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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10319 ***
+
+                 DAVE DARRIN'S THIRD YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS
+
+                                   or
+
+                 Leaders of the Second Class Midshipmen
+
+
+                          By H. IRVING HANCOCK
+
+                                  1911
+
+
+
+
+Illustrated
+
+[Illustration: "There She Goes!"]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+      I. WHY THE MIDSHIPMEN BALKED.
+
+     II. PROVING THEIR TRAINING.
+
+    III. THE TROUBLE-MAKING FOP.
+
+     IV. IN THE VIEW OF THE NAVY DEPARTMENT.
+
+      V. NAVY FOOTBALL IN THE AIR.
+
+     VI. THE HATE OF A RIVAL.
+
+    VII. "DID JETSON DO IT?".
+
+   VIII. DAN TRIES HARD TO KEEP COOL.
+
+     IX. A NARROW SQUEAK WITH THE O. C.
+
+      X. THE GRIDIRON START.
+
+     XI. THE BAND COULDN'T MAKE ITSELF HEARD.
+
+    XII. JOYCE IS BITTEN WITH THE TROUBLE BUG.
+
+   XIII. HEPSON IS "SOME WILD".
+
+    XIV. TWO SIDES OF A STORY.
+
+     XV. THE NAVY GOAT WEEPS.
+
+    XVI. THE MAN WITH A SCOWL ON TAP.
+
+   XVII. AN AFFAIR OF SULKS.
+
+  XVIII. THE CLASS MEETING SITS AS JURY.
+
+    XIX. DAVE STANDS ON PRINCIPLE.
+
+     XX. "DON'T BE A FOOL, DARRY!"
+
+    XXI. MIDSHIPMAN JETSON HAS THE FLOOR.
+
+   XXII. THE BIRTH OF A GENTLEMAN.
+
+  XXIII. "RAGGED" AND NO MISTAKE.
+
+   XXIV. CONCLUSION.
+
+
+
+
+Dave Darrin's Third Year at Annapolis
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+WHY THE MIDSHIPMEN BALKED
+
+
+"So Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton have been here?" demanded Midshipman
+Dave Darrin.
+
+That handsome young member of the brigade of midshipmen at the United
+States Naval Academy at Annapolis was now in mufti, or cits,--meaning, in
+other words, that he was out of his Naval uniform and attired in the
+conventional clothing of a young American when calling on his sweetheart.
+
+It will make the situation even clearer to the reader to explain that
+Dave was back in the home town, on his September leave, after just having
+completed his second summer practice cruise with the three upper classes
+from Annapolis.
+
+Dave was now a fine looking and "husky" second classman. He was just a
+shade more than half way through his course of instruction at Annapolis.
+
+Being back in the home town, where would Midshipman Darrin be more
+naturally found than in the parlor at the home of his sweetheart, Miss
+Belle Meade?
+
+The first greetings had been exchanged fifteen minutes before.
+
+Since that time the young people, being sweethearts as they were, had
+naturally talked about themselves.
+
+And Dave, who, in the Naval service, was fast learning to become a good
+listener, had been content to have Belle do most of the talking, while he
+sat back watching the motions of her pretty lips and catching glimpses of
+two rows of pearly teeth.
+
+But now Belle had just mentioned two of Dave's former High School chums.
+
+"So Tom and Harry were really here?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes; they came up from Arizona on leave."
+
+"I wonder why they couldn't have remained here longer?" mused Dave.
+
+"They both told me that they were very young in their profession as civil
+engineers, and that they had to spend nearly all of their time 'on the
+job,' as Tom phrased it," replied Belle.
+
+"How did they look?" asked Dave.
+
+"A shade older, of course, than when they were in the High School."
+
+"Are they much taller?" asked Darrin.
+
+"Somewhat; but they have not shot up in height, the way you and Dan, and
+Dick Prescott and Greg Holmes have done," Belle continued.
+
+"Brown as berries, I suppose, after working down in the alkali
+deserts?" asked Dave, who felt that he could not hear enough of those
+dear old chums.
+
+"Meaning Tom and Harry?" smiled Belle. "Or Dick and Greg?"
+
+"Tom and Harry, that time, of course," laughed Dave. "But I'm waiting to
+hear a whole lot about Dick and Greg as well."
+
+"No; I wouldn't call Tom and Harry exactly as brown as berries,"
+went on Belle, laughing, "for I am not acquainted with many kinds of
+brown berries."
+
+"Coffee berries?" hinted Darrin.
+
+"I would call Tom and Harry fully as bronzed as Indians," Belle ventured.
+
+"Have you ever seen any Indians?" asked Midshipman Darrin, looking at his
+sweetheart rather quizzically.
+
+"Oh, haven't I?" laughed Belle Meade, her eyes sparkling. "We had Indians
+here the early part of this summer. There was a medicine show here, with
+Indians and cowboys, and that sort of thing. One day the Indians and
+cowboys got intoxicated and they went through Main Street like a tornado.
+They were yelling and shooting, and had people all along the street
+running for cover. Even the chief of police, though he wasn't a coward,
+ran into safety.
+
+"In the midst of it all Dick Prescott, Greg Holmes, Tom Reade and Harry
+Hazelton came out of an ice cream parlor. Tom and Harry got a glimpse of
+the very Wild West looking company of yellers and shooters. Tom and Harry
+have seen enough Indians and cowboys to know the real thing--and that
+these were only poor imitations. All of a sudden Tom and Harry and Dick
+and Greg charged into that howling, shooting crowd and knocked them right
+and left. Your four old-time chums simply disarmed the 'bad' ones and
+turned the weapons over to the chief of police."
+
+Belle went on, describing the famous incident, while Dave leaned back,
+laughing heartily.
+
+"How I wish I had been on hand! I'd like to have helped, too," he added.
+
+"Those four youngsters didn't need any help," laughed Belle.
+
+"Which was the most surprised crowd--the 'bad' Western outfit or the
+police department?" chuckled Dave.
+
+Readers of our "WEST POINT SERIES" will find the "Wild West" scene fully
+narrated in "DICK PRESCOTT'S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT."
+
+"Isn't it outrageous," demanded Dave, "that the West Point and the
+Annapolis leave of absence should be so arranged that midshipmen and
+cadets who are old, old friends never get a chance to meet each other on
+furlough!"
+
+"I don't suppose," replied Belle, "that it often happens that one little
+city often has the honor of furnishing, at the same time, two midshipmen
+for Annapolis and two cadets for West Point."
+
+"Very likely not," nodded Dave. "But it seems too bad, just the same.
+What wouldn't I give to see Tom or Harry? Or Greg or Dick? And now that
+I'm here Dick Prescott and Greg Holmes are but just barely gone."
+
+"Yes; they have been but four days gone," assented Belle. "It does seem
+too bad that you and your West Point chums couldn't have been one day
+together."
+
+"I haven't seen a blessed one of the good old four since I left for
+Annapolis, more than two years ago," muttered Dave complainingly. "What
+wouldn't I give--just to see what they look like in these days?"
+
+"Well, what would you give?" demanded Belle, rising and hesitating.
+
+"They've given you their photos, then!" asked Dave Darrin guessing.
+"Please be quick--let me see the photos."
+
+Belle glided from the room, to return with a large card.
+
+"They were taken altogether," she explained, handing the card over to
+Darrin. "There they are--all in one group."
+
+Dave seized the card, studying eagerly the print mounted thereon.
+
+"Whew! What a change two years make in a High School boy, doesn't it?"
+demanded Darrin.
+
+"Of course," answered Belle Meade. "Do you imagine that you and Dan
+Dalzell haven't changed any, either?"
+
+Readers of our "HIGH SCHOOL SERIES" will well remember Dick Prescott,
+Greg Holmes, Tom Reade, Harry Hazelton, Dave Darrin and Dan Dalzell, a
+famous sextette of young High School athletes, who, in their High School
+days, were known as Dick & Co.
+
+Readers of the four volumes of that series will recall that Dick Prescott
+received the congressman's nomination to West Point, and that Greg Holmes
+was appointed a cadet at the same big government Army school by one of
+the state's senators. Dave Darrin and Dan Dalzell, a little later,
+secured nominations to Annapolis from the same gentlemen; and Tom Reade
+and Harry Hazelton, who had thrown their lot with civil engineering, had
+gone West to engage with an engineering firm of railroad builders.
+
+From that passing of the old High School days the experiences and
+adventures of Dick Prescott and Greg Holmes are told in the volumes of
+"THE WEST POINT SERIES."
+
+Those of Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton are set forth fully in "THE YOUNG
+ENGINEERS' SERIES."
+
+As for Dave Darrin and Dan, their life, since leaving the High School,
+and casting their lot with the Navy, has been fully told in the two
+preceding volumes of the present series, "DAVE DARRIN'S FIRST YEAR AT
+AKNAPOLIS" and "DAVE DARRIN'S SECOND YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS."
+
+"Well, I'll meet Dick and Greg this coming Thanksgiving, at any rate,"
+predicted Midshipman Darrin. "You know what happens the Saturday after
+Thanksgiving on Franklin Field, don't you, Belle?"
+
+"You young men of Annapolis and West Point play football, don't you!"
+asked Belle.
+
+"Do we?" demanded Dave, his eyes aglow with enthusiasm. "Don't we,
+though. And, mark me, Belle, the Navy is going to carry away the Army's
+scalp this year."
+
+"Are you going to join the team?" asked Belle.
+
+"I can't say, until I get back. But I've been training. I hope to be
+called to the team. So does Dan."
+
+"I hope you and Dan both make the eleven," cried Belle, "so that you can
+get away to see the game."
+
+"Why, we can see the game better," retorted Dave, "if we don't make
+the team."
+
+"Why, are midshipmen who don't belong to the eleven allowed to see the
+game?" asked Belle in some surprise.
+
+"Are we?" demanded Dave. "Belle, don't you know what the Army-Navy game
+on the Saturday after Thanksgiving Day is like? The entire brigade of
+midshipmen and the whole corps of cadets travel over to Philadelphia.
+There, on Franklin Field, before an average of thirty thousand yelling
+spectators, the great annual game of the two great national academies is
+fought out."
+
+"You haven't gone to see the annual game at Philadelphia before this,
+have you?" asked Miss Meade.
+
+"No."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because, Belle, both years, at Thanksgiving time, Danny boy and I have
+found ourselves so far behind in our studies that we just took the time
+to stay behind and bone, bone, bone over our books."
+
+"And you think this year will be different?"
+
+"Oh, yes; when a man is half way through Annapolis the studies become
+easier to him. You see, in two years of the awful grind a fellow, if he
+lasts that long, has learned how to study in the right way. I'm going to
+get two tickets, Belle, so that you and your mother can go to see the
+game. And of course good old Dick can do as much for Laura Bentley and
+her mother. You'll come, of course, to root your hardest for the Navy,
+just as Laura will go and root for the Army. By the way, have you heard
+whether Dick and Greg expect to play on the Army eleven?"
+
+"When they were here this summer they said they hoped to play
+football with the Army. That's all I know, Dave, about the plans of
+Dick and Greg."
+
+"I hope they do play," cried Midshipman Darrin cheerily. "Even with two
+such old gridiron war horses as Dick and Greg against us, I believe that
+the Navy team, this year, has some fellows who can take the Army scalp
+with neatness and despatch."
+
+Dave rambled on, for some time now, with of the athletic doings at the
+Naval Academy. It was not that he was so much interested in the
+subject--at that particular moment--but it was certainly fine to have
+Belle Meade for an interested listener.
+
+"Well, you're half way through your course," put in Belle at last. "You
+passed your last annual examinations in June."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"How did you stand in your exams?"
+
+"I came through with honors," Dave declared unblushingly.
+
+"Honors?" repeated Belle delightedly. "Oh, Dave, I didn't know you were
+one of the honor men of your class."
+
+"Yes," laughed Midshipman Dave, though there was a decidedly serious look
+in his fine face. "Belle, I consider that any fellow who gets by the
+examiners has passed with honors. So we're all honor men that are now
+left in the class. Several of the poor fellows had to write home last
+June asking their parents for the price of a ticket homeward."
+
+"But, now that you've got half way through, you're pretty sure to go the
+rest of the way safely," Belle insisted.
+
+"That's almost too much of a brag to make, Belle. The truth is, no fellow
+is safe until he has been commissioned as an ensign, and that's at least
+two years after he has graduated from the Naval Academy. Why even after
+examination, you know, a fellow has to go to sea for two years, as a
+midshipman, and then take another and final examination at sea. A whole
+lot of fellows who managed to get through the Academy find themselves
+going to pieces on that examination at sea."
+
+"And then--" went on Belle.
+
+"Why, if a fellow can't pass his exams, he's dropped from the service."
+
+"After he has already graduated from Academy? That isn't fair," cried
+Belle Meade.
+
+"No, it isn't quite fair," assented Midshipman Dave, with a shrug of his
+shoulders. "Yet what is one going to do about it? It's all in the
+game--to take or leave."
+
+"Who ever made the Naval Academy and the service so hard as that?" the
+girl wanted to know.
+
+"Congress, I guess," laughed Dave, "but acting, very likely, on the
+advice of a lot of old admirals who are through themselves, and who
+expect the youngsters to know as much as the very admirals. Why, Belle,
+when I was a few years younger, and first began to dream about going to
+the Naval Academy I had a mental picture of a very jolly life, in which
+we sailed the seas and absorbed our knowledge. I had an idea that the
+midshipman's life was made up mainly of jolly larks ashore and afloat,
+with plenty of athletics to keep us from ever feeling dull. Of course, I
+knew we had to do some studying, but I didn't imagine the studies would
+be hard for a chap who had already gone through a good High School."
+
+"Your High School studies did help, didn't they?" demanded Belle.
+
+"They helped somewhat in the exams, to enter Annapolis, but they've never
+helped me with any of the studies that I've had to tackle as a
+midshipman."
+
+"Oh, well, you'll get through," the girl predicted with cheery
+confidence.
+
+"I shall, if it's really in me," Dave promised. "But I'm not going to do
+any bragging, Belle, until I'm safely through and have been out of the
+woods for a long time."
+
+"And you won't do any bragging then, either. It isn't in your line.
+What's Dan Dalzell going to do while he's home on leave?"
+
+"Sleep, he says."
+
+"The lazy boy!"
+
+"No, he's a tired boy, Belle. I think the past year has been even just a
+little harder on him than it has on me. However, of course Dan won't
+really sleep. He'll be out by this afternoon. Just now I imagine that
+he's talking like wildfire with his mother."
+
+It was a wrong guess, however. Just then the telephone sounded in the
+next room, and Belle went to answer it.
+
+"It's your shipmate, Dan," she called laughingly. "He wants to talk with
+you, Dave."
+
+"I wonder how the fellow ever guessed that I was here," smiled Darrin, as
+he hastily joined Belle at the 'phone.
+
+"Hello," hailed Dalzell at the other end of the wire. "Going to do
+anything in particular this afternoon, David, little giant?"
+
+"Yes; I hope to make myself more or less agreeable to Miss Meade."
+
+"A small crowd won't be any bar to that, eh?" Dan wanted to know.
+
+"Not if the crowd and the occasion are agreeable to Miss Meade."
+
+"Well, you know Foss and Canty?"
+
+"Two of our old High School boys? Yes."
+
+"Foss has a new gasoline launch; he says it's a beauty, and he wants us
+to invite Miss Meade and Miss Bentley, to join them and a couple of the
+former High School girls for a couple of hours' cruise on the river.
+What say you?"
+
+"What does Belle say, you mean. Wait a moment, and I'll ask her."
+
+Darrin explained the invitation.
+
+"Why, if it will be pleasant for you, Dave, I shall be delighted to go,"
+Belle answered.
+
+"It's all right," Dave called back over the 'phone. "What's the hour for
+the start!"
+
+"Two o'clock," Dan answered.
+
+"All right, then; will you ask Laura Bentley, or shall we, from here?"
+
+"I've already asked Laura," Dalzell replied. "She accepted on condition
+that Belie did. Now I'll ring up Laura and tell her that it's all
+arranged."
+
+"It'll be a pleasant trip for you, won't it!" inquired Belle,
+half-anxiously. "Or do you get too much of boats in your working year?"
+
+"I shall be glad to be anywhere that you are," Dave replied
+gallantly. "The form of entertainment doesn't matter to me as long as
+it appeals to you."
+
+At two o'clock the young people met at the float of the Boat Club house
+on the river's bank.
+
+On the way across town Dave had been noting the direction and force of
+the wind. He didn't altogether like it, but didn't say anything. At the
+float he found Tom Foss, Ab Canty, Ella Wright and Susie Danes awaiting
+the midshipmen and their fair companions.
+
+"All ready and waiting for you amateur sailors," called Foss laughingly.
+"And here's the boat. Say, isn't she really a beauty?"
+
+"Good lines," nodded Dave Darrin. "And she looks speedy. But you've
+changed your mind about going out this afternoon, haven't you, Foss?"
+
+"Why?" demanded the young fellow, in very evident astonishment.
+
+"Look at the water," responded Dave, pointing to the white-caps, which
+were running rather high for an inland stream.
+
+"Pooh! You're not afraid of a little foam on top of the water, are you?"
+demanded Foss.
+
+"The waves are running pretty high for the inches of freeboard that your
+boat has," remarked Darrin quietly. "And look at the sky to windward.
+There's a bit more blow coming out of those clouds yet."
+
+"Say, what do they teach you at Annapolis?" grinned Foss. "To go sailing
+only in calm weather?"
+
+"Since you ask," Dave replied as quietly as before, though a slight flush
+mounted to his face, "one of the things they teach us at the Naval
+Academy is consideration for women. Now, if just we four fellows were
+going out, I wouldn't say a word."
+
+"Don't think we girls are afraid," broke in Belle with spirit.
+
+"I'm well aware that you're not afraid," Darrin replied turning and
+looking at her. "But I'm afraid, Belle of what I might think of myself
+afterwards, if I were a party to taking you out in this boat when the
+river is running so much to whitecaps."
+
+"Do you think the boat is one of the kind that will turn turtle and sink
+the crowd?" demanded Tom Foss, flushing in turn. "I tell you, Darrin, the
+craft is as tight and sound, and as manageable, as any boat of her length
+to be found anywhere on fresh water."
+
+"She is a fine boat," Dave assented; "but I don't feel like being
+responsible for what may happen to the young lady who is more especially
+under my escort and care. There's too big a chance of danger this
+afternoon, Foss."
+
+"Pooh, Mr. Sailor!" laughed Ella Wright. "I'll show you that some
+folks who don't know what Annapolis looks like are not frightened by
+toy waves."
+
+Miss Ella thereupon stepped into the launch and seated herself. Miss
+Susie followed.
+
+"Aren't you people going?" asked Ab Canty.
+
+"I'm not going if Dave considers it so unwise that he'd be worried about
+our safety," Belle answered promptly.
+
+"Going, Laura?" called Foss.
+
+"No, though I thank you," Miss Bentley replied. "If Mr. Darrin objects
+on the score of safety I'm not going to torment him by disregarding
+his opinion."
+
+"I'm of about the same opinion as Darrin, if anyone cares to know,"
+broke in Dan Dalzell.
+
+Tom Foss looked at the other half of his party quizzically, then
+called to Canty.
+
+"Cast off, Ab. Ha, ha! I never thought to see United States sailors and
+embryo Naval officers so much afraid of a little tossing water."
+
+Chug-chug! Ella and Susie were laughing a bit teasingly as the motor
+started and the little craft darted away from the float and took to the
+waves beyond.
+
+Dave did not answer. Instead, he gripped Dan's nearer wrist, muttering:
+
+"Don't you say it, Danny!"
+
+"Say what?"
+
+"Whatever hot words were coming to your lips. As long as we feel that
+we're right in not risking Belle and Laura, never mind what the others
+think and say."
+
+"This breeze is so fine," suggested Laura, "what do you say if we seat
+ourselves here and watch the river for a while?"
+
+Accordingly the four young people seated themselves. The launch was the
+only craft in sight that was away from her moorings. A sailboat and three
+canoes lay tied to the lee side of the float, that is the off-side from
+the weather. Even they rocked a good deal.
+
+"What kind of weather is coming?" asked Belle.
+
+"It's going to be pretty squally, in all probability," spoke up
+Midshipman Dan. "Do you see the big puffs of wind in the clouds yonder?"
+
+"It must take a sailor to see that sort of thing," remarked Belle. "What
+I see in the cloud looks like big, fluffy masses of cotton, streaked with
+something darker."
+
+"That's the wind," nodded Dave Darrin. "Now, girls, I don't want you to
+think me a muff. That wind may swerve, and not come this way, although in
+all probability the wind will get this way and the water will be rougher.
+If it does get rougher on the river, and if we had taken you two out, and
+the boat had capsized, then by some chance we might not have been able to
+get you to shore. What would your folks then say to us if we had had the
+miserable luck to survive you?"
+
+"You did just right," Laura declared promptly. "To tell the truth, I
+didn't want to disappoint either of you boys this afternoon, but I didn't
+believe the wind was quiet enough for boating on the river. But mother
+reminded me that I was going with two young men who had been trained as
+sailors, and that I ought to be as safe as I would in the home parlor."
+
+"Well, aren't you?" smiled Belle Meade.
+
+"Did you really want to go out on the river, Belle?" Dave asked.
+
+"Not when you don't believe it to be safe."
+
+"I suppose Foss will be joking around town about our being afraid of the
+water," muttered; Dan.
+
+"What do you care!" asked Dave quietly. "You're responsible to the
+United States Government--not to a few private citizens on the streets
+of Gridley."
+
+"You'll take us out on the water before your leave is over, won't you?"
+urged Belle.
+
+"A dozen of times, if you care to go," Dave; replied quickly.
+
+"In a sailboat?" quizzed Belle. "It must; be great fun to sail, and I've
+never been in a sailboat."
+
+"I'd rather take you out in a good, solid rowboat," Dave answered slowly.
+
+"Why, haven't you had much sailboat practice at Annapolis yet?"
+
+"We've had some," Darrin nodded. "But I'm afraid I don't believe much in
+small sailboats for girls' parties."
+
+"Oh, very well."
+
+"Now, Belle, you will begin to believe that I'm a muff at heart," Darrin
+remonstrated.
+
+"I won't anyway, Dave," Laura broke in. "I can see that you're merely
+determined that we shall take no risks when we go out with you. I shall
+feel very safe in whatever you propose for water sports."
+
+"It's a good deal better to be safe, than sorry, when you have girls
+under your care," Dan Dalzell added.
+
+The motor boat, a fast though a low-hulled craft, had been long out of
+sight up the river. Presently there came a new turn to the wind. Dan wet
+a forefinger and held it up to the breeze.
+
+"I hope Foss has sense enough to run in somewhere and tie up until the
+coming squall blows over," Dalzell remarked.
+
+"Are we going to have a storm?" Belle asked quickly.
+
+"Not rain, if that's what you mean," Darrin replied. "But I believe the
+river is going to be pretty rough before long."
+
+Ere two minutes more had passed Dave suddenly rose and
+straightened himself.
+
+"Look downstream, girls," he cried. "Do you see the big rollers coming?"
+
+In truth the surface of the river was now beginning to behave in an
+unusual way. Where, heretofore, the water had been choppy and
+whitecapped, the water now broke in longer, foam-crested waves. Owing to
+the course of the wind the waves were rolling upstream. Within five
+minutes from the time when Dave first called attention to the rougher
+water the waves had considerably increased in size.
+
+"Oh, I'm glad I'm not out on the water," shivered Laura.
+
+"So am I," Belle admitted candidly.
+
+"Do you believe Tom Foss can bring his boat down against such waves!"
+Laura inquired.
+
+"Oh, no doubt, he has had sense enough to run in somewhere and tie up,"
+predicted Midshipman Dan charitably.
+
+"I hope so," murmured Belle. "But Tom is an awfully stubborn fellow."
+
+Toot! too-oo-oot! sounded a whistle up the river.
+
+"By ginger, there comes Foss's boat now!" muttered Dan, standing up and
+staring. "Why doesn't the idiot make land?"
+
+"He's got his craft away on the other side of the river, looking for
+quieter water," muttered Dave uneasily.
+
+"Well, isn't that right?" asked Belle.
+
+"Right, yes, unless he makes the mistake of trying to cross the
+stream," nodded Darrin. "Then he'll run his craft into the trough of
+the sea, and--"
+
+"Well, what?" demanded Belle as Dave paused.
+
+"Then, when he's in the trough, a big wave may roll his small boat
+over," Dan finished for his comrade.
+
+"Do you really think there's danger of that?" demanded Laura,
+looking anxious.
+
+"I don't know," murmured Dave. "But I wish I had some way of signaling
+Foss, some way so that he could understand the signals."
+
+"What good would it do?" demanded Midshipman Dalzell, grimly. "Tom would
+only laugh and say it was more old maidishness on the part of Navy men."
+
+"There--confound the idiot!" suddenly blazed Dave Darrin. "He is
+crossing. Look at that boat wallow in the trough. Jupiter! There she goes
+over--nearly!"
+
+All four young people on the float held their breath for an instant. The
+motor launch, after almost having turned turtle, righted itself.
+
+"I wish I were at the wheel of the boat for about three minutes,"
+muttered Darrin hoarsely.
+
+At that moment Laura and Belle both screamed, while Dan Dalzell shouted:
+
+"There she goes--for sure, this time!"
+
+A bigger wave than usual had half filled the launch and caused it to
+careen. Before the little craft could right itself a second and a third
+wave, rolling along, had completed the work. The launch had sunk!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+PROVING THEIR TRAINING
+
+
+In the same instant, without a word to each other, Dave Darrin and
+Dalzell had done the same thing. That is, they started to run and at the
+same time doffed coats and vests, leaving these garments to flutter
+behind them.
+
+As they reached the sailboat both midshipmen cast off their shoes. Dave
+leaped into the boat while Dalzell threw off the bowline, then boarded.
+
+Like a flash both youngsters went at the lashings of the mainsail.
+
+"There isn't a reef in," Dan discovered. "Going to take time for a close
+reef, Dave?"
+
+"There isn't time," Darrin muttered, with drops of cold perspiration on
+his forehead as he toiled. "We'll have to go out under a full sail, Dan."
+
+"Great Scott!" muttered Dalzell.
+
+"We may be too late to save any one as it is. There! Jump to the halyard.
+I've got the sheet."
+
+Dan Dalzell began to hoist with a will. In an incredibly short time he
+had the sail hoisted all the way up, while Darrin, stern and whitefaced,
+crouched and braced himself by the tiller, gripping the sheet with his
+left hand.
+
+In a twinkling Darrin had the wind in his canvas. They had nearly a fair
+wind as they bounded away from the float.
+
+During these few instants of preparation neither Belle nor Laura had
+spoken. Both girls realized the gravity of the situation, and they knew
+that a word from them might distract the rescuers from the work in hand.
+
+Knowing that he had the high, fast wind with him, Dave steered straight
+for the last spot where he had seen the motor launch. Though the boat was
+no longer visible, and the distance too great for seeing the heads of the
+swimmers, if there were any, Darrin had taken his bearings by trees on
+the further shore upstream.
+
+At first, to keep the sailboat from capsizing, the young skipper at
+the helm let the sheet well out. Then, when Dan hurriedly rejoined
+him, Darrin passed the sheet over to his comrade as to one who would
+know exactly what to do with it. Dan perched himself on the weather
+gunwale, his weight there serving as ballast to keep the craft from
+capsizing. Yet, even so, everything had to be done with the utmost
+skill, for, with the mainsail up, the least fluke in handling the boat
+would send her over.
