The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-10-30

Class were in sole possession of the school, waiting until they should be transformed into the First Class by the arrival of the new cadets. Of course while the Select" and the First Class men were making their preparati tions for departure a certain amount of con- fusion reigned in the barracks; for they were examined and graduated in sec tions and went away as they were grad uated, SO for a while things were rather topsy-turvy. There was a First Class man, a popular fellow, who had bought himself new sword belt of which he was very proud. He proposed to wear 1t when he went away instead of the ordinary service belt and showed 1t to everybody with an aggravating satis- faction. But alasl poor First Class man. When he went to put on his uni form to go away, his prized sword belt was mlssingi Nor did the strictest search discover its whereabouts.
 The First Class man had not shut up his belt in his closet among his other belongings, but had left 1t hanging be- side his helmet In his bedroom, where fhis delighted eyes could gaze upon it often. But now 1t had disappeared to- tally. Of course, some one had stolen it-sword belts do not walk away of themselves. But the question was, Who? The cadets living in the same room threw open their kits and de- manded that the owner of the lost sword belt search their belongings. But l..r IA1 A think of such thing. Just forget it, fellows-but I must wear that ugly old regulation belt home after all" As the First Class man in question was slowly going down stairs with his va lise in his hand strange thing hap pened. Little L suddenly appeared to | him, bearing In his hands the missing | belt. Little Us face was as pale as a ghost and he was trembling violently
 He whispered something in the ear of the owner of the belt, who patted him on the head, took off the regulation belt and replaced 1t with his own.
 | Many cadets saw this transaction and such secret as the cause of it could not be kept long. A new ar- | rangement of rooms was being made | Big l. had been ordered into another | room. He, had rejected gruffly all of fers to help move his things and had been more than usually reserved and quiet while the moving was going on
 The offer of Little to help his brother had been rejected. like all other of fers; but the little fellow determined to be of assistance to his brother, and be- gan to shift some of the belongings | in Big Es presence. He had taken down from its peg Big L's gymnasium jacket of ticking and had felt some thing hard inside of 1t. He took out the hard object, and To! 1t was the missing sword beltl
 | What the brothers said to each other in regard to the matter was never known;
 but the story was soon all over the school In half an hour a message was carried secretly from room to room sum- moning the cadets of the company to which Big L belonged to meet after taps In the company room, large room which every ward had and in which transac- | tions of importance were conducted. Sc long after the lights were out and taps had sounded, when all of the school lay in sleep, dim forms emerged from the va rious rooms of the ward and hurried noiselessly to the company room. Every care was taken that the officers and pro- fessors should not get wind of what was going on. The candles were lighted in tine company room after the windows had been darkened, and, as the cadets
 stealthily entered, they saw Little L standing leaning against the door post
 His face was white as chalk and he was evidently suffering from suppressed and intense excitement. Two cadets took him by the hand and one said: Little L car come In. too; he is not to blame" Only one cadet objected. He was big, tall fellow named K. But his objection was speedily overruled and Little L went in with the rest. To older people the scene might have appeared ridicululous, but to the cadets 1t was a solemn occasion they were terribly in earnest. That one of their number should prove to be a thief was to them something hardly credible;