Haynes felt that he was, properly, a first classman.

True, the members of the first class, which he had fallen behind, did not take that view of the case.
"You fellows busy ?" asked Haynes, as he took a seat across the foot of Prescott's cot bed.
"Oh, no more busy than cadets usually are," smiled Dick pleasantly.
"We are finding the new grind a hard one---that's all." "Now, there's nothing very hard about the first half of the year in this class," replied Haynes knowingly.

"I've been through it you know." "You're lucky," rejoined Greg.

"We haven't been through it---yet." Hayes, however, chose to regard what was meant as a slight hint.
"Don't bone too hard at this first-term stuff, fellows," he went on.

"Save your energies for the second half of the academic year." "I wonder whether we shall have any energies left by that time," replied Greg, opening one of his text-books in philosophy with a force that made the cover bang against the desk.
"Oh, go ahead and bone 'sound,' then, if you want," permitted Mr.Haynes.