+
+"We've got to go fast and take all the chances," muttered Dave.
+
+"Sure," nodded Midshipman Dan understandingly. "It would be no great
+scare to us if we did heel over into the drink. It might mean a different
+story, though, for those who are already sopping up the wet."
+
+"Aren't they splendid fellows?" cried Laura.
+
+"Yes," answered Belle, her eyes snapping and her face glowing. "Though I
+won't claim that they're any finer than your own West Point boys."
+
+That brought an added flush to the color in Laura Bentley's face, and her
+eyes sparkled her gratitude, for Dick Prescott, now at West Point with
+his chum, Greg Holmes, had been her High School sweetheart, and doubtless
+was to become her Army sweetheart after he had made sure of his career.
+
+"Dave and Dan are experts," glowed Miss Bentley. "They'll know just
+what to do."
+
+"They're better than mere experts," returned Belle Meade. "They're strong
+and manly to the core, and with them there's no such word as fear when
+there's a duty to be done."
+
+Both Dave and Dan were peering fixedly ahead all the time that they drove
+the sailboat toward the scene of the late disaster.
+
+"I think I see a head," cried Darrin.
+
+"Boy or girl!" demanded Midshipman Dalzell.
+
+"Can't tell at this distance. And now the next wave has blotted out what
+I thought I saw."
+
+"We've got to be patient," uttered Dan.
+
+The position of the midshipmen was far from being free of danger. With
+all their coolness and their undoubted skill in boat handling, there was
+grave danger, with the mainsail set, that, at any instant, wind and wave
+would capsize the boat.
+
+Indeed, Dave was running the lee gunwale under water half the
+time, trusting to the human ballast supplied by his comrade to
+keep them afloat.
+
+"See anything now?" demanded Dave.
+
+"No," uttered Dan, "though I'm working my eyes three shifts to try to
+make out something. I'll have to go to an oculist as soon as I get
+through with this. This eyestrain is awful."
+
+Midshipman Dan Dalzell was really unconscious of the fact that
+he was joking. It was second nature with him; he would have
+jested--unconsciously--with death in its most awful form.
+
+"There, I see a head--two of them!" cried Midshipman Dave suddenly, as he
+half rose and pointed.
+
+"Hurrah!"--from Dan.
+
+Dan let the boat's head fall off a point in order that he might see
+better around the mast on the weather side, just where he must head his
+craft in the last dash in.
+
+"It's Foss and Ella Wright," called Dan, as the flying sailboat got in
+closer over the foam-crested waves. "No, it isn't; Foss has Susie."
+
+"Can you make out Canty and Ella?" demanded Darrin hoarsely.
+
+"Not a sign, Dave. Maybe he's gone under trying to save Ella."
+
+"Canty was one of our Gridley High School boys, so I'd expect him to have
+both the nerve and the grace to go down with a girl, if he couldn't save
+her as well as himself," muttered Darrin.
+
+"There's Canty, just come up!"
+
+"Can you make out Ella's head?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Look hard."
+
+"I don't see her, and--there!"
+
+"What's up?"
+
+"Nothing," returned Dalzell soberly. "Canty's down--just gone down
+again."
+
+"I hope he's gone down trying to find and rescue Ella," murmured Dave.
+
+They were now so close that the young midshipmen would have been able to
+hear the shouts of the imperiled ones had it not been that the wind blew
+the sounds of voices away from the would-be rescuers.
+
+"Better ease off the sheet a bit, I guess, Davy," called Dan, as he
+suited the action to the word. "We don't went to run 'em down."
+
+"No."
+
+As he spoke, Dave Darrin brought the boat slightly around. They were now
+close enough to see that Tom Foss was supporting dead weight in the
+person of Susie, who was unconscious.
+
+"Waiting the word from you on the sheet, Davy," nodded Dan, as the boat
+drew close to the only pair of survivors now visible.
+
+"Let go the sheet!" called Dave an instant later, and Dan let it run off
+clear, handing the end of the rope to Darrin.
+
+"Can you head Susie this way, Foss?" Dalzell called.
+
+"I'd rather have help," came the faint answer. Tom Foss was evidently
+well spent by his exertions in keeping up the girl so long.
+
+Splash! Dan Dalzell was in the water, without waiting to hear more. The
+athletic young midshipman swam with a steadiness and speed that was
+glorious to see. Many an excellent swimmer, in smooth water, would dread
+buffeting with such waves as were now rolling.
+
+Dave Darrin, meanwhile, held on to the tiller and the paid-out sheet,
+ready to manoeuvre the now pitching, rolling boat at an instant's notice.
+It took all his seamanship to keep the craft afloat, though the sailboat
+was far better modeled for such water than the motor launch had been.
+
+"Give her over to me, and save yourself," commanded Dalzell cheerily, as
+he reached Tom Foss. "Think you can make it, old fellow?"
+
+"If I can't, I ought to drown," retorted Tom Foss, as he struck out, none
+too strongly. "This is all my fault. You fellows gave me better advice
+than I had sense to follow."
+
+Dan, with a skill that he had acquired directly from the excellent
+instruction given him by the swimming master at the Naval Academy, was
+now piloting the unconscious form of Susie Danes toward the sailboat.
+
+Even encumbered as he was, Dan made the boat before Tom Foss could
+accomplish that feat alone. Truth to tell, Foss was very nearly "all in."
+Had rescue been delayed a few moments longer, Foss and his fair companion
+must have sunk.
+
+"Get hold of her, Davy," called Dan, as he ranged up on the weather side
+of the tossing boat.
+
+Darrin promptly leaned over and lifted the unconscious girl into the
+boat. By the time he had done that Tom Foss reached up both hands,
+seizing the boat's stern.
+
+"Going to help me in?" he called.
+
+"I don't know," Dave answered dubiously.
+
+"If we can find Ella Wright there may not be room. With such a sea
+running, this boat won't hold many."
+
+"No matter about me, then," muttered Tom. "If Ella isn't found right away
+I don't believe I care about going back to Gridley."
+
+Dave's response was swiftly to knot a noose and let it down over Tom's
+shoulders. The other end of the line he made fast astern. Dalzell, in the
+meantime, had swum back again. Susie Danes lay as still as death in the
+bottom of the boat.
+
+As Dalzell got back where he had first reached Foss and Susie, he espied
+the head of Ab Canty some distance away.
+
+"Ab!" called Dan.
+
+"Here!"
+
+"What has become of Ella?"
+
+"Oh, I wish I knew!"
+
+"Was she afloat at all!" demanded Dan, swimming nearer.
+
+"Yes; I kept her up for a couple of minutes, maybe. Then she got more
+scared, wound her arms tight around me, and we both sank. We had a
+struggle under water. I freed myself, but when I came to the top I found
+that my hand was clutching nothing but her empty jersey. There it is
+now," chattered Ab, his teeth, knocking against each other, as he pointed
+to the garment in question on the top of a distant wave. Then Ab sank.
+
+For just an instant Dalzell thought Canty had gone below on purpose. Dan
+swam closer, to be of assistance. Then he saw the bubbles of air coming
+up rapidly.
+
+"Cantys given out--he's going to drown!" gasped Midshipman Dan,
+with horror.
+
+Like a flash Dan dived below, found and clutched at Canty. The young man
+returned the grip with interest, but Midshipman Dalzell struggled to the
+surface with him. Ab Canty was exhausted, out of his head and altogether
+past reasoning. Dan hated to do it, but he had to strike the young man in
+the forehead. Canty gave a gasp and ceased to resist.
+
+Dave Darrin, watching, had run the boat up close alongside as soon as the
+struggling pair appeared above the waves.
+
+"You'll have to take him in, Davy," announced Midshipman Dalzell. "Canty
+isn't strong enough to tow behind. And I'm coming aboard for a fresh look
+before I dive for Miss Wright."
+
+"You're going to stay aboard and manage the boat," retorted Darrin
+quietly. "I'm going in next."
+
+"Oh, all right, if you want to," half grumbled Dan. "But I'm just
+beginning to get used to it and to like it."
+
+Dan, however, followed orders and took his seat by tiller and sheet as
+soon as they had towed Canty safely in the boat. Tom Foss, lied and
+holding on at the stern, was beginning to chatter hard, but said he was
+all right.
+
+A brief instant of consultation the two midshipmen held. Then Dave
+Darrin, holding his hands before him, dived hard and deep into the water.
+
+After nearly a minute he came up again, but only to take an observation.
+Then he sank, to explore more of the space under water.
+
+For five minutes Darrin continued this, making four dives in all, and
+sinking twice without diving.
+
+"I can't give this up, and abandon a girl," he muttered. "Dan, I've got
+to take more account of the current, and work gradually downstream."
+
+A little later Dave rose with a whoop the instant that his head showed
+above the water.
+
+"I've got her," Dave announced, though his voice was hoarse and panting.
+
+"Hurrah!" came from Dan, as he saw the girl's head show above the
+surface. Dalzell, hauling on the sheet, ran the boat in close. Dave
+grasped at the rail on the weather quarter, while Dan bent over him,
+hauling hard. And so Ella Wright was dragged unconscious into the boat.
+
+"I'd stay here in the water with you, Tom," explained Dave, "but I've got
+to be in the boat to do my share of handling her."
+
+"Th-th-that's all r-r-r-r-right," chattered poor Foss, "I'm d-d-d-doing
+f-f-f-fine here--c-c-c-couldn't h-help in the b-b-b-boat"
+
+While lying to, it had taken some fine management on the part of the
+midshipmen to keep the sailboat from capsizing. And now, on this rough,
+wave-strewn river, they had to tack back against a nearly head wind.
+
+"Look at the crowd on the clubhouse float," gasped Dan as soon as the
+Naval chums had gotten their craft under way.
+
+"Good thing," muttered Darrin. "We'll need plenty of help."
+
+"I wonder how the crowd got wind of the thing in such short time?"
+
+"You forget," nudged Darrin, "that there's a telephone in the clubhouse.
+Laura and Belle are not given to losing their heads. Undoubtedly they've
+been 'phoning to Gridley."
+
+"Then they can't have overlooked the need of physicians," ventured Dan,
+"especially as Laura is the daughter of one."
+
+As the boat drew nearer to the float the noise of cheers was borne to the
+ears of the midshipmen.
+
+"More of the hero racket," uttered Dan disgustedly.
+
+"I hope this won't get into the newspapers," grunted Darrin in a tone of
+something like real alarm. "Say, the fellows of the brigade wouldn't do
+a thing but make us mount chairs and read all the fulsome gush about
+this rescue."
+
+"And then, after we'd finished a straight reading," groaned Dan, "we'd
+have to sing it next, to the tune of 'Columbia, the Pride of the Ocean.'"
+
+"'Gem of the Ocean,' Dan," Darrin corrected.
+
+Though in the middle of the river the sailboat had many a close shave
+from capsizing in the strong puffs of wind, especially with the load that
+the little craft carried, yet Dan Dalzell, at the tiller, brought the
+boat at last in under the lee side of the float, and there a score of
+pairs of willing hands reached out with offers of help.
+
+Dr. Bentley was in the crowd, as were two other Gridley physicians. There
+were also two trained nurses, and one of the druggists had brought along
+a big emergency box of drugs and supplies. Between them the telephone and
+the automobile can accomplish a lot in these modern times.
+
+Laura and Belle, though they had summoned the aid, now kept tactfully in
+the background.
+
+The two apparently drowned girls were lifted from the boat in haste and
+borne to a room that had been made ready on the second floor of the
+clubhouse. Ab Canty was carried to another room, and Tom Foss, who nearly
+shook to pieces when lifted from the water, was helped after his friend.
+
+"You two young midshipmen will have to come inside and get some of our
+attention," called Dr. Bentley in an authoritative voice.
+
+"I think not, thank you, doctor," replied Dave Darrin. "The most that we
+want is some place where we can strip and rub down, while waiting for dry
+clothing."
+
+"I know just the room, and I'll take you there," urged Len Spencer,
+reporter for the "Morning Blade." Len was an old friend of Dick Prescott,
+who, in his High School days before going to West Point, had worked as an
+amateur space reporter for the "Blade."
+
+Len led the way gladly. While Dan and Dave stripped and rubbed down, Len
+got out of them the whole account of what they had been through.
+Reporter Spencer had already talked with Belle and Laura. A man in an
+auto had already started for the homes of the two midshipmen, to obtain
+changes of clothing for them.
+
+"Now, Len," begged Dave, "don't spread on a lot of taffy. Don't smother
+us under the hero racket."
+
+"But it was an heroic thing," Len argued. "And, besides, it was done with
+great skill, of the kind that you've gained at the Naval Academy. It
+makes a corking, elegant story about two of our brightest Gridley lads."
+
+"But, Len, do you realize that the fellows at the Naval Academy will make
+us read aloud to them this yarn you're proposing to write about us--that
+is, if they happen to hear about it?"
+
+"And then, after we've read the yarn straight, they'll make us sing it
+all to some blamed old tune or another," groaned Dalzell.
+
+"Well, I can't help it," sighed good-natured Len. "It's a story we've got
+to have to-morrow morning. I'd lose my position if I didn't write a good
+story about this afternoon's work. And, now that I've got a wife and baby
+to feed, I can't afford to waste any good time in job-hunting."
+
+"Then I hope none of the other fellows at the Naval Academy hear about
+the 'Blade's' story," gulped Dan, as he wrapped himself in a blanket
+while waiting for his dry clothes.
+
+"Hear about it?" retorted Len. "They'll hear about it, all right. The
+Associated Press man at Gridley will be sure to send something about it
+to the papers all over the country."
+
+"I guess we've got to take our medicine, Danny," hinted Midshipman
+Dave Darrin.
+
+In the meantime Tom Foss was soon comfortable, wrapped up in blankets and
+with plenty of coffee inside him. Nor did it take long to bring Ab Canty
+around. In three quarters of an hour Susie Danes opened her eyes.
+
+As for Ella Wright, the physicians and nurses worked over her long and
+earnestly, and were on the point of giving her up when at last a flutter
+of her eyelids was seen.
+
+By night time all of the young people were quite out of danger, but the
+parents of the Wright and Danes families were highly indignant over the
+recklessness of Tom Foss in taking the girls out on the river in such a
+heavy wind.
+
+Three days later even the launch was saved; that is, it was raised and
+was towed to a boat-builder for overhauling and repairs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE TROUBLE-MAKING FOP
+
+
+The story that Len Spencer wrote for the "Blade" was "worse" than the
+midshipmen had expected. That is, the newspaper made them out to be
+heroes of some rare, solid-gold type. To add to the trouble, the
+story, in a condensed form, was printed broadcast by the dailies all
+over the country.
+
+"We can't hope to keep it quiet, Danny boy," groaned Dave when the two
+chums met the next morning.
+
+"No," sighed Dan. "The most we can hope for is to be allowed to
+live it down."
+
+"And I'm much afraid that we've got to stand for a lot more of gush this
+afternoon," continued Darrin.
+
+"At the reception? Oh, yes! I wish we could desert the town and get away
+somewhere to hide."
+
+The affair for the afternoon was a reception for which Laura Bentley had
+sent out hurried invitations to a lot of the former High School boys and
+girls of Gridley. Though Laura was more especially interested in the U.
+S. Military Academy at West Point--because Dick Prescott was there--yet
+she did not show undue partiality to the Army.
+
+"I'm sorry Laura didn't wait a fortnight," Dan continued.
+
+"Oh, well, she doesn't understand," Dave urged.
+
+"You're going, of course?"
+
+"I surely am. I wouldn't slight that splendid girl. She's a whole lot to
+me, Danny boy, both for her own sake and Dick Prescott's."
+
+Even the short stroll, however, between Belle Meade's home and Laura's,
+was bound to bring Dave Darrin again into the unwished-for limelight.
+
+He and Belle had turned into Main Street together, and were walking
+along, chatting, when Belle's eyes flashed suddenly.
+
+"There's that horrid wretch Ardmore," she murmured in an undertone.
+
+"Don't believe I know him," Darrin returned.
+
+"Then you haven't been deprived of much," replied Belle, in a tone that
+was very nearly bitter. "I've been meaning to tell you about him, Dave,
+but other matters have been cropping up and it has escaped me until now."
+
+"What's wrong with Ardmore?" asked Dave.
+
+"He's posing as an admirer of mine."
+
+"I can't quarrel with his taste," smiled Darrin.
+
+"But he annoys me."
+
+"Has he dared to do that?" demanded Dave, a quick flash in his eyes.
+
+"Not in any way that it would be easy to resent," Belle assured him.
+
+"Who is this fellow Ardmore?"
+
+"He appears to be a gentleman--at least in his ordinary conduct," Belle
+Meade answered. "He moved here last spring with his parents. The father
+is a retired lawyer, and wealthy. The Ardmores move in a rather good set
+in town. About a month ago Caspar Ardmore, the young man, met me at a
+church affair. Ever since then he has all but waylaid me. Several times
+he has tried to walk with me when we met, and has often tried to see me
+home from church or elsewhere. I've been almost downright rude to him,
+and have shown him in every way I can that I don't wish to continue
+acquaintance. But he's hard to discourage."
+
+"He hasn't insulted you?" asked Dave quietly.
+
+"Oh, dear, no! If he had, I think I might have been able to startle him
+somewhat," laughed Belle, who had a "temper" when it was necessary to
+have one. As she spoke she raised her eyes, glancing ahead.
+
+"There, he has stopped, and looks almost as though he were waiting for
+us," she added.
+
+"There's an ugly scowl on his face, too."
+
+Dave Darrin looked ahead at the foppish, rather good-looking, tall and
+slender young man of some twenty-six years.
+
+"I hope he isn't going to be troublesome," murmured Dave. "I don't want
+to have to fight with him--at least, not when you're along with me."
+
+As they neared Ardmore, Dave continued to look at the young man quietly,
+steadily, frankly. Ardmore seemed trying to ignore the gaze, and looked,
+instead, at Belle.
+
+Just as the young couple reached him, Ardmore raised his hat, at the same
+time stepping forward so that he blocked Belle's progress.
+
+"Good afternoon, Miss Meade," was Ardmore's greeting. "I was on my way to
+your house when I saw you. Mother has some tickets for a concert at the
+Sorosis rooms, and is unable to use them this afternoon. So I have come
+to ask you if you will not honor me with your company at the concert?"
+
+"Thank you, no," Belle answered coldly. "And I would also like to make it
+plain, Mr. Ardmore, since you make it necessary, that I do not wish your
+company at any time or place. I am sorry to have to speak so plainly."
+
+A deep flush dyed the cheeks of the fop. But he was not so easily
+discouraged.
+
+"I had intended to call this evening, Miss Meade. I am to have a box at
+the theatre."
+
+"You may call anywhere you wish," Belle retorted, her eyes flashing,
+"provided it is not at my home."
+
+"Oh, I am very much afraid that you are annoyed with me," cried Ardmore.
+
+"I am," Belle admitted. "Mr. Ardmore, will you do me the very great favor
+of ceasing your attempts at acquaintance?"
+
+"Acquaintance? Why, we're already very well acquainted, Miss Meade; in
+fact, I had hoped that we were, by this time, the most excellent friends.
+If this gentleman," with a sidelong look at Dave, "will excuse us, Miss
+Meade, will you stroll along with me and tell me in what way I may have
+offended you without intending anything of the sort?"
+
+Dave, who had remained quiet, now felt called upon to interpose.
+
+"Sir," he demanded, "will you observe Miss Meade's request and take
+yourself away?"
+
+"And what have you to say about this?" demanded Ardmore sneeringly.
+
+"The young lady is under my protection."
+
+"I have offered her mine."
+
+"And Miss Meade has just told you that you will please her most by
+keeping away from her at all times," replied Darrin quietly but firmly.
+
+"What? After all the good times she and I have enjoyed together?"
+demanded Ardmore, as though astounded beyond measure.
+
+"I? Good times with you?" cried Belle, her cheeks flaming. "I've never
+even spoken to you when I could avoid it."
+
+"That's false!" cried young Ardmore hotly.
+
+"Stop, right there!" warned Dave Darrin in a quieter voice than ever,
+though his face paled swiftly. "Did I understand you to remark that Miss
+Meade had made a false statement?"
+
+"You did!"
+
+Whack! Darrin's clenched right fist caught the fop on the temple, felling
+him to the ground.
+
+"Go right on to Laura's, Belle," begged Dave quickly. "I'll be
+along soon."
+
+Miss Meade walked rapidly ahead.
+
+Ardmore was on his feet in an instant. Not wanting in a certain amount
+of animal courage, he rushed at Dave, only to be met with a blow in
+the mouth that floored him again. The fop's lip was cut and bleeding
+when he rose.
+
+"You cur!" bellowed the fellow.
+
+"The opinion of a person like you can't matter very much," Dave
+retorted coolly.
+
+A little crowd was beginning to gather. Dave's pallor increased, for his
+very soul writhed at the thought of having Belle's name involved in a
+brawl in this fashion.
+
+"You're a--" began Ardmore, but Dave Darrin moved quickly up to him.
+
+"Do you retract the statement you made?" demanded the midshipman in a
+low voice.
+
+"I retract nothing," quivered Ardmore. "I repeat, and repeat--"
+
+Dave closed in like lightning, Ardmore attempted to guard himself, but he
+was all but helpless before such a fast, trained hitter as Dave. The fop
+went down under two well-aimed blows delivered almost together.
+
+Once more Ardmore leaped to his feet, while Darrin disdainfully
+awaited him.
+
+But two or three men in the crowd leaped between the enemies, forcing
+the fop back.
+
+"Don't be a fool, Ardmore!" urged one of the men, speaking in the
+fellow's ear. "That's Midshipman Dave Darrin, and he's one of the
+quickest, hardest hitters in Gridley."
+
+"Oh, that's the midshipman, is it?" demanded Ardmore in a sneering voice.
+"Oh, well, then, I won't hit him again. I know another way of making his
+skin smart."
+
+Dave tarried only long enough to make sure that the fop did not care to
+carry the encounter further. Then, turning on his heel, he walked rapidly
+in the direction Belle had taken. He overtook that young lady before she
+reached the Bentley home.
+
+[Illustration: Darrin's Blow Felled the Fop to the Ground.]
+
+"If the fellow intends to trouble you again, I hope he'll do it before
+my leave is finished," spoke Dave quietly. "I think I've given him a
+little lesson, Belle, though there's no telling how long it will last
+with inferior animals of Ardmore's type."
+
+"He's a spiteful fellow, Dave. You must be on your guard against him,"
+Belle urged.
+
+"I guess Ardmore is wishing his own guard had been more effective,"
+smiled the midshipman.
+
+Caspar Ardmore was "busy" within an hour after Dave's summary handling of
+him. Ardmore had never been considered a truly bad fellow, though he was
+foppish, conceited and wholly unable to understand why anything that he
+wanted should be denied him. Belle was now two years beyond her High
+School days, and had developed into a most attractive young woman.
+Ardmore had fallen victim to her charms and had decided that he would
+make a better husband for her than any Naval officer could. Hence the
+young dandy had pursued Miss Meade with his attentions; upon finding her
+with Dave, he had hoped, in his foolish way, to put an end to Darrin's
+pretensions.
+
+Ardmore, therefore, having met only disaster, was now engaged in drawing
+up a complaint to be sent to the Secretary of the Navy, complaining that
+he had been set upon and treated with severe physical violence by
+Midshipman Darrin.
+
+Nor was there great difficulty in finding three men, out of the small
+crowd that had witnessed the assault, to swear to affidavits that they
+had seen Darrin knock Caspar Ardmore down repeatedly.
+
+All this "evidence" Ardmore got together with great relish, and mailed
+the mass of stuff, that same night, to the Secretary of the Navy at
+Washington.
+
+Then Ardmore went out of town for three days. Behind him he left an
+active toady who promised to keep watch of matters and to advise him.
+
+It was through this toady that Dave received an intimation that his case
+would be attended to at Washington. Belle, also, received a hint, and
+with it she went to Darrin.
+
+"Can the fellow really make any trouble for you, Dave?" she asked
+anxiously.
+
+"Why, yes," admitted Dave. "Anyone can make trouble for a midshipman, to
+the extent that the charge must be investigated by the Navy Department.
+If the Secretary were satisfied that I am a reckless sort of bully, he
+would decide that I am unfit to be an officer of the Navy."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+IN THE VIEW OF THE NAVY DEPARTMENT
+
+
+Dave Darrin did not let the news of the charges disturb his outward
+serenity, though he was inwardly aware that perjured evidence might work
+great harm to his future career.
+
+Until he was advised by the Navy Department that charges had been made
+against him, he really could do nothing in the matter.
+
+But that letter from the Secretary was not long in coming. The letter
+informed Midshipman Darrin that he has been accused of severely
+assaulting a citizen without just provocation, and contained, also, some
+of the circumstances alleged by Caspar Ardmore. Dave was commanded to
+forward his defense promptly.
+
+This Darrin did, in a courteous answer, as briefly as he could properly
+make it. He admitted knocking Ardmore down, but stated that he did it in
+resenting an insult offered by Ardmore to a young lady under his
+(Darrin's) escort at the time.
+
+This letter he showed Belle.
+
+"It is the first step, on my side in the matter," he explained
+with a smile.
+
+"I should think the Secretary of the Navy ought to be satisfied with
+your answer and drop it at once," replied Belle.
+
+"He may."
+
+"But you think he won't?"
+
+"It is likely, Belle, that there will be a court of inquiry at least."
+
+"Oh, dear!" cried Belle, a few tears gleaming in her eyes now. "Why
+should so much fuss be made over the matter?"
+
+"Because I am being trained to be an officer in the Navy. An officer must
+be a gentleman as well. Any charge affecting a Naval officer's honor or
+courtesy must be investigated, in order that the government may know
+whether the accused is fit to hold an officer's commission. The
+government wouldn't be dealing justly with the people if such standards
+were not observed."
+
+"And I am the cause of all this trouble for you?" cried Belle.
+
+"No, Belle, you are not. You have nothing to do with the matter, except
+indirectly. Ardmore is the one responsible for the trouble. If he had not
+insulted you he wouldn't have gotten into any difficulty."
+
+"It seems too bad, just the same."
+
+"It's annoying; that's all," Dave assured her. "If I had to do the same
+thing over again, for the same reason, I'd do it cheerfully."
+
+Mrs. Meade heard of it all, from her daughter. Without saying a word as
+to her intentions the mother herself wrote a letter to the Secretary of
+the Navy. Mrs. Meade set forth the persistent fashion in which Ardmore
+had sought to force his attentions upon Belle, to the latter's great
+annoyance. Mrs. Meade's letter declared that Darrin had taken the only
+possible means of saving Belle from future annoyance. The mother's letter
+to the Secretary concluded by offering to procure statements from other
+people on the subject if the Secretary wished.
+
+Mrs. Meade received a prompt reply from Washington. The Secretary thanked
+her for her statements and expressed entire belief in them.
+
+By the same mail Caspar Ardmore, just returned to Gridley, received
+this letter:
+
+"Referring to your letter and complaint bearing date of September 6, the
+Department has to advise you that other statements have also been
+received bearing upon your accusations of an assault alleged to have been
+committed upon your person by Midshipman David Darrin.
+
+"It is claimed by the signers of other statements, including that of
+Midshipman Darrin, that you grossly insulted a young woman under his
+escort and completed the insult by accusing her of falsehood. If these
+statements be true, and there be no other important circumstances,
+except the assault, the Department begs to advise you that, had not
+Midshipman Darrin resented the gross insult tendered the woman under
+his protection, he would thereby, by such inaction, have rendered
+himself liable to dismissal from the Navy. It is always the first duty
+of a gentleman to afford ample protection to any woman under his
+escort and care.
