The trial is tomorrow."
"All right, Alfie, we're ready," said Tom. "I suppose you want to hear
the whole thing."
"If you don't mind," said Alfie, adjusting his eyeglasses. "You start,
Roger."
Sitting around the room, relaxed, yet concerned, the four cadets
discussed the details of the case. Alfie took copious notes,
occasionally interrupting Tom or Roger or Astro to ask a pointed
question.
[Illustration]
They talked for nearly four hours before Alfie was finally satisfied
that he knew all the facts. He left them with the same somber attitude
he had when he first arrived, and when the boys were alone, they each
felt a chill of fear. The full meaning of a defense lawyer hit them.
They were in serious trouble. After a few moments of silence, Tom rose
and went into the bathroom to take a shower. Astro flopped on his back
in his bunk and went to sleep. Roger began throwing darts idly at his
"solar system" over his bunk. It was a map of his own design depicting
the planets revolving around the sun, only each planet was represented
by a picture of a girl, and his own grinning countenance was the sun. He
was known to have made dates by throwing a dart at the map blindly and
taking out the girl whose picture he had hit.
When Tom returned a few minutes later, he looked at his unit mates and
shook his head.
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