doctor, while the other cadets joyfully departed to happy firesides.
"Sorry to leave you, old chap," said Paul, sympathetically, "but my folks wouldn't know what to do if I didn't come home over the holidays."
"That's all right," said Dick, hoarsely, but as cheerfully as he could. "I'll see you after New Year's. Have a good time."
"I will. Hope you get better."
It was a gloomy Christmas for the young millionaire, and, as a fever set in with his cold, he couldn't even enjoy the good thinks which the kind housekeeper, under orders from Colonel Masterly, provided for the patient.
The academy was a very lonely place indeed, Christmas day, for all the officers and cadets had gone, leaving only the housekeeper, and some of the janitors, including Toots, in charge.
Dick received some tokens from abroad, sent by his father, and a cheery letter, which he answered in the same strain.
"But it isn't much like Christmas," thought Dick, as he sat up in bed. Then a bright thought came to him.
"Can't Toots have dinner up here with me?" he asked Mrs. Fitzpatrick.
"Of course he can," she said. "Maybe it will cheer you up," and she sent for the jolly janitor.