+
+"Should you deny the statements quoted above in favor of Midshipman
+Darrin, and should you further desire to have the matter brought to issue
+before a duly appointed court of inquiry, before which you would be
+required to appear as a material witness, this Department will be glad so
+to be advised. If you do not make formal application for the appointment
+of such court of inquiry within the next few days, no further action will
+be taken in the matter. Very respectfully,
+
+"Your obedient servant,
+"(Signed) LEOK B. CHAMBERS,
+"_Secretary of the Navy_."
+
+As he read, and realized how flat his charge had fallen, Ardmore's face
+passed through several shades of red.
+
+"Of all the government red tape!" he muttered wrathfully. "I didn't think
+the fool Secretary would do anything like this. I thought he'd just call
+Darrin down hard and plenty, and perhaps bounce him out of the Naval
+Academy. Humph! I guess all these Navy folks stand together. There
+doesn't seem to be much justice about it."
+
+Ardmore thereupon took another vacation away from Gridley. A few days
+after he went Midshipman Darrin received a brief communication from the
+Secretary of the Navy, stating that no further action had been taken by
+the accuser, and that the Department was satisfied that the midshipman's
+conduct had been fully justified. Therefore the matter would not be
+called to the attention of the Naval Academy authorities for action.
+
+"So you see," smiled Dave, as he called at Belle's home and handed her
+the letter, "there is never any need to be worried until trouble breaks
+in earnest."
+
+"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Belle, her eyes shining with delight, "I hope
+you won't meet that Ardmore fellow again while you're home."
+
+"If I do," promised Dave, "I shall merely look over his head when we
+meet, unless he repeats the offense that brought him that thrashing."
+
+Ardmore, however, did not appear in Gridley again during Dave's leave
+of absence.
+
+Dave and Dan tasted, to the full, the delights of life in the old home
+town until the day when it was necessary for them to take train and
+return to Annapolis.
+
+"Mother, Laura and I will go down to Annapolis whenever we hear from
+you as to the best time for coming," Miss Meade promised at the
+railway station.
+
+Then she found chance to murmur, in a voice too low for any of the others
+present to hear:
+
+"And I'll try hard not to be such a goose as I was last winter!"
+
+She referred to the trouble that had been made by another girl at
+Annapolis, the circumstances of which are wholly familiar to the readers
+of the earlier volumes of this series.
+
+"I don't blame you for the way you felt last winter," Dave assured her
+heartily, "Next time, however, I hope you'll come to me first for an
+explanation."
+
+"There isn't going to be any next time, Dave."
+
+Three minutes later two midshipmen were being whirled through the city
+limits of Gridley.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+NAVY FOOTBALL IN THE AIR
+
+
+Back on the old, familiar Academy grounds!
+
+Both Dave and Dan underwent an unconscious brace as they passed the
+watchman at the main gate and stepped on, each with a suit case in hand,
+to the left, with Bancroft Hall in the distance.
+
+Their first move was, as it must be, to report their return to the
+officer in charge. By that officer the two midshipmen were assigned to
+the rooms that they were to occupy during the coming academic year.
+
+Once behind their doors, both young men hastened to get out of cit.
+clothes and back into their beloved uniforms.
+
+"There are worse liveries to wear than Uncle Sam's," murmured Dan
+Dalzell when, having arrayed himself, he glanced down lovingly at the
+neat, dark blue.
+
+"Much worse," replied Dave briefly, as, having dressed, he set to work to
+help make their quarters neat enough to please even the captious eye of
+the discipline officer. By the time that the two midshipmen finished
+policing their quarters no housekeeper in the land could have found the
+least sign of disorder.
+
+Rap-tap! sounded briskly at the door.
+
+"Come in," called Dave.
+
+The door opened, revealing Midshipman Hepson, of the first class.
+
+"Are you fellows to rights?" he called.
+
+"Come in, Hepson," urged Dave. "Yes; we're to rights as far as
+quarters go."
+
+Hepson came no more than inside the door before he halted, asking
+briskly:
+
+"Have you anything on!"
+
+"Nothing but our clothes," grinned Dan, "and some hair."
+
+"You've no appointments or engagements, then?" persisted Hepson. "My
+being here won't interfere with anything that you want to do?"
+
+"Not in the least," Dave replied.
+
+"Oh, then, I'll invite myself to a chair," declared the first
+classman, suiting the action to the word. "Now, you fellows can guess
+why I'm here."
+
+"You're captain of this year's football eleven," Dave replied. "Has that
+anything to do with your call?"
+
+"Everything," admitted Hepson briskly. "Have you fellows any notion that
+we've a poor eleven, so far, this year?"
+
+"Why I thought it pretty good, from the practice work that I saw done in
+August," Darrin answered slowly.
+
+"A pretty good eleven doesn't win games, sir," retorted Hepson. "Man,
+we've got to strengthen the team all along the line, or I'll go down in
+Naval Academy history as captain of the worst lot of dubs who ever chased
+a pigskin around the field!"
+
+"Is it as bad as that?" demanded Dan, opening his eyes.
+
+"Dalzell," said Hepson, "our eleven is rotten, sir--simply and
+fiercely useless!"
+
+"If it's as bad as that," hinted Dan innocently, "wouldn't it be a prime
+good idea to draw our eleven from the field this year?"
+
+"What? Strike the Navy's colors, and especially to the Army?" glared Mr.
+Hepson. "What are you talking about?"
+
+"Then I guess," nodded Dan, "that we'll have to stay in the ring, and let
+it go by apologizing to the Army for getting in their way on the field
+the Saturday after Thanksgiving."
+
+"We won't do that, either, by Jingo!" retorted Midshipman Hepson. "But
+we've got to strengthen our team. We've got to practice every minute that
+the commandant will allow us for practice. We've got to make a front-rank
+team out of--nearly nothing!"
+
+"Aren't there any good players who have been holding back?" asked
+Dave Darrin.
+
+"Two that I know of, Darrin," rejoined Hepson, fixing his eyes
+keenly on Dave.
+
+"Who are they?"
+
+"You and Dalzell."
+
+"We haven't backed out, or refused duty," Darrin retorted quickly.
+
+"No; but you haven't pushed yourselves forward any, either."
+
+"Well, we're hardly team material," objected Dave modestly. "However,
+I'll promise for myself and Dalzell, too, that we'll turn out to all the
+practice we can, and work like blazes!"
+
+"Will you?" cried Midshipman Hepson delightedly. He jumped up, grasping
+each midshipman by the hand in turn.
+
+"But you don't want to bank on us too much," Darrin continued. "You
+know, we've never played on anything as big as the Navy team. We used to
+be good enough little players on a country school team. But it's
+different here."
+
+"Let the coaches and the captain find that out, then," grunted Hepson.
+"But you'll work? You'll try to make good? You'll try to make the team
+and some history?"
+
+"We'd lay down our lives for the Navy, at any point and in any sort of
+game," rejoined Dave Darrin simply.
+
+"Good! Bully! That's the way I like to hear a fellow talk!" glowed
+Hepson, making toward the door. "You'll turn out for practice to-morrow
+afternoon?"
+
+"Without fail, if we're physically able," promised Midshipman Darrin.
+
+"Awfully obliged to you, fellows," cried Hepson, throwing the door open.
+"And now you won't mind if I cut my visit short? I've a lot of fellows to
+see, you know."
+
+The door banged and Hepson was gone.
+
+"Say, how's the Navy going to win under a chap as nervous as Hepson?"
+asked Dan.
+
+"That isn't nervousness, Danny boy."
+
+"If it isn't, what is it, then?"
+
+"Electricity."
+
+"Elec--Oh, say, now--"
+
+"It's electricity," Dave insisted. "He's a live wire, that man Hepson.
+He'll pull us through on the field this year, if any one can."
+
+"There's nothing like looking on the bright side of things," murmured
+Dalzell, drumming on his chair.
+
+"I'd rather see Hepson under estimate the Navy team," went on Dave, "than
+feel too sure that it is invincible. Still, I believe that the Navy is
+going to put forward a mighty strong eleven this year. Though, of course,
+that is not saying that we can beat the Army."
+
+"Why not?" demanded Dalzell almost fiercely.
+
+"Because, no matter how good a line we put forward, the Army may put
+forward a better."
+
+"Now, don't go tooting the Army's bugle!"
+
+"I am just considering the average of chances," Darrin returned. "Danny
+boy, sometimes the Navy wins, but most of the games of past years have
+gone to the Army. So the chances are that we'll be beaten this year."
+
+"Not if I have to die on the line to stop it!" glowed Dalzell at red
+heat.
+
+"Maybe you won't even get on the Navy line; perhaps I won't, either,
+Danny boy. But you know we saw by the "Army and Navy Journal" that
+Prescott and Holmes are playing on the West Point eleven this year."
+
+"Holmes isn't necessarily such a much, is he?" flared Dan.
+
+"Greg Holmes is a pretty handy man on the football field," retorted
+Darrin warmly. "None ought to know that better than we, after we've seen
+Holmes pull out so many victories for the old High School team. Of
+course, Prescott is the better player, but Holmes can back him up to
+amazing advantage."
+
+"Didn't we play about as good a game as that pair?" Dalzell demanded.
+
+"I don't know," Dave answered thoughtfully. "Perhaps not quite as good a
+game. You see, in the old High School days, Dick Prescott used to lead
+and I often backed up his plays. So one could hardly compare us."
+
+"If you're in such a blue funk over the Navy's chances, you'd better keep
+off the line-up," muttered Midshipman Dalzell.
+
+"Oh, I'm in no funk," returned Darrin, smiling. "However, I'm not going
+to be betrayed into any bragging until we've wiped the field up with the
+Army--if we can."
+
+Rap-tap! came on the door.
+
+"I'll wager that's Farley," whispered Darrin.
+
+"Or Page"--from Dan.
+
+"Come in," called Dave.
+
+The door opened, to let in Farley, with Page crowding on his heels.
+
+Dave and Dan both hastened forward to clasp hands with these tried chums
+of other days.
+
+"Seen Hepson?" asked Dan.
+
+"Yes," nodded Farley. "He told us he had gobbled you. Hepson just left
+us."
+
+"You're going to be on the eleven!" pressed Dan.
+
+"If we can make it," nodded Farley slowly. "I'd like to play, too, but
+I'm hoping that the Navy can hit on some one better than myself."
+
+"Cold feet!" grinned Dan.
+
+"Not exactly," Farley answered, with a slight flush. "But it's a big
+thing to play on the Navy's fighting eleven. It seems almost too big a
+responsibility for any but a demi-god."
+
+"Demi-gods don't play football," jeered Dan. "They're nothing but idols,
+anyway, and they're two thousand years out of date. What we want on the
+Navy line is real human flesh and blood."
+
+"There'll be blood on the doorstep of the moon if the Army carries things
+away from us this year," predicted Page mournfully.
+
+"Well, all we can do is our best," declared Dave. "We'll do that, too,
+and do it mightily. Wow! What's that?"
+
+Ta-ra-ra-ta-ra-ta! sounded musically in the corridors.
+
+"Supper formation, by Jove!" gasped Dan.
+
+Farley and Page fled without a word. Soon the "decks" of Bancroft Hall
+swarmed with young life. Then, outside, to seaward, the brigade fell in
+by companies.
+
+Military commands rang out briskly, roll was called, reports made and the
+brigade marched in to supper.
+
+What a joyous, noisy affair it was. Some license in the way of
+boisterousness was allowed this evening, and most of the young men took
+full advantage of the fact.
+
+Swat! A slice of bread, soaked in a glass of water and kneaded into a
+soppy ball, struck Dalzell full in the back of the neck, plastering his
+collar and sending a sticky mess down his spine.
+
+"I'll fight the man who did that," promised Midshipman Dan, wheeling
+around. Then added cautiously:
+
+"If he's a graduate."
+
+There being, naturally, no graduates present except the officer at the
+furthest corner of the mess hall, Dan's challenge provoked laughter.
+
+Many other pranks were played, but there is not room to record them here.
+The meal over and the brigade dismissed, some of the midshipmen--there
+were nearly eight hundred of them--went to their own quarters, or visited
+the rooms of cronies. Hundreds took the air in the grounds.
+
+Almost the sole topic was football. Hepson speedily had most of the
+members of the big squad gathered about him. Others, who could not hope
+to "make" in football, gathered near-by, as though afraid of losing some
+of the talk.
+
+"Remember, gentlemen, until the Army game is over, it's to be nothing
+this year but work, work, work!" warned Midshipman Hepson, with intense
+earnestness.
+
+With nothing but football in the air, Dan soon caught the infection even
+more deeply than his chum.
+
+"Hang it, I'm a dub," groaned Dan. "Lots of the fellows gave up their
+leave in order to be here and practise. Why in the mischief didn't I?"
+
+"For the same reason that perhaps I didn't sacrifice leave," replied
+Dave. "I wasn't asked to. And you weren't, either, were you?"
+
+"No; but I wish I had flung myself at Hepson's head, and made him take
+me, instead of going off to Gridley like a deserter! It's October now,
+and what earthly chance, Dave, have you and I to get in shape?"
+
+"We'll do our best, Danny boy, or stay off the line. There's nothing to
+be gained by losing our heads. Regrets will be equally worthless."
+
+"Hepson," called one midshipman, "has anyone invented the Navy yells for
+this year?"
+
+"Yells?" repeated the football captain scornfully. "It's more to the
+purpose to fit ourselves to do something worth yelling about!"
+
+"Has Hepson got the blues?" asked another midshipman.
+
+"Or only the rattles?"
+
+Football was still in the air, dominating the minds of the midshipmen
+when a turn of the master switch shut off the lights at taps.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE HATE OF A RIVAL
+
+
+The day following was one of intense, almost complicated routine.
+
+There were books and supplies to be drawn for the new academic year.
+There were uniforms and other articles of apparel to be drawn. The
+sections were detailed and section marchers to be appointed. There were
+details of military organization to be announced. Some of the young men
+had to go up for physical examination, even if only of the eyes.
+
+At the afternoon recreation hour Hepson led the big football squad out to
+the field. Hundreds of midshsipmen went there to see how the Navy would
+show up in the vitally important tests. At the outset Hepson was
+everywhere, like a buzzing, excitable wasp. Nor did he prove to be minus
+a sting at times.
+
+"I think, sir," suggested Hepson, going over to Lieutenant-Commander
+Havens, the head coach, "that it would be well for us to know something
+about the running speed of every candidate."
+
+"Very good, Mr. Hepson; try out any man that you're curious about,"
+replied the officer.
+
+"Darrin, Dalzell, Page, Farley, White, Bryant," called the captain of
+the Navy team. "Each of you pick up a ball. Line up at this goal-line,
+Joyce, will you take a stop-watch and go over to the other goal-line?
+Adams, go along and assist Joyce. I want a record of the time it takes
+each man to cover the distance, running as fast as he can with the ball."
+
+The men designated took their places.
+
+"I'll run you first, Darrin," announced the captain. "Go like a streak,
+if you can. If you fall down it counts zero. Start when I say 'go.' Are
+you ready?"
+
+"Quite ready."
+
+"Go!"
+
+At the word Dave sped away like a shot, Hepson giving a hand signal as he
+uttered the starting word, that the time-keeper at the other end might
+know when to release the watch. Dave's time was noted. Then Dan took a
+try, covering the distance in only two fifths of a second more time than
+Darrin had required. Farley was a second and three fifths behind Darrin's
+time; Page, a full two seconds behind. White and Bryant then ran, but
+only succeeded in about tying Page's work.
+
+Then six more men were called to the line and tried out. After that a
+third squad. By this time Midshipman Hepson had his mind about made up
+as to the relative speeds of some of the most likely men for the final
+Navy team.
+
+"Get out for some kicks, now!" called Hepson.
+
+"When are you going to play football?" growled one man.
+
+Midshipman Hepson turned on him like a flash.
+
+"Jetson, there's a substitute captain in the squad, but you're not the
+man. Neither are you one of the coaches."
+
+"Oh, you make me--" began Jetson, but Midshipman Hepson cut him
+short with:
+
+"If you can't keep silence when you've nothing to say, your absence from
+the field will be considered a favor to the whole squad."
+
+Jetson scowled, but said nothing more. Neither did he offer to retire
+from the field.
+
+"Jetson has always been a kicker and a trouble mosquito," whispered Dan
+Dalzell to his chum.
+
+"Oh, in a lot of ways Jetson is a nice fellow," Darrin replied quietly.
+"The greatest trouble that ails him is that he has just a trifle too
+large opinion of the importance of his own opinions. There are a lot of
+us troubled in that way."
+
+The kicking practice was put through with dash and vim. Then Midshipman
+Hepson, after a brief conference with the head coach, called off the
+line-up for the provisional Navy team, following this with a roster of
+the second team, or "Rustlers," so called because they force the men of
+the Navy team to rustle to keep their places.
+
+Dave Darrin was called off for left tackle, Dan for left end. Farley and
+Page held the corresponding positions on the right end of the line-up.
+
+"Begin the game, the Rustlers to have the ball," called
+Lieutenant-Commander Havens.
+
+"And mix it up lively, Navy," called Hepson, who, both on account of his
+size and other qualifications, played center.
+
+At the whistle-blast the Rustlers kicked it off--a beautiful,
+long, arching curve. The ball came to quarter-back, who passed it
+to Dave Darrin.
+
+Then the fun began.
+
+The Navy line hit the Rustlers hard and tried to bump through. Dan
+Dalzell devoted every ounce of his strength and every turn of his energy
+to boosting Darrin through--and Dave himself was not idle. There was an
+instant of sullen, hard resistance. Then, somehow, Dave was shot through
+the opposing line. Like a deer he sped, Dan hanging to his flanks. It was
+up to the Rustlers' halfback now, and that bulky young midshipman leaped
+to the fray, cleverly barring the way.
+
+At least, the Rustlers' halfback thought he had Darrin blocked. It is
+never wise to take too much for granted.
+
+As the halfback planted himself for the grapple, Dave suddenly dropped
+through that opponent's grip and went to the ground.
+
+As though he had been shot through, Dave Darrin went under and past, on
+one side, between the halfback's legs. He was up again, with Dan at his
+back. Fullback came at them, but Dan bumped that player aside. Dave
+dashed on across the line, scoring a touchdown.
+
+Never had the gridiron been the scene of greater excitement than in that
+rousing moment.
+
+"Darrin! Darrin! Darrin!" came hoarsely; from hundreds of throats.
+
+"Dalzell! Dalzell!" came the next gusty roar.
+
+Hepson wiped a moist brow with one hand.
+
+"There are two real players, if they can keep that up," muttered the
+captain of the eleven.
+
+Jetson had been the tackle opposed to Dave. Just now Jetson was nursing a
+bump to his vanity.
+
+"How on earth did I ever happen to let Darrin through?" Jetson demanded
+of himself. "I won't do it again, anyway. If I can only make Darrin look
+small, I may get his place on the Navy eleven. Darrin is a good fellow,
+but I've got to make the team, confound him!"
+
+The kick for goal failed. Then the Navy took the ball and promptly
+enough the Rustlers came back with it, Jetson carrying.
+
+Dave and Dan met the ball-carrier. The Rustlers' support failed, and
+Jetson went down with the ball. Nor could the second team advance the
+ball, so it presently came to the Navy men again.
+
+"I want you to put it through again like a cannon-ball, Darrin,"
+Midshipman Hepson whispered as they passed.
+
+So the quarter-backs called for a repetition of the play, giving
+different signals.
+
+Dave received the ball with a rush of his old-time fervor and confidence.
+Dan started behind him as full of fire as ever.
+
+In a fraction of a second the impact of the two opposing lines came.
+Jetson went down, one of his legs flying between Darrin's in such a way
+as to constitute a foul.
+
+Dave Darrin went down on top of the ball. Half a dozen players sprawled
+over him. The referee's whistle blew.
+
+"Jetson, that was a mean, deliberate trip," remarked Darrin, as he sprang
+to his feet. He spoke coolly, with a warning flash in his eyes.
+
+"Not on my part," retorted Jetson.
+
+"You thrust your leg between mine as you went down."
+
+Coach signed to referee not to renew the game for the moment. Then
+Lieutenant-Commander Havens and the two team captains crowded close.
+
+"I didn't do it deliberately, as you charged," retorted Jetson, hot
+with anger.
+
+"You deny it?" insisted Dave.
+
+"I do."
+
+"On your word as a gentleman you did not intend, a foul trip?" demanded
+Midshipman Darrin.
+
+"I have already answered you."
+
+"Answer me on your word as a gentleman."
+
+"I don't have to."
+
+"Very good, then," retorted Dave, turning away with a meaning smile.
+
+"Hold on. I pledge you my word as a gentleman that I did not intend
+to make a foul trip," said Jetson, swiftly realizing the error of
+his refusal.
+
+In the meantime Lieutenant-Commander Havens had turned to Motley, of the
+first class, who was serving as referee.
+
+"Mr. Motley," demanded coach, "did you see just what happened?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Do you call it a foul trip?"
+
+"I do, sir. If I were referee in a regular game, I would penalize the
+team and order the player from the field."
+
+"Mr. Jetson--" began the coach, but, swift as a flash Dave Darrin
+interposed, though respectfully, saluting at the same time.
+
+"Will you pardon me, sir. Mr. Jetson has given me his word that he did
+not intend a foul trip. I accept his word without reservation."
+
+"Very good, then," nodded coach. "But Mr. Jetson, you will do well to be
+careful in the future, and avoid even the appearance of evil."
+
+"Yes, sir; very good, sir," answered Jetson, looking decidedly sheepish.
+
+In giving his word Jetson had told the truth, or had intended to. The
+exact truth was that he really did not realize what he had done until it
+was too late to avoid the foul. He had meant to stop Darrin, somehow.
+
+"Pull that scrimmage off again," directed Coach Havens dryly.
+
+The ball was placed, the whistle sounded, and again Dave received the
+ball and tried to break through. With the Rustlers prepared for the move,
+it was blocked and the ball was "down."
+
+Jetson felt his face burning. He knew, well enough, that many of the
+players regarded him with suspicion.
+
+"I suppose that suspicion will stick, and my chances of making the Navy
+eleven are now scantier than ever," muttered the unfortunate midshipman
+to himself.
+
+The whistle blew before any further advantage had been gained. Coach
+and Midshipman Hepson had gained considerable insight into the work
+of the team.
+
+"Mr. Hepson," said coach aside, in the interval that followed, "you have
+done well, I think, to place two such men as Darrin and Dalzell on the
+provisional team."
+
+"I am glad you think so, sir," replied the Navy football captain, "for
+that is the way it strikes me."
+
+"If you keep them at the left flank you'll have something like dynamite
+there," smiled coach. "Mr. Darrin goes through like a cannon-ball, and
+Dalzell is always just where Darrin needs him."
+
+"These men have played together before, and they're used to team work,
+sir," said Midshipman Hepson.
+
+"So? Where did they play before coming to Annapolis?"
+
+"On what was, in their day, one of the best High School eleven's
+going, sir."
+
+"Oho! Do you know, Mr. Hepson, they play more like college men than
+anything else. It must have been a bully High School team that
+graduated them."
+
+"From the little that I've heard, sir, that High School team was a
+great one."
+
+Coach and captain walked back to the scene.
+
+"You will now play another ten-minute period," directed Mr. Havens.
+"Jetson will withdraw from the second eleven during the next period and
+Doyle will take his place."
+
+"So that's what coach and team captain were hatching up?" thought
+Midshipman Jetson. "That gives me a black eye, and my chances of making
+the Navy eleven are now worse than ever. Probably I won't even make sub."
+
+As Navy and Rustlers again collided in the fray, Jetson watched Dave's
+work narrowly, furiously.
+
+"Darrin always was a smooth one," Jetson declared angrily to himself.
+"And now, just because he raised a 'holler', my football prospects are
+set back for this year. Probably I can't make the eleven next year,
+either. And it's all Darrin's fault!"
+
+In forming the second half the coach called:
+
+"Mr. Jetson will resume his place as right tackle on the second eleven."
+
+"Jetson's not here, sir," called a midshipman.
+
+"Where is he?" asked Coach Havens.
+
+"I think he went off the field, sir, to un-tog."
+
+"He should not have left the field without permission," remarked the
+coach coldly.
+
+Jetson heard of the remark that evening, and his anger against Dave
+Darrin increased.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+"DID JETSON DO IT?"
+
+
+No sooner had release from studies sounded through big and handsome
+Bancroft Hall, than there came a tap at Dave Darrin's door.
+
+"Come in," called Dave.
+
+Hepson came in first, followed by a score of other midshipmen.
+
+"Say, I didn't hear assembly blow lately," remarked Dan Dalzell, closing
+a new text-book and looking up with a smile of welcome.
+
+"Are we intruding--so many of us," inquired Hepson, halting.
+
+"Not on me, anyway," answered Dave pleasantly. "As for Danny boy, don't
+mind the little chap. He really believes that study release sounds
+before supper-call. Come right in, all of you fellows. Dan barks, but
+won't bite."
+
+"And take seats, all of you, do," urged Dan, with unnecessary
+hospitality. "After the table and the chairs are used up, we'll provide
+tacks for the rest."
+
+"Does this little boy ever have a serious streak?" asked one of the
+callers, regarding Dan with feigned interest.
+
+"Yes; whenever he finds himself marked down to 2.1 in more than three
+studies," laughed Dave.
+
+"Oh, that's no laughing matter," grimaced another of the visiting
+midshipmen.
+
+"I don't suppose you can guess what we came to talk about?" went on
+Midshipman Hepson.
+
+"At a wild guess it might be football," hazarded Darrin.
+
+"Wonderful! Marvelous!" gasped another visitor.
+
+"Darry, we've come in to tell you that we believe that you and your
+erratic roommate are going to save a desperate situation for us," resumed
+the captain of the Navy team. "Not that we were destitute of good players
+before. But we lacked enough of different kinds to make a strong,
+all-around eleven. Now we've a team that we're not afraid, after more
+work, to put up against anything that the Army can show us."
+
+"Now, I wouldn't be too sure," urged Dave. "Confidence is all right, but
+don't let it rob us of a jot of practice and work."
+
+"Are you afraid of the Army, Darry?" demanded Hepson.
+
+"I'm not going to be too cock-sure, if the story is true that Prescott
+and Holmes are out with the Army team this year."
+
+"Are they such great players!" demanded Hepson.
+
+"They are," Dave responded solemnly, "or were. I know something
+about that pair, since I've played on the same eleven with Prescott
+and Holmes."
+
+"Are they better than you two, Darry?" Hepson demanded.
+
+"Yes," answered Dave unhesitatingly.
+
+"Is that honesty or extreme modesty?"
+
+"Extreme mod--" broke in Dan Dalzell, but he closed his mouth with a
+snap and ducked as he saw three of the visitors making for him.
+
+"It's hard to believe," muttered Hepson, though he spoke uneasily. "Why
+do you rank Prescott and Holmes so high, Darry?"
+
+"Well, for one reason, Dick Prescott taught Dalzell and myself the game.
+Anything that we know about the game we learned in the team that Prescott
+captained."
+
+"Still, it's hard to believe," spoke up Midshipman Joyce. "Darrin, we
+look upon you as the best thing that ever happened to the Navy end of the
+gridiron."
+
+"I don't know that I care about being 'kidded,'" responded Dave
+seriously.
+
+"But we honestly do," contended the same speaker, "and we don't like to
+have you tell us that Prescott is a better man."
