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of youthful bravado. "If he wants a fight all he has to do is ask for it. I'll be more than happy to oblige."
    "You don't mean that. Be sensible, Christopher. You could be drummed out of the Corps."
    "Words of caution from you?
That's
rich."
    No longer was O'Connor grinning. The ne'er-do-well attitude was gone now, replaced by sober concern.
    "Don't jeopardize your career, my friend. Not for the likes of Adam Vickers."
    "You never take
my
advice, do you, O'Connor?"
    "Shame on me if I don't. But I always thought you had better sense than I."
    "I do."
    O'Connor laughed, and Christopher laughed with him. That was one of the things Christopher liked about O'Connor. No matter how grim the situation, O'Connor could always make him laugh. Never take life too seriously. That was O'Connor's golden rule. Christopher decided he would try to live by it as he awaited Emily Cooper's visit.
    Christopher tried his best to concentrate on his studies. The academic load was so he could not afford to become distracted and fall behind. It was a difficult task. He came to resent Emily Cooper for adversely affectinghis life—again. Which was odd, considering that he had never met her face-to-face.
    His was a full and strenuous routine. Reveille was sounded at dawn. Cadets dressed and answered roll call. Quarters had to be made immaculate, and all accoutrements cleaned and polished to perfection. A half hour after reveille, cadet officers inspected the barracks. From the sunrise gun to seven o'clock the cadets studied their lessons. Then, at seven, they formed squads and marched to the mess hall. While eating they were not permitted to indulge in idle conversation. Allowed thirty minutes for breakfast, there was guard mount at seven-thirty, parade at eight, after which they marched to the academic building, which included a chapel, the library, the chemical and physics laboratories, the engineering department, and the adjutant's office.
    From eight until eleven in the morning the cadets were in classroom. The first-classmen—the "plebes"—studied mathematics, while the others tackled physics, which included calculus, analytical geometry and conic sections, drawing—which included landscape and topography—and chemistry and "natural philosophy." The latter heading was composed of instruction in mechanics, electricity, astronomy, light, heat, and magnetism, with texts which included Newton's
Principia
and Gregory's
Treatise on Mechanics
. Between eleven and noon, cadets were allowed to return to their quarters to study. From noon to one o'clock they were free. The dinner hour was at one, and at two came formation, followed by studies and recitations in French until four. The texts were
Gil Blas
and Voltaire's
Histoire de Charles XII
. From four until sunset there were military exercises. Two hours every other afternoon were devoted to artillery practice. At sunset, dress parade and roll call were followed by supper, after which the cadets retired to their quarters and wrestled with their studies until nine-thirty. Tattoo and a final roll call and inspection ofquarters concluded the day. "Lights out" was at precisely ten o'clock.
    Christopher customarily attacked all his studies with what amounted to grim dedication, motivated by the knowledge that in his third year at the Academy he would leave mathematics and physics behind and be introduced to the discipline he was longing to sink his teeth into, technical military training. The science of war. The course was in four parts: fortifications, artillery, grand tactics, and civil and military architecture. The topics ranged from the building of batteries and redoubts, the construction of mines, the attack and defense of fortified places, the principles of gunnery, orders of battle, laying out an encampment, the building of arches, canals and bridges. All of the mathematical and scientific study of a cadet's first two years laid a foundation for this course. Christopher could hardly wait.
    In his