just suited the Rover boys and none of them awoke
until sunrise. Soon the whole camp was astir, and each cadet took a
good washing up at the brook.
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