+
+"But I believe he is."
+
+"Are you afraid of him?"
+
+"I'm not afraid of any one on the gridiron," Darrin retorted bluntly.
+"I'll work hard to beat any man that I have to go up against, and if
+work, this season, will do it, I'll beat Dick Prescott out!"
+
+"Good! That's the way we like to hear you talk," glowed Hepson.
+
+"And I'll bottle up Holmes and put the stopper in," promised Dan with
+solemn modesty.
+
+Again two of the men made a rush for him to quiet him.
+
+"It may be only a rumor that Prescott and Holmes are on the Army eleven,"
+spoke up another midshipman.
+
+"No," objected still another, "I had a letter, this afternoon, from a
+cousin who has been up to West Point and has seen the Army crowd at work.
+The Army is rejoicing over Prescott and Holmes as a pair of precious
+finds, and they're both nailed to the colors for this season."
+
+"Then we're going to have a tough time in our game with the Army," Darrin
+declared thoughtfully. "And the Army will beat more college teams this
+year than usual."
+
+"We won't die until the Army shoots, anyway," promised Hepson. "And now,
+Darry, there's another question we want to put to you, and we want an
+out-and-out answer. Do you believe that Jetson really meant to trip you
+this afternoon?"
+
+"You heard his denial," Dave rejoined.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, Jetson is a midshipman and a gentleman. There has never been any
+question here about his honor," Darrin replied. "I accepted his denial of
+intention at the time, and I still accept it."
+
+"It's queer, then, how Jetson came to give you such a nasty trip,"
+observed another caller.
+
+"I'll tell you what I think really must have happened," Dave continued
+frankly. "I think Jet was crazy to stop me. It was on his mind, and he
+was determined to do it. He tripped me, of course, but I think he
+really acted on an unconscious impulse and without intention. So, at
+that rate, the trip was not really intended, since he had not
+deliberately planned it."
+
+"Would you be willing to play on the same team with him, Darry?" pursued
+Midshipman Hepson.
+
+"Yes, or with any other man in the brigade. I don't suspect any man here
+at the Naval Academy of anything intentionally and deliberately
+dishonorable."
+
+"Good, Darry!" cried several midshipmen.
+
+For a few minutes the talk grew fast and furious. Then some one looked
+at his watch and there was a prompt flight of visitors. Ten minutes later
+taps sounded and a master switch turned off the lights in midshipmen's
+quarters, with nearly eight hundred young men in their beds and already
+dropping asleep.
+
+At eight the next morning the many sections marched off to recitations
+and for hours the grind of the day was on. At the Naval Academy, as at
+West Point, not even football is allowed to interfere in the least with
+studies or recitations. No football player is permitted to go into
+section room, after extra practice in the field, and announce himself
+unprepared to recite. Only midshipmen of a good grade of scholarship are
+permitted to join or remain in the football squad.
+
+Late in the afternoon, when recreation time came, all was speedily
+changed. Every member of the squad hastily reported in togs. Scores of
+midshipmen not of the squad hastened over to see the practice work. The
+scores were presently increased to hundreds. Fifty or more Naval officers
+detailed at the yard were scattered along the side lines. Many of the
+wives and daughters of officers stationed at Annapolis turned out to view
+the work. Other young ladies came from Annapolis. There was also a big
+delegation of "St. Johnnies," as the gray-clad young men from St. John's
+College are called.
+
+The news had evidently traveled far that the Navy had two new men on the
+team who were expected to prove "wonders."
+
+"A big part of this crowd is out to see you and Danny boy," Hepson
+remarked to Darrin.
+
+"Haven't they anything better to do with their time, then?" laughed Dave.
+
+"Great Scott, man! Every one of the spectators wants to see the Navy beat
+the Army this year."
+
+"But these spectators are a heap cheered up by what they've heard about
+you and Dalzell."
+
+Dave, however, went about his work all but unconsciously. Never much
+of an egotist, he declined to believe himself the star man of the
+Navy eleven.
+
+When Coach Havens called off the two teams that were to play that day,
+Jetson observed that he was not called for either.
+
+"It looks as though Darrin has queered me," muttered that midshipman
+gloomily to himself. "I didn't think Darrin was quite as bad as that."
+
+After the practice game had started, and Dave had put through the most
+brilliant play that he had yet exhibited, the air rang with his name from
+hundreds of throats.
+
+"That's the way!" grumbled Jetson. "It's all Darrin now! These idiots
+will forget that I was ever at Annapolis."
+
+Jetson sulked about. After the rebuke he had received the day before from
+the head coach, he did not dare to carry his sulk so far as to go and
+un-tog without leave.
+
+Towards the end of the first half of the practice game, a man on the
+second team was hurt enough to be retired, and Joyce was called.
+
+"They might have given me a chance," quivered Jetson sulkily. "I'm a lot
+better player than the fool coach imagines. But, anyway, I suppose Darrin
+has turned the coach and Hepson against me. I owe Darrin for that one!"
+
+Five minutes later another player of the second eleven was retired with
+an injured wrist.
+
+"Howard!" called the coach briskly.
+
+"Excused for to-day, sir," reported another player.
+
+"Any one but me!" growled Jetson.
+
+"Jetson!" sounded the head coach's heavy voice.
+
+Midshipman Jetson started. His face flushed. Then, for an instant, a
+sulky impulse seized him to reply that he did not feel up to form to-day.
+But the midshipman smothered that desire and started forward.
+
+"Here, sir," he reported.
+
+"Take right guard on second," directed Coach Havens.
+
+"Very good, sir."
+
+The game was resumed. Jetson, however, had a face full of sulkiness. As
+he joined the line-up his eyes rested on Dave Darrin.
+
+"I wonder if Jetson means me any harm?" flashed through Dave's mind. In
+an instant, however, he dismissed the suspicion.
+
+"Jetson is a midshipman, a gentleman and a man of honor," thought Darrin
+generously.
+
+The whistle sounded, the ball was snapped back and passed, Darrin
+received it and dashed forward to carry it past the opponents.
+
+In a twinkling there was a staggering crash. Dave was down with the ball,
+with men of two teams piled above him.
+
+At the sound of the referee's whistle the mass disentangled itself. Dave
+and Jetson were at the bottom of the heap. Jetson was the last man up,
+but Dave still lay there.
+
+"Surgeon here?" called the coach's steady voice, devoid of excitement.
+But there was anxiety enough when it was seen that Midshipman Darrin
+still lay face downward.
+
+"Has Darrin been hurt--our Darrin--the great Darrin?" flew from tongue
+to tongue.
+
+"Did Jetson do it?" was another question that was instantly asked.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+DAN TRIES HARD TO KEEP COOL
+
+
+A surgeon and a hospital man were quickly on the spot, the others,
+anxious as they were, drawing back considerately to give the men of
+medicine room in which to work.
+
+As Dave Darrin was gently turned over on his back it was seen that Damn's
+face was a mass of blood.
+
+"Jetson's work," grunted two or three of the players.
+
+"He did it on purpose!"
+
+"If he didn't, then the fellow is too clumsy to be trusted on the
+gridiron, anyway."
+
+"We must chase Jetson away from the squad."
+
+"Silence!" remarked Head Coach Havens, very simply, though in a tone
+which meant that obedience must follow.
+
+Jetson, however, was not ignorant of the comments that were passing. His
+dark face flushed hotly with anger.
+
+"They'll blame anything on me, if I'm within a mile of the field," he
+told himself sullenly.
+
+"Is Mr. Darrin badly injured, doctor!" inquired Lieutenant-Commander
+Havens of the Naval surgeon.
+
+"I think not, sir, beyond a possibly nasty mark on the face," replied the
+surgeon, as he examined and directed the hospital men. "Mr. Darrin is
+merely stunned, from too hard an impact of some sort. He'll soon have his
+eyes open--there they come now."
+
+As if to back up the surgeon, Dave opened his eyes, staring curiously at
+the faces within his range of vision.
+
+"What's all this fuss about?" Dave asked quietly.
+
+"There isn't any fuss, Mr. Darrin," replied the surgeon. "You were
+stunned by the force of that scrimmage, and there's some blood on
+your face."
+
+"Let me wipe it off then, please, sir?" Dave begged. "I want to get back
+in the game."
+
+"You won't play again, Mr. Darrin," replied the surgeon.
+
+"Not play this season?" demanded Dave in anguished amazement. "Please
+don't joke with me, sir."
+
+"Oh, you'll play, after a few days," replied the surgeon, wetting a piece
+of gauze from the contents of a bottle that he had taken from his bag.
+With the gauze he wiped the blood away from Darrin's cheek, revealing a
+surface cut of more width than depth. Then a light bandage was put on
+over the cut.
+
+"Now, I guess you can rise all right, Mr. Darrin. This hospital man will
+go over to hospital with you."
+
+"I'm not ordered to stay there, I hope, sir?" murmured Dave anxiously.
+
+"For two or three days, at any rate--yes," replied the Naval surgeon.
+"Not because you're going to be weak, but because we've got to have you
+under our eyes all the time if your face is to heal without a bad scar."
+
+Midshipman Darrin brought his hand up in salute to the surgeon, and again
+to Lieutenant-Commander Havens.
+
+"Darrin laid up for a few days!" growled Captain Hepson, of the Navy
+team, just after Dave had started. "Now, when every day's work counts!"
+Then wheeling suddenly:
+
+"How did Darrin come to get cut in that fashion, anyway! Mr. Jetson, do
+you know anything about it?"
+
+"What do you mean, sir?" demanded Jetson, bridling. "Do you insinuate
+that I tried to put a scar on Mr. Darrin's face?"
+
+"I asked you what you knew about the accident--if it were an accident?"
+Hepson pursued coldly.
+
+"Your 'if,' sir, is insulting!"
+
+Then there came to the spot a presence that could not be treated with
+anger. Lieutenant-Commander Havens was determined to know the truth.
+
+"Mr. Jetson, had you anything in your possession, or did you wear
+anything, that could cut Mr. Damn's face like that?" demanded the
+head coach.
+
+"Nothing, sir, unless the sole of one of my shoes was responsible,"
+returned Jetson, barely concealing his anger under a mask of respect to
+an officer of the Navy.
+
+"Let me see your shoes; sit down on the ground first, Mr. Jetson."
+
+The midshipman obeyed, though with no very good grace, and held up his
+right shoe for the inspection of the head coach.
+
+"Now the other shoe, Mr. Jetson. Hm! Yes; along the inner sole of
+this shoe there are signs of what looks very much like blood. See
+here, Mr. Hepson."
+
+"Yes, sir; most certainly this is a streak of blood rubbed into the
+leather along this rather sharp edge of the sole."
+
+"May I suggest, Mr. Havens," hinted Jetson, "that something else may
+have scratched Mr. Darrin's face, and that the blood trickled to my
+shoe? I was under Mr. Darrin, somewhat, sir, in the scrimmage when the
+bunch went down."
+
+There was really nothing that could be proved, in any case, so the head
+coach could only say very quietly:
+
+"Let the practice go on, Mr. Hepson. Put Mr. Wardell temporarily in Mr.
+Darrin's place on the line."
+
+There was one in the group who had not said a word so far. But he had
+been looking on, his keen eyes studying Jetson's face. That looker-on was
+Midshipman Dan Dalzell, who, as the reader knows, sometimes displayed a
+good deal of temper.
+
+"Jetson," muttered Dan, as the other midshipman came over by him, "I
+shall need a little talk with you at the early convenience of us both."
+
+"Whenever you like," retorted Midshipman Jetson, flashing back a look
+of defiance.
+
+Then the game went on. By supper time the men of the brigade knew that
+Darrin was getting along comfortably; that he was in no pain and that he
+was in hospital only in the hope that he might be saved the annoyance of
+wearing a disfiguring scar on his face throughout all his life.
+
+"I'm afraid that some of the fellows think I purposely cut Darrin up in
+that fashion," remarked Jetson to his tablemates during the evening meal.
+
+"Don't you know that you didn't?" inquired one of the midshipmen
+laconically. None of the other men at table took heed of Jetson's words.
+
+At some of the other tables equal silence did not prevail. Midshipmen who
+did not accuse or suspect Jetson of intentional wickedness expressed the
+opinion that he was, at all events, careless and not a valuable member of
+the football squad.
+
+Jetson himself was wholly aware that he was more or less suspected in the
+minds of many, and the knowledge made him savage.
+
+During the few minutes recreation that followed the evening meal, Dan
+Dalzell approached the sullen one, who was now standing quite alone.
+
+"Mr. Jetson, I shall be glad to have a talk with you," announced Dan.
+"Will you come to my room, or shall I go to yours?"
+
+"Lead the way to your room, sir," replied Jetson stiffly.
+
+Dan did so, and behind the door the two midshipmen faced each other.
+
+"Well, sir!" demanded the visitor.
+
+"Mr. Jetson, both times that you have played against Darrin something has
+happened to him."
+
+"Don't insinuate, Mr. Dalzell. If you anything to say, speak out
+plainly, sir."
+
+"I hardly know what to say," Midshipman Dan confessed. "As a midshipman,
+your honor should be above question."
+
+"Do you wish to remark that it isn't?"
+
+"Why, I don't know," Dan answered frankly. "It seems a fearful thing to
+say, or even to think, about a midshipman."
+
+"Mr. Dalzell, either I did, or I didn't, intentionally injure Mr. Darrin.
+Yon must think one thing or the other. If you suspect that I did the
+thing intentionally, then why beat about the bush?"
+
+"I don't want to beat about the bush, and, on the other hand, I don't
+want to do you any injustice, Mr. Jetson, I thought perhaps you would be
+willing to help me out by proffering your midshipman's word of honor--"
+
+"And I," rejoined Jetson in cold anger, "consider it insulting, sir, that
+I should be asked to pledge my word of honor."
+
+"That is an extreme position to take," protested Dan. "No good man,
+when appearances are against him, should be afraid to offer his word
+of honor."
+
+"Suppose," sneered Jetson, in suppressed fury, "I should go to the other
+extreme, and say that I did it on purpose?"
+
+"Then I'd knock you down, like a dog," Dan answered directly and simply,
+"and next call on the men here to drive you forth from the brigade."
+
+"If you think you could knock me down," quivered Midshipman Jetson,
+"you'd better go ahead and find out whether your guess is correct.
+Dalzell, you've been highly insulting, and I don't mind declaring that a
+fight with you would suit me, at present, better than anything that I can
+think of."
+
+"Then you have your recourse, in a challenge," Dan hinted promptly.
+
+"What's the need of a challenge, seconds--or of anything but fists? I
+don't need them."
+
+"The brigade claims some supervision over fights between the men here,"
+Dan replied. "I intend to demand that the class take up, as a class
+matter, the mishap to Darrin this afternoon."
+
+"You--you hound!" panted Jetson, in a sudden flare-up of anger.
+
+"Careful!" warned Dalzell, clenching his fists and facing his man
+squarely.
+
+With a snort of rage Jetson launched himself forward, aiming two
+blows at Dan.
+
+Dan parried the blows coolly, but his eyes flashed.
+
+He had not lost control of himself, but he was warming up to the instinct
+of fighting when no other course seemed open.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+A NARROW SQUEAK WITH THE O.C.
+
+
+Jetson's next blow grazed Midshipman Dalzell's chin. The follow-up blow
+landed on Dan's left ear.
+
+Now Dalzell "sailed in" in earnest. He attacked forcefully and swiftly.
+Jetson was forced to give ground. Dan pursued him around the room. Being
+no coward, Jetson stood well up to the work, driving in for himself at
+least two out of every five blows that were landed.
+
+Rap-tap-tap! sounded on the door, but neither combatant heard.
+
+Smash! Dan's forceful right landed on Jetson's neck, sending that
+midshipman to the floor, whereupon Dalzell sprang back three paces.
+
+"Take your time getting on to your feet," called Dan in a low voice.
+
+"I don't want any time," snapped Jetson, leaping to his feet.
+
+The words of both speakers were heard at the door, and the visitor who
+had knocked now promptly entered.
+
+Fortunate it was for the combatants facing each other that the intruder
+was not one of the discipline officers. Had it been, both midshipmen
+would have been reported at once under charges that would have borne
+serious results.
+
+Instead, it was Farley who entered, followed by Page, Hepson and Joyce.
+
+"Wow!" uttered Midshipman Farley in a low voice. Then: "Stop this,
+fellows!"
+
+At the order, which Dan knew to be intended for his own good, the latter
+turned away, letting his hands fall. Jetson, on the point of a rush,
+realized that he had better desist.
+
+"Joyce, you stand outside," ordered Farley in a low voice. "Stand right
+at the door. If you see the O.C. (officer in charge) turning into this
+corridor, you rap as hard as you can on the door, and we'll understand."
+
+Midshipman Joyce wanted most badly to be a spectator to what was likely
+to happen on the inner side of the door, but he had the good sense to
+realize that some one must do guard duty, so he stepped outside, closing
+the door after him.
+
+"Now, gentlemen, what's this all about?" demanded Hepson in a low,
+smooth voice.
+
+"It means," cried Jetson passionately, "that I'm not going to stand any
+more of this petty persecution. Everyone has been trying to pretend that
+he believes I've been trying to do Darrin up so that he can't play on the
+Navy football team. It's all just a mean scheme to keep me from making
+the Navy eleven."
+
+"There's no such scheme afloat, or I'd know about it," returned Hepson
+coolly. "Fact is, there isn't any intention whatever of playing you on
+the Navy team."
+
+"Ah, you admit it!" snapped Midshipman Jetson, first turning white, after
+which his face showed a deep crimson of humiliation. "You've already done
+the dirty work."
+
+"Fellow, stop this talk!" commanded Hepson, almost at a white heat of
+resentment, "Among midshipmen and gentlemen there can be no thought of
+what you term 'dirty work.' The fact that you won't play with us is due
+to your uncontrollable temper. A fellow who can't control his nerves and
+temper isn't fitted to play football--a game that requires cool judgment
+at every moment of the game."
+
+"Then, while you're telling me what to stop, you just stop addressing me
+as 'fellow,'" cried Jetson, his lip quivering with rage.
+
+"I'll admit that was hasty on my part," agreed Midshipman Hepson, "but it
+seemed necessary to use some word to bring you to your senses. And now,
+this fight, which would get you both into serious trouble if a discipline
+officer came upon the scene, must cease."
+
+"I'm afraid it can't," broke in Midshipman Dalzell with quiet dignity.
+"At least, I won't agree to stopping until Mr. Jetson admits himself
+satisfied. It was he who started the fight, and only his word can close
+it. But we don't want you other fellows pulled into this trouble as
+spectators, so we'll wait until you all withdraw."
+
+"If you're determined to fight," rejoined Hepson, who was the only first
+classman present, "then we don't want to stop the fight. We'll stay and
+see it pulled off fairly. But, Dalzell, do you really want to fight?"
+
+"I didn't want to," Dan answered. "But, now that Mr. Jetson has started
+it, it must go on until he's satisfied. Up with your hands, sir, and when
+you start in, I'll answer you."
+
+The visitors skipped back, in order to leave the combatants plenty of
+room for footwork. Since Jetson had heard definite announcement of the
+fact that he could not hope to be called to the Navy eleven, his inward
+flame of passion had burned up high. He was now ready to fight with all
+the force that there was in him.
+
+In the first few seconds his assault was so resolute that Dalzell was
+forced to give ground. As he slowly retreated and shifted, Jetson drove
+in more impetuously than ever.
+
+Midshipman Dan found himself at last in a position of advantage.
+
+"Now, hammer him, Danny boy!" advised; Farley, breathing deeply.
+
+"Silence among the spectators," warned Hepson in a low, stern voice.
+"Absolutely fair play, gentlemen, to both contestants!"
+
+Again the showering exchange of blows. Jetson, after his late rapid
+expenditure of force and nerve-energy, was now just the least bit
+confused. Dan landed on one ear, and then against his enemy's chin. Both
+were hard, dazing blows, though neither left a mark.
+
+Then an uppercut and Dalzell landed on Jetson's jugular. With, a gasp the
+fellow went down to the floor.
+
+"One, two, three, four--" Hepson began counting.
+
+"Don't bother with the count," begged Dalzell "I'll give him all the time
+he wants to get to his feet."
+
+Rap-tap-tap-tap! came a banging summons on the door, followed by
+Midshipman Joyce's voice demanding:
+
+"Are you in, Danny boy?"
+
+Swift as a flash Hepson and Farley leaped forward, fairly snatching
+Jetson, who was still half dazed, to his feet.
+
+In the same instant Page called out cheerily:
+
+"Come in under full steam, whatever craft is outside!"
+
+"Brace up? Jetson! Don't look silly or dazed,", warned Hepson, in a stern
+whisper. "That rap was the signal of the approach of the O.C."
+
+Farley was industriously brushing the signs of dust from Jetson's
+uniform.
+
+"I tell you, fellows," boomed Hepson's tranquil, earnest voice, "we've
+got to hustle every minute of practice time. Nothing else will give us a
+chance to win."
+
+"We haven't even a chance if Darry isn't soon back on the gridiron,"
+argued Farley.
+
+"Oh, he'll be all right soon," broke in Dan Dalzell eagerly.
+
+Joyce had already stepped into the room, leaving the door open. Now, as
+though by instinct, the midshipmen seemed aware that the O.C., who to-day
+happened to be Lieutenant Cotton, U.S.N., was standing in front of the
+doorway gazing in.
+
+Instantly the middies came to the position of attention, looking straight
+ahead of them.
+
+"Good evening, gentlemen," greeted the O.C. "Is anything unusual
+going on?"
+
+"We have been discussing the football situation, sir," announced
+Midshipman Hepson quite truthfully.
+
+Had Hepson been asked if there had recently been a fight in progress he
+would have answered truthfully, but he did not feel called upon to
+volunteer damaging information.
+
+"I thought I heard sounds as of some disturbance," remarked the O.C.,
+looking at the young men rather sharply. "That is to say, I was under the
+impression that there had been some unusual agility in operation. I heard
+something that sounded like scuffling."
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Mr. Hepson; "I think it very likely. The men on this
+deck, sir, can't think of anything in these days but line-ups and
+scrimmage tactics."
+
+"It occurred to me," went on the O.C., "that there was some sound of
+scuffling in this room."
+
+"There was, sir," admitted Midshipman Hepson candidly. "There was a
+species of scrimmage."
+
+"Was it in connection with football?" inquired Lieutenant Cotton.
+
+"Yes, sir,"--which answer, again, was wholly truthful.
+
+"Ah, I thought I heard something like a scrimmage in the room," assented
+Lieutenant Cotton. "Yet remember, gentlemen, that quarters is not the
+place for football practice."
+
+"Very good, sir; thank you, sir," replied the unmovable Hepson.
+
+"And remember that it is now very close to the time for study call,"
+continued the O.C.
+
+"Yes, sir; thank you, sir. We are just parting to our various
+quarters, sir."
+
+"Good evening, gentlemen."
+
+"Good evening, sir."
+
+Lieutenant Cotton passed on down the corridor, and the midshipmen eased
+themselves from the rigid position of attention.
+
+"That was a narrow squeak," grunted Hepson. "Now, Jetson, get out ahead."
+
+"I'll renew this argument at another time," retorted Jetson slowly, as he
+crossed the floor.
+
+"You don't need to, sir," Midshipman Hepson advised him. "Every gentleman
+here will agree with me that Mr. Dalzell had the best of the affair right
+up to the end. Nor is Mr. Dalzell under any obligation whatever to afford
+you another meeting on the score of to-night's disagreement."
+
+"We'll see about that," snapped Jetson, as he passed through the doorway.
+
+At that instant the study call sounded. The others hastened away to
+their quarters.
+
+Dan Dalzell stepped over to the handbowl, washing his hands, after which
+he went to his study-table and began to arrange his books.
+
+"It's kind of lonely to sit here without old Darry," sighed Dan dismally.
+"I hope he'll be here with me to-morrow evening. No; I don't either,
+though. I want him to stay over in hospital until there's no chance
+whatever that he'll have to wear an ugly scar through life."
+
+It was three evenings later when Midshipman David Darrin returned to
+his own quarters in Bancroft Hall. By this time the surface wound on his
+face was healing nicely, and with ordinary care he would soon be without
+sign of scar.
+
+"Pills (the surgeon) told me that I'll have to be careful and not let
+anything bump this face for days to come," remarked Dave, pointing to the
+strip of adhesive plaster that neatly covered his injury.
+
+"Well, you don't need to bump anything," replied Dan quietly. "Hepson
+wants you on the gridiron the worst way, but he has told me that he
+won't even allow you to get into togs until Pills has certified that
+you're fit to play."
+
+"It's tough," sighed Dave, then quietly began his studies.
+
+It is a rare proceeding to send a midshipman to Coventry; a step that is
+never taken save for the gravest reasons. Dan, having fought, did not
+feel it necessary to bring Jetson's case before a class meeting, and
+Jetson escaped Coventry. He was not cut, yet he soon discovered that the
+average classmate paid no more heed to him than appeared to be necessary
+for courtesy's sake.
+
+After another week "Pills" consented to Dave Darrin's going out for
+regular gridiron practice. Dave needed the work badly, for the Navy team
+was now on the eve of the first game of the season.
+
+Jetson, with no hope now of making the eleven this year, avoided the
+field for a few days.
+
+The first game of the season took place on a Saturday afternoon. The
+opponent was Hanniston College. Ordinarily, in the past, Hanniston had
+been an easy enough opponent, though there had been years in which
+Hanniston had carried the score away from the field.
+
+"How many of the regular team do you want to throw into the game against
+Hanniston, Mr. Hepson?" inquired Lieutenant-Commander Havens the night
+before the game.
+
+"Every one of them, sir," Hepson answered the head coach. "Until we get
+into a real game, we can't be sure that we've the strongest eleven.
+To-morrow's game will show us if we have made any mistakes in our
+selections."
+
+Even though Hanniston was considered one of the lesser opponents, every
+man in the brigade speculated with great interest, that night, on the
+probable outcome of the morrow.
+
+"Darrin will have a good chance to prove himself, a dub to-morrow,"
+thought Midshipman Jetson darkly. "I hate to wish against the Navy, but
+I'll cheer if Darrin, individually, ties himself up in foozle knots!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE GRIDIRON START
+
+
+On the day of the game the midshipmen talked eagerly, and mostly of
+football, through dinner in the great messhall of the brigade.
+
+"Did any one see the Hanniston infants arrive?" demanded Page.
+
+"Infants, eh!" called Joyce from the next table. "That shows you didn't
+see the visiting eleven."
+
+"Why? Are they of fair size?" asked Farley.
+
+"It took two 'buses to bring the regular eleven, besides the subs and all
+the howlers," retorted Joyce. "And the regular eleven, I am reliably
+informed, tip the scales at four tons."
+
+"Oh, come, now, Joyce, shave off a ton or two," protested Farley.
+
+"I won't take off more than fifty pounds, sir," retorted Joyce with mock
+stubbornness. "Say! The Hanniston fellows are enormous."
+
+"Then they've run all to bones and haven't any brains," grinned Dan.
+"After all, we don't mind mere bulk, for intelligence wins most of the
+games on the gridiron."
+
+"As to their intelligence, I can't say," admitted Joyce. "At any rate,
+from the glimpse that I got of the Hans, I should say that they average
+two years older than our men."
+
+"Let's throw up the sponge, then," proposed Dalzell demurely. "If we
+can't beat the visitors what's the use of playing them? It isn't even
+necessary to get into togs. We can send a note to the referee, and he can
+award the game to Hanniston."
+
+"Fine!" broke in Hepson scornfully.
+
+"However, I guess we aren't going to have any cinch to-day," joined
+in Midshipman Waite, from another table. "I have word from outside,
+by the way."
+
+"What word?"
+
+"Well, the Hanniston fellows have brought over some money with which to
+back up the howls they're making for their team. They're offering odds of
+ten to six that Hanniston wins."
+
+"They stand to lose a lot of money," grinned Hepson.
+
+"But here's the funny part of it," continued Waite. "You know, when the
+townspeople in Annapolis think they have a really good thing on us, they
+cover the money of visitors in any wagers on the games."
+
+"Then here's hoping that the Annapolis townspeople win a lot to-day,"
+laughed Midshipman Hepson.
+
+"Yes, but," returned Waite, "what I hear from town is that the Annapolis
+townspeople have been driven to cover; that they aren't taking up the
+offers of the visiting Hanniston boys."
+
+"Too bad!" sighed Dave Darrin. "And Annapolis needs the money so
+badly, too."
+
+"Are we going to win?" asked Waite bluntly.
+
+"Too early to tell you," replied Hepson coolly. "Ask me at supper
+to-night. But the townies won't wager any money on us this year, eh?"
+
+"The Annapolis people have put up some, but not much," replied Waite.
+
+"We're going to win, just the same," announced Dan Dalzell.
+
+"Sure?" questioned several voices.
+
+"Oh, yes! It's all settled now," laughed Midshipman Waite. "I've been
+waiting for Danny boy to tell us. Now, we know--we've heard from the
+hot-air meter."
+
+There was a laugh in which Dan didn't join readily, though his face
+reddened considerably. Midshipman Dalzell was one of those who always
+believed that the Navy must win, just because it was the Navy. Some of
+the other midshipmen didn't go quite as far as that in their confidence.
+
+"Better not call Danny boy names," advised Dave Darrin gravely. "He
+might be sulking at just the time when we need him this afternoon."
+
+"That would be unmilitary," retorted Mr. Waite.
+
+"Oh, no," said Dave lightly. "Even as good a soldier as Achilles sulked
+in his tent, you know."
+
+"Achilles? What class was he in, then?" demanded Waite. "I don't remember
+the name."
+
+"He was in a class of his own, at the siege of Troy," volunteered Farley.
+
+"Troy, N.Y.?" inquired Waite.
+
+"If you keep on, Waite," muttered Farley, "someone will have to give you
+an ancient history book at Christmas. You don't seem well posted on
+Greek tales."
+
+"Don't have to be, thank goodness," returned Waite, helping himself to
+another piece of beef. "Greek isn't on the list here."
+
+There was abundant time for rest before the game. The players and
+subs, for the Navy team, however, were early at dressing quarters.
+Jetson hadn't been called as one of the subs., so he walked sulkily
+and alone through the grounds while most of the midshipmen strolled,
+about in groups.
+
+Half an hour before the time for the game the spectators' seats held
+fair-sized crowds. At that time the Naval Academy Band began to play,
+just to keep the waiting ones more patient.
+
+Ten minutes later the Hanniston players came on to the field at a slow
+trot. Instantly the Hanniston howlers in the audience began to whoop up
+the noise. The midshipmen joined in cheers, and then the band took up the
+music again.
+
+At first sight of the visitors, some of the Navy people began to have
+their doubts about victory. The Hannistons surely were "bulky." In size
+and age, the visitors were as formidable as any of the college elevens.
+
+Many of the midshipmen, too, recalled what they had heard Waite say
+at table. It seemed little wonder that the popular odds were against
+the middies.
+
+But the band, having played its welcome to the Hannistons, who were now
+chasing a ball over the field in practice, almost immediately switched
+off into the strains of "See, the Conquering Hero Comes!"
+
+All doubts were dispelled for the moment at least, as all the Navy people
+present let loose a tremendous cheer in which the midshipmen spectators
+led, for now Captain Hepson was leading his own men on to the field, the
+hope of the Navy that day.
+
+"Hepson! Hepson!" went up rousingly from the brigade.
+
+"Darrin! Darrin!" howled others.
+
+"Dalzell!"
+
+"Darrin! Darrin!"
+
+"Hepson must enjoy hearing more noise for Darrin than for himself,"
+reflected Jetson moodily.
+
+But Hepson, big in body, heart and mind, was intent only on victory. It
+did not even occur to the captain of the Navy eleven that Darrin was
+getting more of a reception than himself. Hepson was simply and heartily
+glad to find himself supported by two such promising gridiron men as
+Darrin and Dalzell.
+
+"Remember, Darry, how much we're backing on you to-day," muttered Hepson,
+after another round of yells for Dave had been given.
+
+"I can't do everything, and perhaps not much," smiled Dave. "But I'll do
+my level best to do all that you call upon me for at my own little spot
+in the line."
+
+A din of Hanniston yells was now smiting the air. Uncle Sam's midshipmen
+waited with patience and courtesy, but when their turn came they volleyed
+forth four times as much as the visiting howlers could supply.
+
+"I hope Darry is in great form to-day," murmured the midshipman seated
+next to Jetson.
+
+"He looks to be in as good shape as ever doesn't he?" asked Jetson
+sullenly.
+
+"Oh, I forgot," exclaimed the other. "You don't like Darry any
+too well."
+
+"I've nothing against him that would make me want to see him in bad
+form," grumbled Jetson. "I'm a Navy man and I don't want to see any but
+Navy victories."
+
+The toss had just been made, the visitors winning the kick-off. At a sign
+from a Navy officer in the field the leader silenced his band and a hush
+fell over the gridiron and the seats of the onlookers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE BAND COULDN'T MAKE ITSELF HEARD
+
+
+Within five minutes the Hanniston players had established the fact that
+they were not only bulky, but quick and brainy. In fact, though the Navy
+promptly blocked the ball and got it, the middies were unable to make
+headway against the college men. Then Hanniston took the ball, fighting
+slowly but steadily toward the Navy goal line.
+
+"I don't see Darrin making any wonderful plays," thought Jetson to
+himself. He was gloomy over seeing the Navy outplayed, but secretly glad
+that the spectators had as yet found no occasion to shout themselves
+hoarse over Midshipman Dave's work.
+
+Outside of the brigade the other spectators in the Navy seats felt
+themselves tinder a cloud of increasing gloom.
+
+"From all the talk I had expected more of Mr. Darrin," remarked an
+officer's wife-to her husband.
+
+"Darrin has a fearful Hanniston line against him," replied the officer.
+"Captain Hepson realizes that, too, and he isn't pushing Darrin as hard
+as you might wish to see."
+
+"We're going to be beaten, aren't we?" asked another Navy onlooker.
+
+It was as yet too early to predict safely, though all the appearances
+were that the visitors would do whatever scoring was to be done to-day.
+
+Yet, even when they felt themselves outclassed, the middies hung to their
+opponents with dogged perseverance. It took nearly all of the first half
+for the Hannistons to place the Navy goal in final, desperate danger.
+
+Then, of a sudden, while the Hannistons worked within a dozen yards of
+the Navy goal line, the college boys made a new attack, the strongest
+they had yet shown.
+
+There was a bumping crash as the lines came together, at the Navy's
+right. Farley and Page were swept clear off their feet and the assailants
+swept onward. Another clever attack, backed by a ruse, and one of the
+college boys started on a dead run with the ball. In vain the Navy's
+backs tried to stop him. The Hanniston boys successfully interfered for
+their runner, and the ball was touched down behind the goal line.
+
+Gone were the cheers that had been ascending from the brigade. All the
+Navy crowd gasped in dismay. The ball was carried back, kicked, and
+Hanniston had scored six points.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha, ha--Hanniston! Wow!" went up derisively from
+the visiting howlers.
+
+"Hepson! Hepson! Pull us out!" came the appeal.
+
+"Darry! Darry! Rush it!"
+
+As the two elevens were lining up for another start the time-keeper's
+whistle sounded the end of the first half of the game.
+
+Gloomy, indeed, were those who had hoped to see the Navy win. There were
+no cheers, save from the visitor-howlers. The best that the leader of the
+band could do, was to swing his baton and start in the strains of "'Twas
+Never Thus in Olden Times."
+
+"What do you make of the enemy, Hepson?" inquired Joyce, as the middies
+rested at the side lines.
+
+"We haven't made anything of them yet, but we've got to make wrecks of
+'em before the last half is over," grunted the captain of the Navy.
+
+"How are we going to do it?" asked another player.
+
+"By just hanging at them with sheer grit," replied the captain gravely.
+"Fellows, they've beaten us so far, but they haven't worn us out any. Big
+fellows as the Hannistons are, they may not have the endurance to hang to
+us through all of the coming half."
+
+"That makes me remember a song I heard when on leave this year," grinned
+Page. "A part of it runs:
+
+'Said the ant to the elephant,
+"Who are ye shoving?
+There's one wide river to cross!"'
+
+"And we're the elephants?" inquired Farley in mock innocence.
+
+"Do we look it?" demanded Page in disgust.
+
+"Remember, fellows," warned Hepson, as the signal summoned both teams
+back to the field, "many a hopeless game has been won in the last five
+minutes. But don't wait. Hammer the college boys from the start!"
+
+"Dalzell and I can stand hard work and pounding whenever you get ready to
+put it on us," Dave announced to Hepson. "Don't try to spare us any. Both
+of us would sooner be carried away on stretchers than see the Navy lose
+its first game to a minor college."
+
+The game was resumed. For ten minutes the Navy played mainly on the
+defensive. Indeed, to the spectators it seemed all that the middies could
+do against such big fellows as the visitors.
+
+Just after that, however, Hepson passed the silent signal, and then the
+midshipmen hurled themselves into the fray to test out all the endurance
+that the Hanniston players might possess.
+
+Many a college boy on the opposing line wondered where these smaller men
+in the Navy togs had obtained all the fight that they now showed. The big
+fellows didn't seem able to stand it long. The Navy had the ball, and now
+slowly fought down toward the college goal. Onlookers in the Navy seats
+began to stand up, to watch breathlessly, and be ever ready to cheer.
+
+"Hurl little Darry in!" yelled someone hoarsely in a momentary lull in
+the noise.
+
+But Hepson, watching every chance with tigerish eyes, was yet
+cool-headed, as a football general should be. Twice he used Darrin to
+advance the ball, and each time Dave gained a few yards. The third time,
+wearied by pounding his head against a human stone wall, Dave failed to
+gain more than half a yard. Watchful Hepson sent the ball, after the next
+snap-back, over to the Navy's right.
+
+The time of the second half was slipping away, and it now looked as
+though the middies might gradually have won by the steady, bull-dog
+quality of their tactics.
+
+Nearer and nearer to the college goal line the team of smaller men fought
+the pigskin, until at last they had it within six yards of the Hanniston
+fortress. But at this point the visitors stayed further progress long
+enough to have the pigskin ovoid come to them by a block.
+
+The situation was desperate. Hanniston could not get the ball away from
+its present locality, and in dread the college captain sent the ball back
+of his own line to a safety.
+
+This counted two for Annapolis, but it also set the ball back twenty-five
+yards from the college line.
+
+"Block! block! block--if you can't fight the ball back to the Navy goal,"
+was the word that Captain Hart, of the college team, sent along his own
+line. "Don't be too reckless. Just fight to keep the Navy from scoring."
+
+"Hepson! Hepson!" came, appealingly, from the seats, as the two elevens
+lined up at the twenty-five-yard line.
+
+"Darry! O Darry!"
+
+Grim determination written on their faces, eleven middies awaited the
+signal, then hurled themselves forward like tigers.
+
+The ball came to Dave, who started with it. Dan Dalzell, watching his
+chum with cat-like eyes, followed and made the best interference that he
+had offered that day.
+
+Five and a half yards won!
+
+As center bent for the snap back, a "fake" signal was called by the Navy
+quarter-back.
+
+Just as the ball started, the Navy players back of the line started
+toward the right The Hanniston men, tired now, but full of grit as ever,
+moved to block. The Navy gained a second or two, for the pass was really
+to the left, and again Darrin had the pigskin clutched tightly as he
+started to ran and deceive. Again Dan and the others of the interference
+sustained their idol and champion. Dave went soon to earth, but he had
+forced the ball another six yards!
+
+"Darry--oh, Darry!"
+
+"One more play and over the line!"
+
+"You've got the elephants going at last."
+
+"Rush 'em!"
+
+"A touchdown saves us!"
+
+Dan's face was flushed, Dave's white and set as the line again formed for
+the next play.
+
+Quarter-back Joyce held up his head, watching the field like a mouse
+seeking escape.
+
+Then came the emergency signal: "Nine--fourteen--twenty-two--three!"
+
+Back came the pigskin while the middies seemed to throw their
+bodies toward the right. It looked as though they were trying to
+mask this feint.
+
+The ball was in motion. But Dave had it, instead of Farley. Instantly the
+Navy swung its entire line toward the left, for this was the grand rush,
+the die on which everything was cast!
+
+Dave was darting forward, and never had his interference backed
+him better.
+
+Before Midshipman Darrin stood one of the big college men, who looked
+fully equal to stopping the midshipman anywhere and at any time.
+
+Nor did Darrin try to dodge this bulky player. Instead, Dave, as he
+hurled himself at the opponent, sprang high into the air, as though he
+had some desperate plan of leaping over the barrier.
+
+Braced on his legs, his two feet solidly planted, this Hanniston man felt
+ready for any shock that Dave Darrin could bring against him.
+
+But Darrin did not touch him. On the contrary, the Navy's hope fell to
+the ground, just short of the blocking opponent.
+
+Like a flash Dave went between that pair of solidly braced, wide-spread
+legs. In a wriggle that looked flash-like to the breathless beholders,
+Darrin was through. He had taken desperate chances, when he went down, of
+being beset, end forced to hold the pigskin where he had fallen.
+
+But now Dave was up and running, and the player who had sought to block
+him was far in the rear.
+
+The whole Navy force hurled itself around this point, battering down the
+startled opposition. With fast-coming breath Dave's comrades pushed him
+along breaking down all opposition--until Dave, with a sudden, wild
+dash, was over the line for a touchdown.
+
+"Darry did it! Darry did it!"
+
+For fifteen seconds the uproar was deafening. The college players looked
+stunned, while their howlers, over on the visitors' seats, seemed to
+shrink within their coats.
+
+"Seven to six!"
+
+"Make it eight!"
+
+Dave Darrin had borne the brunt of battle. Now his eyes were flashing
+with excitement.
+
+"I'd like you to try the kick for goal, Darry, but I don't know," called
+Hepson in his ear. "You may be about used up."
+
+"Let me have the kick. I'm not afraid," Dave half boasted, for now he
+could think of nothing but victory.
+
+"All right. Take it," agreed Hepson.
+
+Dave Darrin did take the kick. Never had he made a better one. The ball
+went straight and true between the goal-posts.
+
+The band-leader held his baton poised, but the Navy spectators broke into
+such a riot of joy that he let the baton fall inertly.
+
+"What's the use?" he asked the musicians.
+
+Again the players lined up, with the Navy; score eight to six.
+
+Ten seconds later, the whistle blew, announcing the end of the game.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+JOYCE IS BITTEN BY THE TROUBLE BUG
+
+
+The game was over. The giant visitors had departed, and the Naval Academy
+atmosphere appeared to be rarefied.
+
+Most of the members of the brigade were back in Bancroft Hall, and this
+being late Saturday afternoon, study was over save for those who felt the
+need of devoting extra time to their books.
+
+Farley, Page and Joyce had dropped into the room occupied by Dave and
+Dan.
+
+"Hepson was nearly crazy this afternoon," remarked Joyce, laughing.
+
+"Then he had an easy way of concealing the fact," Dave replied. "I call
+him a cool football captain, with plenty of judgment and patience."
+
+"Yes; but I happen to know that he was badly upset," returned Joyce.
+"Twice he sent me the wrong signal about the numbers to call, and he
+admitted it afterward. He was afraid, before the game was twenty minutes'
+old, that we were up against a big walloping."
+
+"Oh, well," Darrin replied, with a shrug of his shoulders, "the Navy is
+just as used as the Army is to being walloped in athletics. The trouble
+with the Army and Navy teams, in athletics, is that we're always pitted
+against college men who are bigger and older than we are. It's just about
+as unfair to us, as it would be unfair to High School teams if we played
+against High Schools instead of colleges. We could wallop High School
+outfits at either baseball or football, and the only wonder is that the
+Army and Navy win as many games as they do against the colleges. College
+teams have more time for training than the Army or Navy teams do."
+
+"What are you going to do to-night, Darry?" Joyce asked presently.
+"The hop?"
+
+"No," Dave answered almost shortly. The truth was that he was no
+"hop-fiend" or "fusser." Except when Belle Meade was at Annapolis to go
+to a hop with him, Darrin had little liking for the ball.
+
+"I don't intend to hop either," Joyce continued. "Now, are you well
+enough up in grease to get town leave for the evening?"
+
+"Grease" means good standing on the conduct report.
+
+"Yes," nodded Dave. "Danny and I could easily get town leave, if we had a
+good excuse. But, of course, it's out of the question to get leave merely
+to roam the streets. We'd have to explain where we were going, and then
+go there."
+
+"There's a show on at the theatre," broke in Dalzell.
+
+"Yes," nodded Dave. "But do you know what kind of show it is?"
+
+"No."
+
+"It's a burlesque show, brought here to win away the half dollars of the
+sailors on the ships here. We'd stand very little chance of getting leave
+to go to that kind of show."
+
+"But I want to go somewhere, away from the Academy grounds, just for a
+couple of hours," sighed Joyce.
+
+"I'd like to go also," agreed Dave. "But where could we go? That is, to
+what place or for what purpose could we go that would be approved by
+the O.C.?"
+
+This proved to be a poser indeed.
+
+"Fact is," Joyce went on, "I'm so desperate for a little change that I
+don't believe I'd funk at taking French over the Academy wall. What do
+you two say?"
+
+"That dog won't bark," Dave retorted.
+
+"Oh, you greaser!" Joyce shied at him.
+
+"Well, I am greasing to the extent that I won't imperil my chances of
+keeping in the service by taking any French leave," Darrin replied
+steadily. "So, Joyce, I'm afraid a trip to town to-night is out of the
+question, unless you can think up some plan to get by the O.C."
+
+"How are you on Frenching the wall, Danny boy?" queried Joyce.
+
+"Just about as big a muff as Darry," Dan returned dryly.
+
+Joyce remained for some moments in deep meditation. He wanted to go into
+Annapolis, and he didn't care about going on a lonesome expedition. The
+more he thought the better Joyce realized how hard it was to frame a
+request that would get past the O.C.
+
+"I have it," spoke up Dalzell at last. "We'll ask leave to run up to
+Baltimore to consult an oculist."
+
+"You idiot!" cried Joyce impatiently. None of us need spectacles."
+
+"Besides, there's no train running to Baltimore as late as this,"
+added Dave.
+
+"No good, then," sighed Dalzell, "and my inventiveness is gone."
+
+"I'm afraid we'll have to French it over the wall," insisted Joyce.
+
+"You'll French it alone, then," Dave declared. "I draw the line at
+leaving the grounds without official permission."
+
+"Prig!" grunted Joyce under his breath. Then he started up, his eyes
+shining with the light of a new resolve.
+
+"Got an idea?" asked Dan.
+
+"Yes," said Joyce. "And you'll call me a fool if I let you in on it now.
+Wait until I see how it works."
+
+With that he hastened from the room. Darrin drew down a book from the
+bookshelf, and from between its pages extracted a letter from Belle,
+which he began to read for the dozenth time.
+
+A few minutes passed. Then Joyce knocked, next entered the room with
+jubilation apparent in his face.
+
+"I've fixed it," he cried. "All you fellows have to do is to go to the
+O.C. and make your request in person."
+
+"Request for what?" Dave asked, looking up as he folded the letter.
+
+"I told the O.C., plumply, that we were so tired of being on this side of
+the wall that we felt desperate for a change. I reminded him that we are
+all three in the top grease grade, and told him that we wanted permission
+to take a short stroll through Annapolis to-night. O.C. hemmed and hawed,
+and said it was a most unusual request for the evening, though proper
+enough for Saturday afternoon. At last he called up the commandant of
+midshipmen, stated the case and asked if he might grant the permission.
+The com. was game and said all right. So all that remains is for you two
+to go to the O.C. and make your request in person. Scat! Get in motion!
+Start! I'll wait here until I hear that you've put it through."
+
+"Of course, Joyce, you're not putting up a joke on us?" demanded Darrin,
+looking keenly at the Navy quarter-back.
+
+"On my word I'm not."
+
+"Come on, Danny boy," called Dave, starting, and Dalzell followed
+readily enough. They entered the office of the O. C., saluted and stated
+their case.
+
+"It is, of course, a somewhat unusual request to grant for the evening,"
+replied Lieutenant-Commander Denham. "However, I can grant it if you will
+both assure me that you will take extreme pains to keep out of trouble of
+any kind, and that you will not enter the theatre or any other resort
+that would be bad judgment for a midshipman to enter."
+
+"As to that, sir," Darrin replied, "I long ago resolved not to take any
+chances whatever of breaking any disciplinary requirements that would
+bring me demerits. I am working hard to get through the academic
+requirements, sir, and I don't intend to pass the mental ordeals here and
+then find that I can't keep on as a midshipman just because I have too
+many demerits against me. I think, sir, you may feel assured I shall not
+allow myself to do anything that would bring me under discipline."
+
+"Your resolution was and is a most excellent one, Mr. Darrin," replied
+the O.C. "Mr. Dalzell, do you share Mr. Darrin's determination as to
+keeping out of trouble in Annapolis this evening?"
+
+"Emphatically, sir."
+
+"Then the desired permission is granted. You will enter proper report as
+to the time of leaving and returning."
+
+Thanking the O.C. and saluting, Dave and Dan hastened back to Joyce.
+
+"Not so difficult, was it?" demanded the Navy quarter-back.
+
+"It was a whole lot better than planning to French the trip," retorted
+Darrin. "Now, we shall leave here to-night feeling perfectly safe as to
+our place on the pap."
+
+"Pap" is the sheet on which the day's report of midshipmen conduct is
+kept.
+
+"I'll admit that caution is sometimes worth while," laughed Joyce.
+
+Soon after the call for supper formation sounded. The meal hour was a
+merry one that evening. The afternoon's game was naturally the main
+subject for conversation.
+
+Dave naturally came in for much praise for the way he had saved the Navy
+game, but this flattery bored him. Darrin did not in the least imagine
+that he was a wonder on the gridiron. In fact, the game being past and
+won, he did not take any further interest in it. Such thought as he now
+gave to football concerned the games still to come.
+
+Immediately after the meal the three midshipmen reported their departure
+into Annapolis. Then they went to the main gate, passed through and
+strolled on up Maryland Avenue into State Circle.
+
+"I'm sorry we promised not to go to the theatre," murmured
+Midshipman Joyce.
+
+"I'm not," retorted Dave. "Without that promise we wouldn't have secured
+the leave."
+
+"But what are we going to do," demanded the dissatisfied one, "now that
+we are outside the grounds?"
+
+"We can't do much, except what we came out to do," Dave reminded Joyce.
+"We can just walk about and stretch our legs, look in at a few store
+windows and make a few trifling purchases that won't exhaust our small
+store of pocket money."
+
+"Exciting prospect!" remarked Joyce.
+
+"Well, what ails you?" demanded Dalzell with unusual quietness. "What do
+you want to do? Something that will get us into big trouble with the O.C.
+and the com.?"
+
+"Joyce can't tell you what he longs for, for he doesn't know himself,"
+explained Dave.
+
+"But I know. He wants to do something irregular; anything that is
+slightly in breach of the regulations--something that will get him hauled
+up before the O.C. and the pap."
+
+"You're a wonderful guesser," laughed Joyce. "Well, I'll admit that I'm
+simply restless, and that anything that will stir my blood and my liver
+will fill the bill. I'm afraid I'm so depraved to-night that even a
+street-fight wouldn't go against the grain."
+
+"You'd better forget it," advised Darrin quietly. "It's a dangerous frame
+of mind for a future officer and gentleman, who must acquire control over
+himself before he can be fit to command men."
+
+"You talk like a padre!" (chaplain) uttered Joyce in disgust "Can't you
+forget, for one evening, that you're a midshipman?"
+
+"No; I don't want to," Dave returned quietly.
+
+"Prig!" uttered Joyce again, and this time he did not take the pains to
+speak under his breath. But Darrin only smiled indulgently.
+
+By way of simple dissipation the three midshipmen went to a drug store,
+enjoying themselves with ice cream sodas. Soon after they found
+themselves in a Main Street bookstore, looking over post cards. They
+could, however, find no new ones, and so left without buying.
+
+"And there's the theatre right over there!" sighed Joyce.
+
+"It would be against our word as midshipmen and gentlemen to visit it,"
+Dave urged. "Come on, Joyce; we'll turn into one of the very quiet side
+streets and stroll along. Then we'll be out of temptation."
+
+Accordingly they went to one of the all but deserted side streets of the
+better sort.
+
+"There's a comrade ahead of us," said Dave in an undertone presently, as
+he made out the uniform half a block away.
+
+Hardly had he spoken when a door opened and a young man in evening
+clothes came lightly down the steps. At once the unknown midshipman
+wheeled and sprang at the young civilian. There was a swift interchange
+of blows, over almost as soon as it started, for the unknown midshipman
+speedily knocked down the man he had assaulted. Nor did the civilian get
+up at once. Instead, he bawled lustily for help.
+
+Joyce made a move to spring forward, but Dave caught him by the arm.
+
+"Don't get forward, Joyce. If you do, you'll probably recognize the
+midshipman. Then you'll have to report his name."
+
+Answering the calls for help five other young men ran out of the same
+house. The midshipman disdained to flee and stood his ground.
+
+"We'll teach you!" snarled one of the newly arrived civilians, raising
+his cane as though to bring it down on the midshipman's shoulders.
+
+The midshipman, like a flash, wrenched the cane from the other's
+hands and began to lay it lustily about him. The whole crowd,
+therefore, including the young man who had first been knocked down,
+joined in the attack.
+
+"That's too much like cowardice, and we're bound to go to the rescue of a
+comrade!" muttered Dave Darrin, his eyes blazing. "Come on, fellows--and
+be sure not to recognize that comrade!"
+
+In a moment the fight was somewhat more equal. Darrin, Dalzell and Joyce
+were all accomplished and disciplined boxers. They closed with the crowd
+around the midshipman.
+
+Crack! thump! bump! Midshipman blows landed heavily and rapidly. The
+civilians were soon worsted and scattered.
+
+"Whoever you are, comrade," muttered Dave in a low tone, wheeling the
+unknown midshipman around, "don't look our way and don't give us any
+chance to recognize you. Scoot!"
+
+"Po-o-o-lice!" lustily yelled one of the crowd of defeated civilians.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+HEPSON IS "SOME WILD"
+
+
+"Police!" bawled others of the civilians, taking up the hue and cry.
+
+That spelled serious trouble if Dave and his friends should tarry there.
+Midshipmen are in no sense free from arrest by the civil authorities, and
+it is likely to fare hard with Uncle Sam's young sailors if they are
+taken in by the civil authorities.
+
+"Come along," muttered Darrin, leading the way. He did not run, but he
+certainly walked fast, and in a direction away from Main Street. His two
+companions followed him. The "unknown midshipman," taking Darrin's shrewd
+hint, had already made himself invisible.
+
+After the prompt drubbing they had received, not one of the young
+civilians felt any desire to follow these husky midshipmen.
+
+The police in Annapolis are few in number, and so do not always hear a
+street summons. In this instance Dave and his friends turned a corner and
+were soon away from the scene of the late affair.
+
+"Now, I hope you've had all the excitement you want, Joyce," Dave
+remarked dryly.
+
+"Like most good things, it didn't last long," complained Joyce.
+
+"Oh, it isn't over yet, by any means. We've the O.C. and the com. to
+face," grumbled Darrin. "But we couldn't stand by and see one of our own
+punched by a whole gang."
+
+"Of course we couldn't, but why fuss about the com, and his satellite,
+the O.C.? They'll never hear of this."
+
+"I think there's a big chance that we shall hear of it," retorted Dave.
+"That's why I advised you not to look at the unknown midshipman closely
+enough to be able to recognize him in the dark."
+
+"I don't know who he was," admitted Dan candidly.
+
+"Nor do I," supplemented Joyce.
+
+"Then, whoever he is, the chap stands little chance of being caught
+unless he voluntarily announces himself."
+
+Presumably the police didn't answer the hail of the young civilians.
+At any rate, Darrin and his friends heard nothing more of the matter
+while in town.
+
+But when they returned to Bancroft Hall the trio were met by this
+announcement:
+
+"The officer in charge wishes to see you in his office."
+
+"It's coming," warned Dave, as he and his companions turned and went in
+to report themselves.
+
+"There has been a disturbance in Annapolis," stated Lieutenant-Commander
+Denham. "Mr. Darrin, were you in it?"
+
+"I was in one kind of disturbance, sir," Darrin answered at once.
+
+"Of what kind?"
+
+"Several civilians attacked a man in a midshipman's uniform. I went
+to his aid."
+
+"And attacked some civilians?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Mr. Dalzell, Mr. Joyce, did you also take part in that affair?"
+inquired the O.C.
+
+"Yes, sir," answered both midshipmen.
+
+"For what reason?"
+
+"Because, sir," answered Joyce, "several civilians pounced upon one man
+who wore a midshipman's uniform."
+
+"And you three rushed in and pounded some civilians?" asked the
+O.C. coolly.
+
+"I'm afraid we did, sir," answered Dave, who found the
+lieutenant-commander's gaze turned on him.
+
+"Who was that other midshipman, Mr. Darrin?"
+
+"I don't know, sir."
+
+"Didn't you recognize him when you went to his aid?"
+
+"I did not, sir."
+
+"Did either of you gentlemen recognize the midshipman to whose rescue
+you rushed?"
+
+Dan and Joyce replied in the negative.
+
+"Tell me the circumstances of the attack, Mr. Darrin. Take pains to make
+your statement so exact that you will not have to amend the statement
+afterwards."
+
+Darrin told the affair as it had happened.
+
+"Hm! And none of you recognized the fourth midshipman?" pursued the O.C.
+"That, in itself, was strange, Mr. Darrin, was there any agreement among
+you three that you would not recognize your comrade?"
+
+"Not exactly an agreement, sir," Dave confessed candidly. "At the
+distance that we were from the scene before we rushed in the darkness
+prevented our seeing the face of the unknown midshipman. As we started
+forward, I will admit that I warned Mr. Dalzell and Mr. Joyce not to look
+at the other midshipman's face."
+
+"So that you might answer truthfully, if asked, that you did not
+know the man?"
+
+"Yes, sir; that was my reason for so advising Mr. Dalzell and Mr. Joyce."
+
+"That was what might be termed extraordinary foresight, Mr. Darrin,"
+remarked Lieutenant-Commander Denham ironically.
+
+"Thank you, sir," answered Dave as innocently as though he did not
+understand that he had just been rebuked. The O.C. frowned.
+
+"Mr. Darrin, since I assume you to have been the ringleader of your trio,
+did you give that wonderful advice to your companions just so that you
+might be able to refuse any aid to the Naval Academy authorities in
+running this matter to the ground?"
+
+"Yes, sir," Dave answered very frankly.
+
+"You wished, then," demanded the O.C. sternly, "to hinder the course of
+justice at the Naval Academy?"
+
+"It, at least, sir, did not strike me at the time quite in that light."
+
+"Yet something was happening on the streets of Annapolis that you knew
+would be very thoroughly investigated if it were reported here, and so
+you took precautions against being able to aid the authorities in the
+investigation?"
+
+"I admit the truth of that, sir."
+
+"Mr. Darrin, why did you feel called upon to try to defeat the
+investigation that you foresaw, and which is now under way?"
+
+"Because, sir, it is contrary to the spirit of the brigade of midshipmen
+to carry tales against each other. I did not care to act contrary to
+that spirit."
+
+"Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that you did not dare,"
+observed the O.C. half sneeringly.
+
+"That way of stating it would be true, sir. I do not care to turn
+informer against my comrades."
+
+"Yet you think you possess the courage to become one of our fighting
+officers in the future, if the need arises?
+
+"Of my courage as a fighting man, sir, I am unable to form any opinion
+until that courage has been properly tested."
+
+"But you are afraid to inform the authorities of the identity of comrades
+who commit serious offenses?"
+
+"As it is contrary to the spirit of the brigade, sir, I would be more
+afraid of my own contempt than of any other punishment."
+
+Lieutenant-Commander Denham appeared to lose some of his patience
+presently.
+
+"I wonder," he remarked brusquely, "why you midshipmen cannot learn to
+accept some of your sense of honor from the officers who have seen so
+much more service than you. I wonder why you will go on formulating your
+own canons of honor, even when such beliefs sometimes result in the
+dismissal of midshipmen from the service."
+
+The three midshipmen, not being questioned, remained silent.
+
+"And so not one of you has the slightest idea of the original nature of
+the quarrel in which you so readily took part? And none of you has any
+idea of the identity of the fourth midshipman concerned in this
+evening's work?"
+
+"I have not, sir," replied Midshipmen Darrin, Dalzell and Joyce in
+one breath.
+
+"Very good, gentlemen. The matter will be investigated further. You will
+go to your quarters and remain there. You will take part in the meal
+formations, but in no drills or recitations until you are further
+advised. And you will not leave Bancroft Hall without direct orders from
+competent authority."
+
+The three midshipmen saluted, turned and left the office, going to their
+own rooms.
+
+"Wow!" muttered Dan as soon as the chums had closed their door on
+themselves.
+
+"We shall surely have enough to think of," smiled Dave wearily.
+
+"Oh, aye!" agreed Dalzell.
+
+"Oh, well, if we're going to skip some recitations we'll need all the
+more study," sighed Dave, seating himself at his study table and drawing
+his books toward him.
+
+But he was not permitted to study long in peace. Word of the affair had
+spread, and Hepson presented himself at Darrin's quarters in great
+consternation.
+
+"Great!" mocked Hepson. "Just when we've discovered that the Navy has a
+dub team without you two, or next door to one, then you two go and get
+ordered to quarters. You'll not turn out with us Monday; you may not
+practice with us through the week or play in our next game. Fine!"
+
+"Perhaps," grinned Dan, "if we two are so important to Navy prestige as
+you appear to imagine, we shall not be kept long from the gridiron."
+
+"Dalzell," retorted Hepson impatiently, "you're a second classman, and
+you've been here long enough to know that no considerations of discipline
+will be made to stand aside in order that the Navy may have a better
+athletic team of any kind. Nothing here is sacrificed to athletics, and
+you surely must know it."
+
+"Then I guess we're dished," confessed Dalzell mournfully.
+
+"A fine way for you two to go and use the football squad! Great!"
+insisted Hepson bitterly.
+
+"Had you been with us, Hepson, you'd have done just as we did. I know
+that," Dave replied.
+
+"Well, you are calling me a bit," agreed Hepson. "After all, I don't know
+just what it was that got you both into this scrape. Some kind of fight,
+or row, in town, was all I heard."
+
+"Then I'll tell you about it," Darrin went on quietly.
+
+"Well, I really don't see how you could have helped it," agreed
+Midshipman Hepson after he had listened. "But that doesn't save us any.
+We're out our two best line players and our quarter-back."
+
+"Oh, we'll be restored to the squad as soon as the sentence has been
+pronounced," predicted Dan Dalzell.
+
+"Even if you're bounced out of the Naval Academy?" demanded Hepson
+savagely.
+
+"It--it won't be as bad as that," faltered Dan.
+
+"Perhaps not," agreed Hepson, "though you must understand that the charge
+of assaulting civilians is not a light matter. You can be dismissed for
+it, you know."
+
+"Yes," nodded Dave Darrin, and then Danny boy went several shades
+less ruddy.
+
+"Here's hoping for the best," grumbled Hepson, holding out his hand to
+each in turn. "And, for the love of Mike, keep out of all further
+trouble! Don't look cross-eyed--once--until after November!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+TWO SIDES OF A STORY
+
+
+One circumstance puzzled all of the midshipmen who first heard of the
+affair. The fourth, and unknown, midshipman, who had waited outside of
+the house and assaulted the first civilian, must have known the latter or
+it was not likely that he would have committed the assault. That being
+the case, it was just likely that the civilian knew and had recognized
+the unknown midshipman who had knocked him down. Such an attack must have
+followed some prior dispute.
+
+Then, since the civilians had undoubtedly made complaint to the Naval
+Academy authorities, how had they been able to get out of supplying the
+name of the midshipman unknown to Dave and his friends?
+
+Right after breakfast the next morning Dave Darrin and his friends of the
+evening before were summoned before the commandant of midshipmen. By that
+officer they were questioned very rigidly, but they had nothing to add to
+their statement of the night before. They were therefore ordered back to
+their quarters, with permission only to attend chapel that forenoon.
+
+Just after chapel, however, the fourth midshipman discovered himself to
+the officer in charge. He was Midshipman Totten, of fourth class.
+
+Totten admitted that it was he who had waited outside of the house in
+question, and who had knocked down the civilian. He further gave the name
+of that civilian, who was the son of one of the prominent officials of
+the state government.
+
+"Why did you strike him, Mr. Totten?" demanded the officer in charge.
+
+"Because, sir, the fellow had grossly insulted a young lady whom I felt
+bound to avenge."
+
+"Who is the young lady?"
+
+"Am I obliged, sir, to give her name in the matter?"
+
+"It will be better, Mr. Totten. You may be sure that your statement will
+be treated with all the consideration and confidence possible."
+
+Totten thereupon explained that the young woman in question was his
+cousin. Totten, who was an orphan, had been brought up by an aunt who had
+but one child of her own, the young woman in question. When Totten had
+won an appointment to the Naval Academy, the aunt and cousin had decided
+to move to Annapolis sooner than have their little family broken up.
+
+"How did you come to be outside the Academy grounds last evening, Mr.
+Totten? You were not on leave to go outside."
+
+"I took the chances and Frenched it, sir," confessed Totten candidly. "I
+knew that I could not get leave, and so did not ask it. But I felt that
+the fellow had to be punished, no matter at what hazard to myself."
+
+"Then you considered the avenging of the insult to your cousin as being a
+matter of greater importance than your future career in the Navy?"
+
+Midshipman Totten paled, but he answered bravely:
+
+"Yes, sir; and at the same time a Naval career means nearly everything in
+the world to me."
+
+Lieutenant-Commander Morrill, the new officer in charge, felt that it was
+difficult to rebuke a future Naval officer for defending from insult a
+woman dear to him.
+
+"I shall have to pass this matter on to the commandant of midshipmen,"
+decided the O.C. "Mr. Totten, you will go to your quarters and remain
+there, until further orders, save only for meal formations."
+
+"Very good, sir," replied the fourth classman saluting.
+
+"That is all, Mr. Totten."
+
+"Very good, sir."
+
+Within half an hour, Dave, Dan and Joyce knew that the unknown midshipman
+had come forward and announced himself, but they did not hear the story
+of the reason back of Totten's attack. They heard, however, that Totten
+had not heard of their predicament until just after chapel call.
+
+The commandant of midshipmen sent for Mr. Totten. That official, however,
+after hearing the story, felt that the matter was one for the
+superintendent. The superintendent did not send for Totten and question
+him, but sent, instead, for the civilians who had lodged the complaint
+the evening before. He sent also for young Crane the man Totten had
+named, and who had not been among the complainants of the evening before.
+
+"Mr. Crane," announced the superintendent, "you know, of course, the name
+of the midshipman who assaulted and knocked you down before the other
+three midshipmen interfered in the matter?"
+
+"Er--er--possibly I do," confessed Crane, reddening.
+
+"Mr. Crane, if you wish us to deal frankly with you, you must accord the
+same treatment to the officials of the Naval Academy," replied the
+superintendent coldly.
+
+"I--I--personally do not desire to press any complaint," continued young
+Crane. "I am sorry that my friends took such a step."
+
+"Then you consider, Mr. Crane," pressed the superintendent, "that the
+knock-down blow you received from a midshipman was in the nature of a
+merited punishment?"
+
+"I--I won't say that," cried Crane quickly. "No, sir! I won't admit it!"
+
+"Then, as we know that Midshipman Totten was your assailant," continued
+the superintendent, "we shall have to place that young man on trial. We
+shall be obliged to summon you as a witness at that trial, Mr. Crane."
+
+"But I have no intention, sir, of appearing as a witness," blustered that
+young man.
+
+"Mr. Crane, you can have no choice in the matter. If we summon you, you
+can be brought here from any part of the United States."
+
+"I--I--can't the matter be dropped, sir?" urged the young man anxiously.
+
+"Not unless you confess yourself in the wrong, and exonerate Mr. Totten.
+In any other event the case will have to come to trial before a
+court-martial, and you, Mr. Crane, since we are certain that you possess
+material evidence, will be forced to appear as a witness."
+
+Mr. Crane looked almost as uncomfortable as he felt.
+
+"Mr. Totten," continued the superintendent, "states that you grossly
+insulted his cousin, a young woman, and that he met you on purpose to
+avenge that insult."
+
+"There--there--was some trouble about a young woman," admitted Crane.
+"But I am a gentleman, sir."
+
+"I am not expected to decide the last question that you have raised,"
+replied the superintendent dryly. "All that concerns me in the matter is
+whether you exonerate Mr. Totten, or whether you do not. If you do not,
+the midshipman must state his case fully before a court-martial, at which
+you will be one of the important witnesses."
+
+"I exonerate Mr. Totten," replied Crane in a very low tone.
+
+"Do you exonerate him completely?" "Ye-es, sir."
+
+"Then Mr. Totten's offense will be reduced to one or two-simple breaches
+of discipline," went on the superintendent.
+
+"But see here, sir," interposed one of the other young men, "are your
+midshipmen to be allowed to go about pounding whom they like? Are they to
+be swashbucklers and bullies?"
+
+"Very decidedly not, sir," replied the superintendent in a voice almost
+thunderous. "The midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy must
+conduct themselves as gentlemen at all times."
+
+"Did they do that," urged the last speaker, "when they sailed into us as
+they did?"
+
+"Why did your friends go to the assistance of Mr. Crane?" asked the
+superintendent.
+
+"Be--because," stammered the spokesman, "your midshipman had knocked
+Crane down and was misusing him."
+
+"Did you, the friends of Mr. Crane, consider it the act of gentlemen for
+several to rush in and attack one man?"
+
+That left the callers rather breathless.
+
+"Now, as to our other three midshipmen," pursued the superintendent, "at
+most they only rushed in to see fair play. They did not make a hostile
+move until they saw a whole crowd of you attacking one midshipman.
+Gentlemen, I am quite ready to leave it to a jury of any intelligent
+citizens as to whether the offending midshipmen or yourselves displayed
+the more gallantry and honor. For you have all admitted doing something
+that is not consistent with the highest standards of a gentleman, while
+our accused midshipmen have no such reproach against them."
+
+"Then your midshipmen are to get off, and to be encouraged to repeat such
+conduct?" demanded the spokesman of the Crane party.
+
+"No. On the contrary, they will be punished for whatever breaches of
+Naval discipline they have committed. Considering what you gentlemen have
+admitted, however, I do not believe you would have any standing as
+witnesses before a court-martial. I therefore advise you all to drop your
+complaint. Yet if you insist on a complaint, then I will see to it that
+Midshipman Totten is brought to trial."
+
+Crane and his associates felt, very quickly and keenly, that they would
+cut but sorry figures in such a trial. They therefore begged to withdraw
+their former complaint. When they had departed the superintendent smiled
+at his reflection in the glass opposite.
+
+Before supper all of the midshipmen involved knew their fate. They were
+restored to full liberty. Darrin, Dalzell and Joyce were again rebuked
+for having taken such elaborate pains to escape recognizing Totten at the
+time of the encounter. Beyond the lecture by the commandant of
+midshipmen, each of the trio was further punished by the imposition of
+ten demerits.
+
+In Frenching and in taking justice into his own hands Midshipman Totten
+was held to have erred. However, the nature of his grievance and the fact
+that he was only a new fourth classman were taken into consideration. For
+Frenching he was punished with twenty-five demerits; for the assault on
+a civilian, considering all the circumstances, he was let off with ten
+additional demerits.
+
+Yet, somehow, all of the midshipmen involved felt their punishment very
+lightly. They could not escape the conviction that the Naval Academy
+authorities did not regard them as especially guilty offenders.
+
+"We've got you back on the gridiron, at any rate," exclaimed Hepson
+exultantly. "We of the football squad wish that we might be permitted to
+divide your demerits up among ourselves."
+
+"You might suggest that little point to the commandant of midshipmen,"
+grinned Dan.
+
+"And get jolly well trounced for our impudence," grimaced Midshipman
+Hepson. "No, thank you; though you criminals have our utmost sympathy, we
+will let matters rest where they are at present. Only a fool tries to
+change well enough into worse."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE NAVY GOAT WEEPS
+
+
+"Did you hear that Ella had a bad tumble down three stories?" asked
+Midshipman Dan.
+
+"Ella who?" questioned Dave, looking up.
+
+"Elevator!" grinned Dalzell.
+
+"Ugh!" grunted Dave disgustedly. "Say, do you know how that would strike
+the com.?"
+
+"No," replied Dan innocently, looking away. "How would it strike him?"
+
+"Hard!" Dave responded. Slam! The somewhat heavy book that Darrin, aimed
+went straight to the mark, landing against Dan's nearer ear with all the
+force of a sound boxing.
+
+"I see you appreciate a good joke," muttered Dalzell grimly.
+
+"Yes," Dave admitted. "Do you?"
+
+"When I tell you another," growled Dan, "I'll be holding an axe hidden
+behind my back."
+
+"Say, did I show you that letter of Dick's?" Dave asked, looking up
+presently.
+
+"Appendix?" inquired Dan suspiciously.
+
+"Oh, stow all that, little boy!" retorted Dave. "No; did I tell you that
+I had a letter from Dick Prescott?"
+
+"I think you mentioned something of the sort, last winter," Dalzell
+admitted still suspicious.
+
+"No; I got one this morning from good old Dick," Darrin went on.
+
+"All right," Dan agreed. "What's the answer?"
+
+"I haven't had time to read it yet," Darrin responded. "But here's the
+letter. Maybe you'd like to look it over."
+
+Across the study table Dan Dalzell received the envelope and its
+enclosure rather gingerly. Dan didn't like to be caught "biting" at a
+"sell," and he still expected some trick from his roommate.
+
+It was, however, a letter written in Dick Prescott's well-remembered
+handwriting.
+
+"I understand that you are both on the Navy team, and that you made good
+in the first game," wrote the West Point cadet. "I hope you'll both stay
+in to the finish, and improve with every game. Greg and I are plugging
+hard at the game in the little time that the West Point routine allows
+us for practice. From what I have heard of your game, I think it likely
+that you and good, but impish old Dan, are playing against the very
+position that Greg and I hope to hold in the annual Army-Navy game.
+Won't it be great?"
+
+"Yes, it will be great, all right, if the Navy contrives to win," Dan
+muttered, looking up at his chum.
+
+"Either the Army or Navy must lose," replied Dave quietly.
+
+"And just think!" Cadet Dick Prescott's letter ran on. "When we meet,
+lined up for battle on Franklin Field, Philadelphia, it will be the first
+time we four have met since we wound up the good old High School days at
+Gridley. It seems an age to Greg and me. I wonder if the time seems as
+long to you two?"
+
+"It seems to me," remarked Dan, glancing across at his chum, "that you
+and I, David, little giant, have been here at Annapolis almost ever since
+we first donned trousers to please the family."
+
+"It is a long time back to Gridley days," assented Darrin.
+
+Then Dan went on reading.
+
+"Of course you and Dan are bound that the Navy shall win this year," Dick
+had written. "As for Greg and me, we are equally determined that the Army
+shall win. As if the resolutions on either side had much of anything to
+do with it! It will seem strange for us four, divided between the two
+sides, to be fighting frantically for the victory. However, if Greg and I
+go up against you two on the gridiron we won't show you any mercy, and
+we know that we shall receive none from you. Each man must do all that's
+possibly in him for the glory of his own side of the United Service!
+Here's to the better eleven--Army or Navy!"
+
+"I'll bet Dick and Greg will give us all the tussle they know how, if
+they get near us in the fight," nodded Dan, passing the letter back.
+
+"Well, they're bound to, aren't they?" demanded Darrin. "And now, Danny
+boy, we simply must stow all gab and get busy with our lessons. We've a
+recitation between now and the afternoon practice."
+
+"And the game, to-morrow!" breathed Midshipman Dalzell fervently.
+
+The morrow's game was to be against the University of Pennsylvania
+eleven. The opposition team being an unusually good one that year, the
+Navy's gridiron pets were preparing to strain every nerve in the hope
+of victory.
+
+In that afternoon's practice Dave and Dan showed up better than ever.
+Farley and Page, too, were coming along splendidly, while Midshipman
+Joyce was proving himself all but a joy to exacting Hepson.
+
+But when the morrow came U.P. carried away the game to the tune of five
+to nothing, and the Navy goat wept. Dave and Dan made several brilliant
+plays, but the Navy average both of size and skill was somewhat below
+that of the older, bigger college men.
+
+Other games followed fast now, and the Navy eleven and its subs. had
+plenty of work cut out for them. Up to the time of the Army-Navy game,
+the middies had a bright slate of eighty per cent. of victories. Dave and
+Dan had the pleasure of reading, in the "Army and Navy Journal," that
+they were considered the strongest men on the left flank that the Navy
+had been, able to show in ten years.
+
+"When we go up against the Army," Hepson informed Dave and Dan, "I don't
+know whether you'll play at left or right. It will all depend on where
+the Army puts Prescott and Holmes. Friends of ours who have watched the
+play at West Point tell me that Prescott and Holmes are armored terrors
+on the gridiron."
+
+"They are, if they've gone forward in the game, instead of backward,"
+Darrin replied honestly.
+
+"But you and Dalzell can hold 'em, can't you?" demanded Hepson anxiously.
+
+"I don't dare brag," Dave answered. "The truth, if anything, is that
+Danny boy and I can hardly hope to hold the Army pair back. You see, Hep,
+I know Prescott and Holmes pretty well, from the fact that we played
+together on the same High School eleven for two years. Prescott, in
+fact, was the boy who trained us all."
+
+"Well, don't let the Navy fellows get the idea that you're afraid of that
+Army pair," begged Hepson. "It might get our men discouraged. Darry, we
+simply must wipe up the field with the Army! There isn't--there can't be
+any such word as 'defeat' for us."
+
+As the time drew near for the greatest of all annual games the
+instructors at the Naval Academy began to record lower marks for nearly
+all of the men in the daily recitations. The midshipmen simply couldn't
+keep their minds from wandering to the gridiron. It meant so much--to
+beat the Army!
+
+Then quickly enough the feverish day came. Early in the forenoon the
+entire brigade of midshipmen, in uniform, was marched into town behind
+the Naval Academy band. Scores of Navy officers, with their ladies, went
+along. A lot of the townspeople followed in the big rush to Odenton and
+Baltimore. From there two sections of a special train conveyed the
+Annapolis host to Philadelphia.
+
+Franklin Field was reached, and one of the most brilliant athletic and
+social events of the year was on.
+
+We shall not attempt to follow the course of the game here. The Navy
+eleven hurled itself into the fray with undying heroism, but the Army
+won the great game. It is all told in the third volume of "THE WEST
+POINT SERIES," entitled "DICK PRESSCOTT'S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT." In
+that volume, too, is described the meeting of the old-time High School
+chums, their first meeting since the old-time days back in the tome town
+of Gridley.
+
+The game was over at last. The Navy was crestfallen, though not a sign of
+sorrow or humiliation showed in the jaunty step of the men of the brigade
+as they marched back to the railway station and took the train for the
+first stage of the journey home--the run between Philadelphia and
+Baltimore.
+
+On the train Hepson hunted up Dave and Dan.
+
+"You did your best, fellows, I know, that," murmured the defeated
+football captain. "And you gave me, in advance, a fair estimate of that
+Army pair, Prescott and Holmes. Say, but they're a pair of terrors! If we
+had that pair on the Navy eleven, along with you two, no team that the
+Army ever yet sent out could beat us. But we made a strong fight, at any
+rate. All of our friends say that."
+
+"I'm glad I didn't do any bragging in advance," Darrin smiled wistfully.
+"We were fairly eaten up, Hep."
+
+"Oh, well, we'll hope for better luck next year, with the Navy under
+some other captain. Maybe you'll be captain next year, Darry."
+
+"I don't want to be," Dave answered, with a shake of his head. "If you
+couldn't carry our team to victory I don't dare try."
+
+"Then I'll be captain--if I'm asked," promised Dan, with the grin that
+always lurked close to the surface of his face. While hundreds of
+midshipmen felt desperately blue on the homeward journey, Dalzell had
+already nearly forgotten his disappointment.
+
+"You'll never be asked," predicted Hepson good-humoredly. "Danny boy, the
+trouble with you would be that the fellows would never know when you were
+in earnest. As captain of the eleven, you might start to give an order,
+and then nothing but a pun would come forth. You're too full of mischief
+to win victories."
+
+"I hope that won't be true if I ever have the luck to command a
+battleship in war time," sighed Dalzell, becoming serious for four or
+five seconds. Then he bent forward and dropped a cold nickel inside of
+Joyce's collar. The cold coin coursed down Joyce's spine? causing that
+tired and discouraged midshipman to jump up with a yell.
+
+"Why does the com. ever allow that five-year-old imp to travel with men?"
+grunted Joyce disgustedly, as he sat down again and now realized that
+the nickel was under him next to the skin.
+
+"Danny boy," groaned Dave, "will you ever grow up? Why do you go on
+making a pest of yourself?"
+
+"Why, the fellows need some cheering up, don't they?" Dan inquired.
+
+"If you don't look out, Danny boy, you'll rouse them to such a pitch of
+cheerfulness that they'll raise one of the car windows and drop you
+outside for sheer joy."
+
+The joy that had been manifest in Annapolis that morning was utterly
+stilled when the brigade reached the home town once more. True, the band
+played as a matter of duty, but as the midshipmen marched down Maryland
+Avenue in brigade formation they passed many a heap of faggots and many a
+tar-barrel that had been placed there by the boys of the town to kindle
+into bonfires with which to welcome the returning victors. But to-night
+the faggot-piles and the tar-barrels lay unlighted. In the dark this
+material for bonfires that never were lighted looked like so many
+spectral reminders of their recent defeat.
+
+It hurt! It always hurts--either the cadets or the midshipmen--to lose
+the Army-Navy game.
+
+Once back at quarters in Bancroft Hall, it seemed to many of the
+midshipmen as though it would have been a relief to have to go to study
+tables to work. Yet, since no work was actually required on this night,
+none was done.
+
+Midshipmen wandered about in their own rooms and visited. The more they
+realized the defeat, the bluer they became. From some rooms came sounds
+of laughter, but it was hollow.
+
+Farley got out a banjo, breaking into a lively darky reel. Yet, somehow,
+the sound was mournful.
+
+"Please stop that dirge and play something cheerful!" begged the voice of
+a passing midshipman.
+
+"Put the lyre away, Farl," advised Page. "Nothing sounds happy to-night."
+
+"We love to sing and dance. We're happy all the day--ha, ha!" wailed Dan
+Dalzell. He wasn't so very blue himself, but he was trying to keep in
+sympathy with the general tone of feeling.
+
+"Well, Hep, you made as good a showing, after all, as could be expected
+with a dub team," spoke Joyce consolingly, when they met in a corridor.
+
+"It wasn't a dub team," retorted Hepson dismally. "The eleven was all
+right. The only trouble lay in having a dub for a captain."
+
+It was a relief to hundreds that night when taps sounded at last, and
+the master switch turned off the lights in midshipmen quarters. At least
+the young men were healthy and did not waste hours in wooing sleep and
+forgetfulness.
+
+Then Sunday morning came, and the football season was over until the
+next year.
+
+"From now on it's going to be like starting life all over again, after a
+fire," was the way Dan put it that Sunday morning, in an effort to make
+some of his comrades feel that all was not lost.
+
+Had Dan been able to foresee events which he and Dave must soon
+encounter, even that grinning midshipman wouldn't have been happy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE MAN WITH A SCOWL ON TAP
+
+
+"I wish we lived in Annapolis, that we might be here at every hop!"
+sighed Belle Meade, as the waltz finished and she and Dave, flushed and
+happy, sought seats at the side of the ballroom.
+
+They had hardly seated themselves when they were joined by Dan and
+Laura Bentley.
+
+"I was just saying, Laura," Belle went on, "that it would be splendid if
+we lived here all through the winter. Then we'd have a chance to come to
+every hop."
+
+"Wouldn't we want to put in a part of the winter near West Point?" asked
+Miss Bentley, smiling, though with a wistful look in her eyes.
+
+"Perhaps that would be fairer, to you," Belle agreed.
+
+"You'd soon get tired of the hops," ventured Dave.
+
+"Can one ever weary of dancing?" Belle demanded. "Well, perhaps one
+might, though never on the small amount that has come to me so far in
+life. And this Navy orchestra plays so divinely!"
+
+"Our number's next, I believe, ladies," called Midshipman Farley, as he
+and Page came up, eager for their chances with these two very charming
+belles of the hop.
+
+"Hang you, Farl!" muttered Dave.
+
+"That's just like Darrin, Miss Meade," laughed Farley. "He's always a
+monopolist at heart. Though in this instance I am far from wondering at
+his desire to be."
+
+It was the first hop after the semi-annual exams. A host of fourth
+classmen and some from the upper classes had been dropped immediately
+after the examinations, but Dave and Dan and all their more intimate
+friends in the brigade had pulled through. Darrin and Dalzell had come
+out of the ordeal with the highest markings they had yet achieved at the
+Naval Academy.
+
+Mrs. Meade had come down to Annapolis to chaperon Belle and Laura, but
+this evening Mrs. Meade was chatting with a middle-aged Naval officer and
+so did not see much of the young people.
+
+As the music struck up, Farley and Page claimed consideration, Dave and
+Dan were left without partners.
+
+"Nothing more doing for two dances, David, little giant," murmured
+Midshipman Dalzell. "Suppose we slip into our overcoats and walk
+around outside."
+
+"I'd rather," assented Darrin. "It's dull in here when a fellow
+isn't dancing."
+
+It was a night of unusually light attendance on the part of the fair sex,
+with a rather larger attendance than usual of midshipmen, for which
+reason Dave found many other midshipmen outside, strolling up and down.
+
+"What we need, fellows," called Joyce, coming up to the chums, "is a new
+regulation that no midshipman may attend a hop unless he drags a femme."
+
+"That would have shut you out of every hop so far this year,"
+laughed Dave.
+
+"I know it," Joyce admitted. "But I'm going to cut all hops after this,
+unless some real queen will favor me as her escort and agree to dance at
+least half the numbers with me. I've had only two dances this evening.
+It's too tame. I'm going back to Bancroft Hall and stand ready to turn in
+at the first signal. What's the use of hanging around at a hop when
+there's only one girl to every five fellows?"
+
+"You have suffered the just fate of the free lance," remarked Dan Dalzell
+virtuously. "As for me, I never think of attending a hop unless I squire
+some femme thither."
+
+"There used to be girls enough last year," complained Joyce. "Well, I'm
+off for home and bed."
+
+"We'll stroll along up with you," proposed Darrin.
+
+"No girls for you, either?"
+
+"Not for two numbers. Then we return to the young ladies that we
+escorted here."
+
+"Just to think," grunted Joyce, sniffing in the salt air that reached
+them from the waterfront, "a good deal more than a year more here before
+we get regularly at sea."
+
+"It seems as though we'd been here a long time," sighed Dave. "But I
+don't suppose there was ever a midshipman yet who didn't long to get away
+from Annapolis and into the real, permanent life on the wave. A West
+Point man must feel some of the same longing."
+
+"But he's on the land at West Point," objected Joyce, "and he's still on
+land after he graduates and goes to some post. The Army cadet has no such
+glorious future to look forward to as has a midshipman."
+
+"Hello, here's Jet," called Dave as a midshipman enveloped in his
+overcoat approached them. "Going to the hop, Jet?"
+
+"Will you do me a great favor?" asked Midshipman Jetson.
+
+"Certainly, if possible," agreed Dave cordially.
+
+"Then mind your own business," snapped the other midshipman.
+
+Darrin, who had made it a point to forget the brief unpleasantness of
+the football season, received this rebuke with about the same feelings
+that a slap in the face would have given him.
+
+The sulky midshipman had stepped past the trio, but Dave, after
+swallowing hard, wheeled about and hailed:
+
+"Hold on, there, Mr. Jetson!"
+
+"Well?" demanded Jetson, halting and looking back.
+
+"I don't like your tone, sir."
+
+"And I don't like your face, sir," retorted Jetson. "Nor your cheek,
+either, for that matter."
+
+"I tried to treat you pleasantly," Dave went on, hurt and offended.
+
+"Oh! It required an effort, did it?" sneered Jetson.
+
+"Something may have happened that I don't know anything about," Darrin
+continued. "It may be that you have some real reason for treating me as
+you have just done. If you have any good reason I wish you'd tell me, for
+in that case I must have done something that put me in wrong. If that's
+the case, I want to make amends."
+
+"Oh--bosh!" grumbled the other midshipman.
+
+"Come on, now!" urged Dave. "Be a man!"
+
+"Then you imply that I am not?" demanded Jetson aggressively.
+
+"Not necessarily," Dave contended. "I just want to make sure, in my own
+mind, and I should think you'd be similarly interested."
+
+"If you want to insult me, Mr. Darrin," flared back Jetson, "I'll remain
+here long enough to hear you and to arrange for resenting the insult.
+Otherwise--"
+
+"Well?" insisted Dave quietly, though his anger was rising. "Otherwise?"
+
+"Otherwise," retorted Midshipman Jetson, "I'll pursue my way and seek
+company that pleases me better."
+
+"Look out, Jet, old hot-plate!" laughed Joyce. "You'll soon be insulting
+all three of us."
+
+"I don't intend to," Jetson rejoined quickly. "My quarrel concerns only
+Mr. Darrin."
+
+"Oho!" murmured Dave. "There is a quarrel, then?"
+
+"If you choose to pick one."
+
+"But I don't, Mr. Jetson. Quarreling is out of my line. If I've done you
+any harm or any injustice I'm ready to make good by apologies and
+otherwise. And, if I haven't wronged you in any way, you should be
+equally manly and apologize for your treatment of me just now."
+
+"Oh, bosh!" snapped Mr. Jetson once more.
+
+"This is none of my quarrel," interposed Midshipman Joyce, "and I'm not
+intentionally a promoter of hard feeling. But it seems to me, Jet, that
+Darry has spoken as fairly as any fellow could. Now, it seems to me that
+it's up to you to be equally manly."
+
+"So you, too, are asserting that I'm not manly," bristled Mr. Jetson
+haughtily. "You all seem bound to force trouble on me to-night."
+
+"Not I, then," retorted Joyce, his spirit rising. "I'm finding myself
+forced to the belief that you're hardly worth having trouble with."
+
+Jetson clenched his fists, taking a step forward, his dark eyes flashing.
+Then he halted, as though implying that he was not thus easily to be
+driven into forgetting himself.
+
+"Come along, fellows," urged Dan Dalzell in a low voice. "Mr. Jetson
+seems to have no intention either of explaining or of affording other
+satisfaction."
+
+"Hold on, Mr. Jetson, you needn't answer him," interposed Darrin quickly,
+as Jetson opened his mouth. "First of all this affair seems to concern
+me. You've intimated that I'm no friend of yours and not worthy to be
+ranked as such. Now, I ask you, fairly and flatly, what has brought your
+mind to this pitch? What have I done, or what haven't I done?"
+
+"Search your conscience," jeered Jetson.
+
+"I've been doing so ever since this foolish conversation started, and I
+haven't found the answer yet. All I recall, Jetson, is that, at the
+outset of my football practice, there was some little unpleasantness
+between us. You injured me, twice, in practice play, and I admit that I
+was somewhat angry about it at the time. But you gave your word that you
+hadn't intended any tricks against me. I believed you to be a man of
+honor, and I accepted your word that you were innocent of evil intention
+against me. Having accepted your word, I held no further grudge in the
+matter, and I have as nearly forgotten the whole business as a man with a
+memory can."
+
+"Then tell me why I didn't play on the football eleven?" flamed up
+Midshipman Jetson.
+
+"Principally, I imagine, because Captain Hepson, after consultation with
+the coaches, didn't call you to the Navy eleven."
+
+"And why didn't Hepson call me?" followed up Jetson, all his pent-up
+sulkiness boiling over now.
+
+"I don't know, particularly. Probably, I imagine, for the same reason
+that he didn't call a lot of other men to the eleven--because he believed
+he could make a better choice."
+
+"Darrin, you know well enough that you so influenced Hepson to keep me
+off the team!"
+
+"Jetson, are you mad?"
+
+"No; but I'm naturally angry."
+
+"I give you my word that I didn't do anything to prevent your making
+the team."
+
+"And you expect me, Mr. Darrin, to believe that?"
+
+"If you decline to do so, it amounts to passing the lie. But I'll
+overlook that for a moment. Joyce, I think Hepson is not dancing at
+present. Will you return to the hop, and, if he is not dancing, will you
+bring him out here?"
+
+"I don't want to see Hepson," cried Midshipman Jetson. "You're the only
+one I'm interested in in this matter, Mr. Darrin."
+
+"You've virtually refused to accept my word."
+
+"I do so refuse."
+
+"Then you call me--"
+
+"A liar, if you like!" snapped back Midshipman Jetson.
+
+"Sir, do you realize--"
+
+"I realize that you're still talking!" sneered Jetson.
+
+"Then I won't talk any longer," replied Dave Darrin in a quiet but
+dangerous voice. "Since you refuse to listen even to Hepson--"
+
+"Who's taking my name in vain?" demanded a laughing voice as a burly
+figure moved in between Dave and his enemy.
+
+The new comer was Hepson, who had come upon the group unnoticed.
+
+"Perhaps you're just in time, Hep," murmured Dave, fighting to cool down
+his temper. "I wanted you to prove--"
+
+"Stop!" ejaculated Jetson angrily. In his extreme passion he threw all
+restraint and courtesy to the winds. "I wouldn't take the word of
+Hepson, or of any man in the entire brigade in this matter. Darrin has
+lied, and--"
+
+"Step aside, Hep, please," urged Dave, giving the late football captain a
+gentle shove. "This matter can't go any further in words. Mr. Jetson, you
+have insulted me, and grossly. Are you capable of cooling down? Do you
+wish to retract?--to apologize?"
+
+"Apologize to you--you--"
+
+Whatever the word was, it didn't get out, for in the same instant Darrin
+cried warningly:
+
+"Guard yourself!"
+
+Midshipman Jetson threw up his hands, but Darrin's right fist landed
+across his offending mouth with such force as to fell the sulky
+midshipman flat to the earth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+AN AFFAIR OF SULKS
+
+
+Having struck the blow, Midshipman Darrin stepped back, to give his
+opponent an unobstructed chance to rise to his feet.
+
+"What's this all about?" demanded Midshipman Hepson wonderingly.
+
+"It's gone too far for talk, now," replied Dan Dalzell. "Wait until Darry
+has put a new head on this idiot."
+
+Jetson took his time about getting to his feet When he did rise he didn't
+assume his guard at once.
+
+"Well," asked Darrin coolly, but mockingly, "have you had all you can
+stand, or are you going to back up your wild, crazy statements?"
+
+Suddenly Jetson raised one of his feet quickly, as though to kick Dave in
+the belt line.
+
+"Here, stop that!" cried Hepson and Joyce in the same breath, as they
+sprang forward. Darrin, seeing others interfere, didn't attempt to strike
+back, but merely stepped aside.
+
+That was the chance for which Jetson had been watching. His kick didn't
+land; he hadn't intended that it should, but Dave's surprised recoil
+gave the other the chance that he really wanted. Both of Jetson's fists
+struck on Dave's nose, drawing a flood of the crimson.
+
+"You coward! You cur!" gasped amazed Dalzell.
+
+"Silence, all!" ordered Hepson, speaking by virtue of being a first
+classman. "Jet is crazy, but he can't be expected to take up more than
+one affair at a time. Darry, take your time to stop the flow of blood.
+Then you can demand an accounting of Jetson."
+
+"I've nothing more to say," remarked Jetson. "I was struck and I've
+returned the blow with interest. That ends my concern in the affair. Good
+night, all."
+
+"Hold on!" ordered Hepson, bounding forward and laying a strong,
+detaining hand on Jetson's shoulder. "You can't slip away like that.
+Matters have gone so far that they'll simply have to go further. You'd
+put yourself wholly in the wrong by withdrawing now--especially after the
+slimy trick that you've played a fair opponent."
+
+"Slimy, eh?" cried Jetson angrily. "Mr. Hepson, you and I will have to
+have an accounting, too!"
+
+"Oh, just as you like," responded the first classman, shrugging his
+shoulders. "You'll find it a better rule, however, to stick to one affair
+at a time. Darry, are you in shape, now, to attend to this matter from
+your point of view?"
+
+"Quite," nodded Dave, who had about succeeded in stanching the flow of
+blood from his injured nose. "Does Mr. Jetson desire to take his coat
+off or not?"
+
+"Yes!" cried Jetson tempestuously, unbuttoning his own overcoat and
+tossing it to the ground. "Now, take yours off, Mr. Darrin!"
+
+"It's off," responded Dave, tossing the garment aside. "Now, look to
+yourself, sir!"
+
+The two second classmen closed in furiously. It was give and take, for a
+few moments. In the clinches, however, Jetson succeeded in tearing
+Darrin's dress coat, and also in starting the blood again so that the
+crimson dripped down on Dave's white shirt front.
+
+At the end of a full minute, however, Darrin had sent his enemy to the
+ground, stopped in a knock-out. Both of Jetson's eyes were also closed
+and badly swollen.
+
+"Joyce," asked Hepson, "will you kindly remain with Jetson and see that
+he is assisted to the hospital, if he needs it? It won't do for too
+many of us, especially Darry, to be found here by any officer who may
+be passing."
+
+"I'll attend to it," nodded Midshipman Joyce, "though I'd rather perform
+the service for any other fellow in the brigade."
+
+Now that the affair was over, and Dave, after inspecting the damage to
+his dress coat, was pulling on his overcoat, he was suddenly recalled to
+other responsibilities.
+
+"Danny boy," he said ruefully, as Hepson walked away with them, "I can't
+very well get back to the hop soon--perhaps not at all tonight. I can't
+go back in this torn coat, and I may not be able to borrow another that
+will fit me well. Will you be good enough to hurry back and explain to
+Belle why I am delayed--perhaps prevented from seeing her again tonight?"
+
+"Certainly," nodded Dalzell, turning and hastening back.
+
+"Now, what was it all about, Darry?" asked Hepson, as he walked along
+with Dave.
+
+Midshipman Darrin explained the trouble as well as he could.
+
+"So the idiot accused you of keeping him off the football eleven!"
+demanded Hepson in astonishment.
+
+"Yes; and I offered to prove, by you, that I had nothing to do with his
+exclusion from the team."
+
+"Why the sole and whole reason why Jetson wasn't called to the Navy
+team," declared Hepson, "was because he was believed to be too awkward
+and too dangerous to other players. Whew, but I'm certainly sorry this
+thing has happened!"
+
+"So am I," Dave confessed candidly.
+
+"And Jet made the further fool mistake of declaring that he wouldn't
+accept the word of any midshipman in the brigade."
+
+"Something of the sort."
+
+"Why, that's a wholesale, blanket insult to the whole brigade. Darry,
+your class will have to take action over such a remark as that."
+
+"Oh, Jetson uttered the remark in the heat of an exceptional temper."
+
+"That won't save him," predicted Hepson sagely. "The insult is there and
+it will stick. Your class, Darry, would lose caste with the fellows here
+if it allowed such an insult to go."
+
+"Well, if it gets around, I suppose some sort of action will have to
+be taken."
+
+"The second class, under the circumstances, can't do much less than send
+Jetson to Coventry."
+
+"Oh, that would be too much!" Dave protested generously. "Jetson has
+always been an honorable, square fellow in the past."
+
+"He has always been infernally sulky and high-handed," growled
+Midshipman Hepson.
+
+"A bad temper is not such an uncommon failing," smiled Dave.
+
+"No; but there are limits to the amount of temper that a gentleman may
+display and still be worthy to associate with gentlemen," contended
+Hepson stubbornly. "It's the insult to the whole brigade that I'm
+thinking of. Darry, I'll wager that your class won't and can't do less
+than give Jetson a trip to Coventry."
+
+[Illustration: "Take Off Your Overcoat, Mr. Darrin."]
+
+"Oh, that would be too much--unjust!" protested Dave.
+
+"The class will do it just the same."
+
+"If the class mixes up in my affair, and carries it so far as to send
+Jetson to Coventry, I'll be hanged if I don't go there with him!" cried
+Darrin impulsively.
+
+The words were out. A man of Darrin's honest nature would feel bound to
+stand by even that heated utterance.
+
+"Oh, come, now, Darry, don't be so foolish over a fellow who has treated
+you in such fashion."
+
+"I've said it, haven't I?" asked Dave grimly. "It would be an utter
+injustice, and I'm not going to see something that is my own affair
+distorted into an injustice that would be altogether out of proportion to
+Jetson's offense."
+
+By this time the strolling pair of midshipmen had reached the entrance to
+Bancroft Hall.
+
+"What are you going to try to do about your dress coat, Darry?" asked
+Hepson in an undertone. "Borrow one?"
+
+"If I can find one that fits."
+
+"Take my advice, then. Don't just borrow, and thereby run a chance of
+getting both yourself and the lender in trouble. For of course you know
+that one can never tell when an inspection may be made, and the man whose
+dress coat was gone would have to account for it. So go to the O. C.,
+state that your coat was accidentally torn, and ask permission to borrow
+one in order that you may return and escort your ladies back to the
+hotel. Your O. C. won't raise any objection to that."
+
+"But he might want to see the coat that I have on," grimaced Dave. "Then
+the O. C. would be sure to see the blood-drips on my shirt front, or the
+collar, at least. Then talk of a mere accident might lead to questions as
+to the nature of the accident."
+
+"True," nodded Hepson. "Then get back to your room. Get out clean linen
+and get into it. While you're doing that I'll negotiate the loan of a
+dress coat that will fit. Then you can go to the O. C., after you've
+changed the telltale linen."
+
+This course, accordingly, was followed. Dave changed his linen as quickly
+as he could, while Hepson appeared with three borrowed dress coats for a
+try-on. One was found to fill the bill. Resting it over a chair, Darrin
+slipped on his service blouse and reported to the O.C. Permission was
+granted to borrow a dress coat. If the officer in charge felt any
+suspicion or curiosity as to the nature of the accident he cleverly
+concealed the fact.
+
+A good deal of time, however, had been consumed. By the time that
+Midshipman Dave Darrin returned to the hop the orchestra was just
+breaking into the strains of "Home, Sweet Home."
+
+Dave's quick glance roved the floor and the seats. He beheld Belle Meade,
+seated at the side, while Farley bent over her in an inviting attitude.
+Darrin quickly reached the scene. Belle saw him coming, just in time to
+refrain from taking Farley's arm.
+
+"You won't mind this time, will you, Farl?" Dave asked, smiling.
+
+"I had given you up," said Belle, as they moved away together in
+the dance.
+
+"Of course Dan told you what had delayed me."
+
+"He told me you would return as soon as you could," replied Miss Meade,
+"but he was provokingly mysterious as to the cause of your absence."
+
+"There was a little trouble," Dave whispered.
+
+"Are you in trouble?" asked Belle quickly, her cheeks paling.
+
+"No; I think not. By trouble I mean that I just took part in a fight."
+
+"So you took the time when I am here as the most suitable occasion for a
+fight?" asked Belle, her color coming back and heightening.
+
+"It isn't wise for me to explain it now, Belle," Dave told her quickly.
+"You won't blame me when you know. But I'd rather save it for telling
+when we are out of the Academy grounds."
+
+"Oh, just as you like. Dave, we mustn't let anything spoil what's left of
+this last short dance of the night."
+
+"Thank you, Belle. These dances together don't happen any too
+frequently."
+
+It was when the young people were walking back to the Maryland Hotel, and
+Mrs. Meade had joined Dan and Laura, that Belle again asked the nature of
+the trouble that had deprived Darrin of three of his dances with her.
+
+Dave told the story, briefly, adding:
+
+"Under the midshipmen's code, the blow had to be struck when the lie
+was passed."
+
+"I don't blame you for knocking the fellow down," Belle agreed
+indignantly. "What a worthless fellow that Mr. Jetson must be!"
+
+"Do you know, Belle, I can't quite bring myself to believe that he is
+worthless?"
+
+"His conduct shows it," argued the girl.
+
+"At first thought it would appear so but Jetson, I believe, is only the
+victim of an unhappy temper that makes him suspicious and resentful. He's
+brave enough, and he's never been caught in a dishonorable trick."
+
+"Except the tricks he played on you at the football practice."
+
+"He passed his word that he intended no trick, and I have been wholly
+inclined to take his word in the matter."
+
+"Dave, you must look out for this man Jetson! He's going to get you into
+some trouble before you're through with him," exclaimed Belle earnestly.
+All her instinct was aroused in the matter, for Dave Darrin's success was
+dearer to Belle Meade than was anything else in the world.
+
+"There are two things that I regret very much to-night," Dave went on.
+"One was that Jetson should provoke such a senseless dispute, and the
+other that I should be obliged to miss so much of your company here at
+Annapolis."
+
+"I wouldn't mind anything," Belle answered, "if I could feel sure that no
+more trouble would come out of this affair with Jetson."
+
+"I don't believe there will be any disturbing outcome," Dave assured her;
+"unless, possibly, another fight."
+
+"A fight is nothing," declared Belle with spirit. "You're in training to
+become a fighting man, and a bout or two at fistcuffs is nothing more or
+less than so much valuable experience. Dave, promise me something?"
+
+"Of course, if it's anything promisable."
+
+"You'll write me--"
+
+"Can you doubt that, Belle?"
+
+"And let me know exactly and truthfully if anything further comes of
+this," she finished.
+
+"I'll write and tell you anything that a midshipman is at liberty to make
+known concerning the conduct of the brigade."
+
+"Just what does that cover?" asked Belle.
+
+"I can't easily answer until the something or other happens to turn up."
+
+"At any rate, Dave, if I get a suspicion that you're withholding from me
+anything that I ought to know, I shall be dreadfully worried. You can't
+have any idea how worried I have been about you sometimes in the past."
+
+Not much time was there for the two midshipmen to remain at the foot of
+the steps of the hotel Then, after hearty good nights, Dave and Dan left
+the ladies, whom they would not see again until the next visit.
+
+"From one or two things that I couldn't help overhearing, I judge that
+Belle is greatly worried over the possibility of trouble arising from
+the Jetson affair," remarked Dan on the way back to the Naval Academy
+and quarters.
+
+"Yes," Dave admitted.
+
+"Pooh! How can any trouble come to you out of the matter? With Jetson
+it's different He declared that he wouldn't take the word of any
+midshipman in the brigade."
+
+"That was spoken in the heat of temper. Jetson didn't mean it."
+
+"Just the same, some of the fellows have heard of it already, and I
+shan't be surprised if our class holds a meeting and sends Jetson to
+Coventry--where the fellow belongs."
+
+"If they send Jetson to Coventry," spoke Dave quietly though bluntly, "I
+shall go along to Coventry with him."
+
+Dalzell halted, staring at his chum in open-mouthed wonder.
+
+"You idiot!" blazed Dan in wrathful disgust.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE CLASS MEETING SITS AS JURY
+
+
+Three days later the class meeting was held.
+
+Jetson was especially impressed with the notion that he must attend,
+since he must appear as the accused. With one of his disposition it was
+quite natural that the young man should go before the class in a highly
+resentful mood.
+
+After a few introductory remarks, Jetson was summoned by the class
+president to rise.
+
+"Mr. Jetson," asked the class president, "do you intend to deny having
+made the remark imputed to you--that you would not take the word of any
+midshipman in the brigade!"
+
+"I made the remark, after a measure, sir," Jetson replied. "What I said
+was that in a certain matter I would not take the word of any midshipman
+in the brigade if it went counter to my fixed belief."
+
+"Mr. Jetson, don't you consider that, under the circumstances, that
+amounted to a statement of your unwillingness to accept the word of
+members of the brigade?"
+
+"I should be sorry to have that construction placed on my remark, Mr.
+President, for I know that nearly all the men of the brigade are men with
+a fine sense of honor."
+
+"Then how do you reconcile this statement with your other one?"
+
+"Mr. President, I meant, and I still mean, that I am so certain of the
+truth of the charge that I made to one Darrin, that, if members of the
+brigade spoke differently, I would then know that they were not telling
+the truth."
+
+A storm of protests went up, while one hoarse voice bellowed:
+
+"Throw him out!"
+
+And another called:
+
+"Coventry!"
+
+"Order!" commanded the class president, rapping hard with his gavel.
+"Mr. Jetson, it is a most serious matter to impugn the good faith and
+honor of the brigade. It is hardly mitigated by the fact that the words
+were uttered in the heat of passion, especially when, in your cooler
+moment, you are not inclined to retract your statement or to render it
+harmless. I believe, therefore, that I am in accord with the sense of
+this meeting of the class when I ask you if you have any retraction or
+apology to offer."
+
+"For the statement, in the form in which I offered it, Mr. President, I
+have no retraction or apology to offer, and only such explanation as I
+have lately given."
+
+"Coventry! Coventry!" came the insistent call.
+
+"Well, then, you can send me to Coventry, you friends of Darrin, if you
+feel yourselves justified in doing it!" quivered Midshipman Jetson,
+tossing his head and glaring defiantly around the room.
+
+"Mr. President!"
+
+"Mr. Wentworth."
+
+"In view of the charge, and the subsequent statements of Mr. Jetson, I
+feel that we have an unpleasant duty to perform. The brigade is founded
+and based on honor. We, the members, cannot allow that honor to be
+impugned by one who would otherwise be fitted to be a member of the
+brigade. As Mr. Jetson refuses to retract his words, and as some one must
+take the initiative, it is my disagreeable duty to move you, sir, that
+the second class decide that Mr. Jetson is no longer worthy to be of our
+number, and that he accordingly be sent to Coventry."
+
+"Mr. President!"
+
+"Mr. Page."
+
+"Mr. President, I desire to second the motion, and this I do as
+regretfully as it was moved."
+
+"Oh, go ahead and send me to Coventry, then!" Jetson blazed forth
+angrily. "This class appears to have been hypnotized by Darrin. But, even
+if you do send me to Coventry, we shall see whether your action will be
+potent enough to drive me from the Naval Academy!"
+
+Waving his arms wildly in the heat of his anger, Midshipman Jetson
+hurried from the room, midshipmen moving aside to favor his swift exit.
+
+Hardly had the door banged when from all parts of the room the cry went
+up:
+
+"Question! question! Put the motion."
+
+"Mr. President!"
+
+"Mr. Darrin."
+
+"I arise, sir, to discuss the motion. I ask the gentlemen of the class to
+bear with me patiently while I set forth some of the aspects of this
+matter as I see them.
+
+"At the very outset, sir, I wish to make it as plain as possible that I
+do not seek to stand here as the apologist for Mr. Jetson. I feel very
+certain that he would not authorize me to take that position. What I
+state I am stating on my own authority purely, and therein I am only
+exercising my right as a member of the second class.
+
+"I would remind you, sir, that you all know, as well as I do, that Mr.
+Jetson has always borne an honorable reputation in this class and in the
+brigade. You all know his leading traits as well as I do. Mr. Jetson is
+a man of quick temper and rather lasting resentments. There is a good
+deal of sullenness in his nature--"
+
+"And they're not the best qualities in a man who is being trained to
+command!" broke in a midshipman at the rear of the room.
+
+"As to whether Mr. Jetson will be, by graduation time, well fitted to
+command men," Dave answered, "is not a question that this class is called
+upon to pass on. That question rests with the faculty of the Naval
+Academy. I am trying to get you to look at this matter only from the
+personal and the class point of view. Doubtless you all feel that Mr.
+Jetson is the victim of an unhappy temper. You would punish this frame of
+mind. Yet I ask you, bluntly, who among you have ever tried to aid Mr.
+Jetson in overcoming his own peculiar style of temper? If there is one
+among you who has made such attempt at aid, I ask that gentleman to stand
+until he can be recognized."
+
+Dave made a pause, glancing around him, but no midshipman rose.
+
+"Now, sir," continued Dave Darrin, "if we, as a class, take hasty and
+unwise action, it is quite possible that we may be depriving the United
+States Navy of a future officer who would be most valuable to his country
+in time of need. Have we the right to punish when we are forced to admit
+that none of us has ever attempted to help Mr. Jetson to escape from the
+fruits of his temperament? Mr. President, how would you attempt to
+extinguish a fire? By fanning it? Yet, when a member of this class is
+smouldering in his own wrath, it is proposed to meet his sullenness by
+casting him out of our friendship. Do we not owe some duty to our country
+in this matter? Mr. Jetson is one of our capable students in this
+brigade, and if he be given a fair chance to graduate, he is likely to
+become a Naval officer of merit. Do we desire to take upon ourselves the
+probable smothering of such a Naval career? Mr. President, and you,
+gentlemen of the second class, I trust sincerely that the motion of
+Coventry in this case will not prevail. I feel, as I believe many of you
+now present feel, that we should be taking too much upon ourselves, and
+that we should be making a grave mistake. If the motion now before the
+class should be defeated, I shall then be delighted to second any other
+motion that has for its object the finding of some way to make Mr. Jetson
+feel more fully that he is one of us, that he has our full sympathy, and
+that we hope to see him mould his character into a form that will enable
+him to become a credit to the United States Navy."
+
+As Darrin sat down there was a ripple of applause. There were many
+present, however, who took a sterner view of the affair. These wanted to
+see Jetson, and all others who might similarly offend the brigade, forced
+to quit the Naval service.
+
+"Question! question!" called a score of voices at once.
+
+"Any further remarks?" inquired the class president, glancing about.
+
+"Mr. President!"
+
+"Mr. Jerould."
+
+"Mr. President," said Midshipman Jerould, "I am certain that we all
+appreciate the remarks of Mr. Darrin. The remarks were prompted by a
+generous heart, and we respect Mr. Darrin and his motives alike. But I
+am certain, sir, that the majority of us feel that this is an ugly
+business and that only stern treatment can meet the situation. I
+therefore trust that the motion will be at once put and passed." (Loud
+cries of "hear! hear!")
+
+"Any further--"
+
+"Mr. President!"
+
+"Mr. Darrin."
+
+"Mr. President, I wish I could throw my whole being and soul into this
+problem, in order to make it clearer, as I see it. I would even appeal,
+as a favor, to the class to quash this Coventry resolution, and perhaps
+I might be considered to have some right to ask the favor, since the
+whole trouble grew out of an affair between Mr. Jetson and myself. I beg
+of you all, classmates, to quash the motion now before the class."
+
+"No, no, no!" came the hearty response.
+
+"Then, Mr. President and gentlemen," went on Dave Darrin in a voice slow
+and grave, "speaking for myself, as an individual member, I beg to state
+that I cannot respect a Coventry ordered under such circumstances. In
+this matter I would find myself unable to respect the mandates of the
+class. Therefore. I beg you to send me to Coventry with Mr. Jetson!"
+
+Blank astonishment fell over the second class. Utter indignation seized
+some of the midshipmen. In another moment the feeling boiled up so that a
+few hisses rose.
+
+Dave Darrin was pallid, but he had no desire to recede. He had acted
+according to the dictates of his conscience and he had kept his word.
+
+In that pained instant Midshipman Farley sought to save the situation. He
+leaped to his feet, shouting:
+
+"Mr. President, I move that this meeting adjourn!"
+
+"Second the motion," called Page promptly, and now there was uproar on
+all sides.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+DAVE STANDS ON PRINCIPLE
+
+
+A motion to adjourn being always "in order," the class president put it.
+
+"Aye!" came a thundering response.
+
+"Contrary minded?"
+
+"No."
+
+The ayes appeared to have it, but the chair called for a showing of
+hands. Then the chair declared the class meeting adjourned.
+
+"Hustle along with us, Darry. I want to talk with you!" sputtered Farley.
+He thrust an arm inside of Dave's and carried him along, Dalzell and Page
+following. Straight to Darrin's quarters they went.
+
+"Now, then," demanded Farley, almost savagely, "what's the meaning of the
+very remarkable exhibition that you gave the class?"
+
+"How was it remarkable?" questioned Dave.
+
+"In your asking the class to send you to Coventry along with Jetson."
+
+"It wasn't just to Jetson, just because he made a slip, that he should be
+shunned by the whole class."
+
+"Couldn't the class decide that better than one man?" insisted Farley,
+his eyes gleaming.
+
+"Without a doubt," Dave admitted. "I didn't attempt to do the
+deciding for the class. All I did was to try to throw my personal
+weight against it."
+
+"And you compelled the class to adjourn without attending to
+Jetson's case."
+
+"You're wrong, there, Farl"
+
+"Didn't you?"
+
+"I certainly didn't."
+
+"Darry, you knew the class wouldn't vote to send you to Coventry just
+because you had ventured to give your opinion. Now, the only way the
+class could escape from the consequences of your action was to adjourn
+without action on Jetson."
+
+"It was you, Farl, who moved to adjourn."
+
+"Just to save a lot of hot-bloods from jumping on you, Darry. They'd have
+done it in another minute. The motion to adjourn was the only thing we
+could do."
+
+"That's just it," nodded Midshipman Page.
+
+"But there'll have to be another meeting called right away," Farley went
+on. "The brigade will expect it--will have a right to demand it. A member
+of our class has insulted the whole brigade, and under our old traditions
+only the second class can administer discipline."
+
+"Well, then," pursued Darrin calmly, "when the new meeting is held Jetson
+and myself can be punished, if that be the wish of the entire class."
+
+"Darry," stormed Farley, "you've simply got to withdraw your fool remarks
+when the class comes together again."
+
+"Do you expect that I'll do that?" Dave inquired.
+
+"If you don't," retorted Farley warmly, "you won't be worth the further
+concern of your friends. What do you say, Danny boy?"
+
+"From what I know of Dave Darrin," replied Dalzell, "the class will be
+wasting its time if it expects Darry to retract."
+
+"But what do you want to be sent to Coventry for?" demanded Farley.
+
+"I don't," Dave answered. "I know how it hurts. I wouldn't see any
+midshipman here sent to Coventry for anything except positive and
+undeniable dishonor. Jetson hasn't been guilty of anything worse than a
+mean, quick temper and a fit of sulks afterwards. That's why, with my
+experience here at Annapolis, if Jetson is to be sent to Coventry, I
+decline to be bound by the class action."
+
+"But you can't refuse to be bound by class action," retorted
+Farley aghast.
+
+"Try me and see," smiled Dave stubbornly.
+
+"Don't be an idiot, Darry!"
+
+"It would be a contemptible thing," Dave went on, as calmly as before.
+"Coventry would mean the chasing of Jetson out of the brigade. You would
+ruin a man for a defect of temper that some of you others don't possess
+in quite the same degree. Is it fair to ruin any man because he has the
+misfortune to have a fit of sulks? That's why I won't heed the class
+action if it cuts Jetson. I'll bow to him whenever I meet him. I'll talk
+to him if he'll let me."
+
+"But he won't," insisted Farley triumphantly. "No such sulky fellow as
+Jetson will let you make up to him."
+
+"If he refuses," Dave contended, "then I can't help it. But I won't be a
+party to ruining the man. It would be far more to the purpose if the
+fellows would help the fellow to see that his sulkiness is his worst
+barrier here. Then a good student and naturally honorable fellow would
+develop into a capable Naval officer.
+
+"That's the kind of talk for the padre" (chaplain), sniffed Farley.
+
+"Glad you mentioned the padre," Dave retorted. "He's just the man to
+settle the case. Farley, I'll go with you to the padre at any time. You
+state one side of the case, and I'll state the other. If the padre
+doesn't back me, then I'll retract all I've said in open class meeting,
+and abide by whatever action the class may take."
+
+"Oh, bother the padre!" snorted Farley angrily.
+
+"All right, then," answered Dave good-humoredly. "If the class has a
+matter of ethics and morals that it doesn't dare submit to an expert in
+morals, then the class action is weak and wrong."
+
+"There's no use talking to you, I'm afraid," sighed Farley ruefully.
+"But if you--"
+
+Here the call to study interrupted further discussion. Farley, shaking
+his head gravely, left the room, followed by Page, who was shaking his
+head with equal force.
+
+"If you think you're all right, David, little giant, go ahead," remarked
+Dalzell as he passed to his study desk.
+
+"I think I'm right," Dave answered. "If not, I can be made to see the
+light. I don't claim to know everything, but what I've done I did in an
+effort to see and do the right thing."
+
+When release from study came Dalzell expected to see several members of
+the class drop in. To his astonishment the minutes sped by without any
+knock at the door.
+
+"You've gotten yourself in badly, Dave," Dan remarked at last. "The
+fellows don't even think it worth while to come here and remonstrate
+with you."
+
+"For which I'm thankful," Darrin smiled. "Danny boy, I'm going to bed
+without waiting for taps."
+
+By morning the news of Dave's action at the class meeting was known
+throughout the brigade. As he strolled about for a few minutes, after
+breakfast, while Dan went back to his room to do some hurried study,
+Darrin noted that many once friendly faces were turned away from him.
+
+"Good morning, Hepson," was Dave's greeting as his friend went by.
+
+"Good morning," muttered Hepson, and was gone.
+
+"Good morning, Watson," said Dave to one of his own classmates.
+
+"'Morning,' replied that midshipman briefly, and turned away. Joyce, Page
+and several other second classmen were standing in a group when Dave
+strolled in their direction.
+
+"Good morning, fellows," from Dave. Joyce and Page answered; some of the
+others merely nodded coldly. Presently all had strolled away except
+Joyce and Page.
+
+"You see how it is, Darry," murmured Joyce. "You've hurt the fellows."
+
+"Are they going to cut me after this?" Dave asked. His smile was
+friendly, though the look in his eyes was cool.
+
+"No-o-o," hesitated Midshipman Joyce. "I don't believe the fellows will
+exactly cut you; at least, not unless the situation grows more acute. But
+many of the fellows are sore on you for your words last night."
+
+"My words were only my words. My opinion doesn't have to govern anyone
+else, Joyce."
+
+"But, hang it, Darry, the class doesn't want to cut you out! Can't you
+get that through your head?"
+
+"The class doesn't have to cut me."
+
+"But it will, if it puts Jetson in Coventry and you break the Coventry.
+That's what the fellows hate to do to you, and that's why they're all so
+sore at you."
+
+"I see," nodded Dave.
+
+"Come, now, Darry, you're going to be reasonable, aren't you?" begged
+Joyce. "Don't break your friends all up with your stubbornness."
+
+"I note that two of the fellows are talking with Jetson," continued Dave,
+letting his glance wander to another group.
+
+"They have a right to," contended Joyce. "The class hasn't yet committed
+itself as to Jetson."
+
+"Darry, if you don't look out," warned Page, "you'll precipitate matters.
+You may bring the storm down on Jetson if you test the temper and
+stubbornness of an offended class."
+
+"I see that I was wrong in at least one particular," nodded Dave
+thoughtfully. "I shouldn't have made any remark about my intentions. I
+should have confined myself to a plea for Jetson. Then, if the class had
+gone against my view I could have ignored the class action and have taken
+the consequences just the same."
+
+"Oh, hang you!" cried Page impulsively.
+
+"Barry," begged Midshipman Joyce, resting a hand on his friend's arm,
+"don't do any more talking about this. Just let things quiet down."
+
+"I'm perfectly willing to stop talking about it," agreed Dave. "In fact,
+since the class adjourned its meeting I haven't said a word on the
+subject except in answer to some other fellow's remarks."
+
+Page and Joyce strolled away, leaving Dave by himself to think matters
+over. As it happened, the two second classmen with whom Jetson had been
+talking had now left the sulky midshipman, who, at this moment, was
+coming down the walk in Dave's direction.
+
+"Good morning, Jetson," nodded Dave pleasantly, though not too cordially.
+
+Midshipman Jetson paused a moment, looked Darrin full in the eyes, and
+then passed on.
+
+"Not promising material to work with, at first," Dave told himself,
+laughingly.
+
+There was no time for further thought, for it was within two or three
+minutes for the first formation for morning recitations. Dave ran back to
+his room, picked up a book and a writing pad.
+
+"How have the fellows been treating you, chum?" asked Dalzell, looking up
+anxiously.
+
+"To a most liberal dose of advice," laughed Darrin.
+
+Dan sighed.
+
+"Do you wish I'd take some of the advice, old fellow?"
+
+"I don't know that I do," Dan answered slowly and with unwonted
+gravity for him. "I'm not one of the padre's star young men, and I
+don't often discourse on morality. Yet I'm inclined to believe that,
+when a fellow goes contrary to the spirit of the crowd, and is
+satisfied that he is doing so from generous and manly motives, he is
+pretty likely to be pursuing the right course. After a fellow has made
+a real effort to listen to his conscience, I don't believe he is ever
+wrong in following it."
+
+"Thank you, Danny boy. That's always been the way it has struck me. I
+don't want to do any injustice to Jetson--or to the class, either."
+
+"If you have to go to Coventry," announced Dalzell, giving a final
+brushing to his hair and fitting on his cap, "I'm going with you."
+
+"But you don't have to, Dan! A fellow's roommate doesn't have to observe
+a Coventry."
+
+"If it comes to Coventry," muttered Dalzell, "I shall invite it by
+speaking to Jetson, too."
+
+Dave Darrin was aghast. He hadn't contemplated dragging Dan into
+such a scrape.
+
+"There's formation now," announced Dan.
+
+Out in front of the entrance, and along the terrace the many sections
+were falling in. Dan had occasion to pass the now very unpopular Jetson.
+
+"Good morning, Jetson," was Dan's greeting.
+
+Jetson started slightly, then replied, with a sulky frown:
+
+"Good morning, Dalzell."
+
+"Glad he'll speak to me," thought Dan with an inward grimace, "for I'm
+afraid that, before long, I'll be in the way of feeling mighty lonely a
+good deal of the time."
+
+In another moment or two the sections were marching away, with the
+steady, rhythmic, tread peculiar to bodies of military in motion.
+
+"I wonder how it is all going to come out?" sighed Dan, as he seated
+himself at his desk in the section room in the Academic Building.
+
+"I wonder what sort of crazy or calculating grandstand play Darrin is
+trying to make just now?" pondered Midshipman Jetson, when informed of
+Dave's action at the meeting.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+"DON'T BE A FOOL, DARRY!"
+
+
+A week went by without another class meeting.
+
+For that reason Midshipman Jetson was still nominally in good fellowship.
+
+The delay in action was by no means due to lack of class interest. The
+class seethed with interest in the affair, but with many of the
+midshipmen there was a belief that here was a case where slow and
+thoughtful consideration would be best for all concerned.
+
+Darry was too good a fellow, and far too popular to be forced out of
+fellowship if it didn't have to be done to preserve the present feeling
+of ruffled class dignity.
+
+Knowing that the matter hadn't been dropped, the first and third classes
+waited--in curiosity. The fourth class really had no standing in such
+weighty matters of the internal discipline of the brigade.
+
+Every time that Dave Darrin passed Jetson he spoke pleasantly to the
+latter. The sulky one, however, did not respond.
+
+"Some day, Darry, you'll tumble that you've been played for a fool,"
+grumbled Farley.
+
+"Then I'll have the satisfaction, won't I, of knowing that it's all my
+own fault?" smiled Dave Darrin.
+
+"Yes; but I hate to see you go to pieces for a fellow like Jetson."
+
+The following Saturday afternoon Darrin came in from a brisk walk, to
+find Dan poring over his books at the study desk.
+
+"Letter there for you," said Dan, without looking up, as Dave, after
+glancing into the room, had turned with the intention of calling on
+Farley and Page.
+
+"Thank you." Darrin crossed the room, picking up the letter. "From
+Belle," he remarked. "The second from her this week, and I haven't
+written her. Answering letters should be part of a man's honor, so
+instead of cruising about on the deck, I reckon I'd better sit down and
+write Belle."
+
+"What are you going to tell her?" asked Dan quietly, without looking up.
+
+"Hang it all!" grumbled Dave. "This is where the situation begins to be
+tough. Of course you understand how things are, Danny boy, and you are
+aware that I have asked Belle to take upon herself the right to be
+equally interested with me in my career."
+
+"It is tough," assented Dan, with ready sympathy, and laying aside his
+book for the moment. "If my memory serves, Belle asked particularly,
+when she was here, that you let her know how the Jetson row turned out."
+
+"Yes; she did."
+
+"And now you've got to tell her--what?"
+
+"Have I got to tell her?" wondered Darrin aloud. "Yes; any other course
+would be unfair. But another question is, have I a right to tell her just
+what took place in a class meeting?"
+
+"I think so," spoke up Dalzell. "Of course, you needn't attempt to report
+the speeches, or anything like that, but it's rather clear to me that you
+have a right to tell Belle the exact news so far as it affects you--and
+therefore her."
+
+"Thank you." Dave drew out stationery, picked up a pen and began to
+write. Dalzell returned to his text-book. When Dave had written the
+letter, he read to Dan the portion that related to a description of the
+Jetson matter before the class.
+
+"I think it's all right to send that much of a statement," nodded Dan.
+
+"Then I'm going to mail the letter at once, and it will go out to-night.
+Belle tells me that she is extremely anxious to know the outcome of the
+matter. Poor girl, I'm afraid my letter may be even worse than no news."
+
+"Belle didn't betroth herself to the uniform or the Navy, if I know
+her," returned Dan quietly.
+
+Dave went out and mailed the letter. It would not reach Belle until
+Monday morning. Wednesday afternoon, on returning from the last
+recitation, Dave found her answer on his study table.
+
+"Want to hear a part of it, Dan?" questioned Midshipman Darrin.
+
+"Of course I do," admitted that young man.
+
+"Listen, then," and Dave read from Belle's letter as follows:
+
+"'I won't attempt to say that I am not in the least worried or bothered
+over the turn the Jetson matter has taken,'" ran Belle's letter. "'I
+can't help feeling vitally interested in anything that concerns you. But
+you tell me that you have followed your own sense of honor and your own
+conscience in the matter. The best man that ever lived couldn't do better
+than that. I hope--oh, I _do_ hope--that the whole affair will turn out
+in some way that will not be disagreeable to you. But remember, Dave,
+that the lightheaded little High School girl who plighted her faith to
+you is interested in you--not particularly in a future Naval officer,
+necessarily. If the affair should go to the worst ending, and you find it
+advisable to resign from the Naval Academy on account of any class
+feeling, there are plenty of bright prospects in life for an honorable
+and capable man. Don't ever imagine that I shall be disappointed over
+anything that you do, as long as you remain true to yourself and your
+manhood. And I will add, if you care to know it, that I approve of what
+you have done and am proud of you for your grit to do the right thing,'"
+
+"A great girl!" cried Dan admiringly. "Just the kind of girl, too, that I
+was sure she is."
+
+"Just the same," commented Dave musingly, "I know quite well that Belle
+has set her heart on seeing me serve in the Navy with credit."
+
+"She wanted that because she knew you wanted it," Dan assured him.
+
+Darrin was in the middle of his week's studies, where every minute's work
+counted, but he took the time to write an intense, if short, answer to
+Belle's letter. That finished, and dropped in the mail-box, he went back
+to his room and began to study.
+
+Rap-tap! Farley slipped into the room.
+
+"Thought I'd better come right away, Darry," explained the caller. "The
+news won't keep. A class meeting is called for Friday night right after
+supper. You know what that means, don't you?"
+
+"Yes," Dave answered steadily.
+
+"Old fellow, we all hope to see you come back to yourself at the
+meeting," went on Farley earnestly, resting a hand on Dave's blue sleeve.
+
+"Meaning that I should desert my convictions and bow to the class?"
+
+"Yes; if you put it that way. Darry, old friend, don't feel that you know
+more than the entire brigade."
+
+"I don't," Dave answered.
+
+"Then you'll drop the line of talk you started the other night?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Darry, old friend!"
+
+"I haven't changed my mind. Then, if I changed my attitude, wouldn't I be
+acting a false part?"
+
+"Don't be, a prig, Darry!"
+
+"Be a knave instead, eh?"
+
+"Darry, you ought to have been born a Puritan!"
+
+"I'm glad I wasn't," Dave smiled.
+
+"And are you enjoying yourself?"
+
+"No," Dave answered seriously. "I'm not. Neither is Jetson. It is likely
+that the class may do a great injustice to us both."
+
+"Why are you so struck on a fellow like Jetson?" pursued the other
+midshipman.
+
+"I'm not," Dave rejoined. "But I think, if he could be awakened, he has
+qualities that would make us all like him."
+
+"And you're going to throw yourself away on such thankless missionary
+work, Darry?"
+
+"Not at all. I'm acting on my best lights, as I see them for myself."
+
+"I'm sorry," sighed Farley honestly.
+
+"And so am I. Don't believe that I enjoy the situation that has
+been created."
+
+"That you've created for yourself, you mean!"
+
+"I see that you can't or you won't, understand it, Farley."
+
+"I wish I could understand it!" quivered Farley, who felt far more
+unhappy than he was willing that Dave should see. In the end, Farley
+returned to his own room, pondering deeply and trying to think out some
+plan of speech or of action that would save Midshipman Dave Darrin from
+the class anger that seemed certain to come.
+
+After supper and just before study time was due, Dave went to Jetson's
+door and knocked. As he entered he found Warner, the other midshipman
+quartered there, as well as Jetson.
+
+"Good evening, gentlemen," began Dave, after he had stepped into the room
+and closed the door.
+
+"Good evening, Darrin," responded Warner, while Jetson merely scowled and
+picked up a book.
+
+"Warner," went on Dave, "I came here to have a brief talk with Mr.
+Jetson. Would it be asking too much to ask you to step outside--unless
+Mr. Jetson feels that he would prefer that you remain?"
+
+"Mr. Jetson prefers that Mr. Warner remain, and that Mr. Darrin take
+himself away with great expedition," broke in Jetson decisively.
+
+But Warner thought differently, and, with a murmured "certainly, Darrin,"
+he left the room.
+
+"I won't ask you to take a seat, Mr. Darrin," said Jetson, "because I'll
+be candid enough to say that I hope you won't remain long."
+
+"I don't need a seat," laughed Dave easily, "for I've heard that the best
+Americans transact their business on their feet. Mr. Jetson, I've come on
+a somewhat embarrassing mission."
+
+"Yes?"--sneeringly.
+
+"You know quite well the snarl that is to be untied before the class
+meeting Friday evening."
+
+"Quite well," replied Jetson sulkily. "It is a situation that I owe to
+the fact of having been acquainted with yourself, Mr. Darrin."
+
+"Jetson," resumed Dave, dropping the formal "Mr.", "the situation is one
+that menaces you and your standing here. It menaces me equally. I could
+get myself out of the scrape quite easily by withdrawing from the stand
+that I took the other night."
+
+"I either fail or refuse to understand why you went to the risk that you
+did the other night, Mr. Darrin."
+
+"If I were to retract what I said," Darrin added, "it would cause me to
+violate whatever respect I may have for right and justice. On the other
+hand, Jetson, surely you do not consider yourself right in refusing an
+apology for a remark in which you thoughtlessly cast an unjust reflection
+upon the whole body of midshipmen."
+
+"To what is this leading, Mr. Darrin?"
+
+"Jetson, your own sense of honor and justice surely tells you that you
+owe it to yourself to go before the meeting Friday evening--"
+
+"I shall not attend, Mr. Darrin. The class may take whatever action it
+chooses in my absence."
+
+"Jetson, you owe it to yourself, as well as to the class, to offer your
+apology for a remark that reflected upon the whole brigade. You can
+violate no feeling of honor or proper pride by such an apology. In fact,
+I do not see how you can justify yourself in withholding such apology for
+having expressed a sentiment which you know you did not mean in the way
+that the brigade has taken it."
+
+"My feelings on questions of honor cannot possibly concern you,
+Mr. Darrin."
+
+"On the contrary, your conduct does vitally concern me, Jetson. If
+you do not make your apology the class will--well, you know what
+will happen."
+
+"Yes, I know," Jetson assented, his brow darkening.
+
+"And possibly you know what it means to me. By my own statement--and I
+cannot, in honor retract it, I shall be compelled to share Coventry
+with you."
+
+"No, you won't sir!" retorted Jetson, rising, his face ablaze with sulky
+anger. "You may go to Coventry, Mr. Darrin, and welcome, but you shall
+not share mine with me. You shall not share anything whatever with
+me--not even the air of this room if I can prevail upon you to take
+yourself out of a room where you are not wanted. Mr. Darrin, I indulge
+myself in the honor of wishing you--good evening!"
+
+Jetson crossed the room, threw open the door and bowed low. Flushing,
+breathing quickly, Dave Darrin stepped out into the corridor and the door
+closed smartly behind him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+MIDSHIPMAN JETSON HAS THE FLOOR
+
+
+It was Friday afternoon, and the last sections had been dismissed
+in front of Bancroft Hall. The balance of the afternoon belonged to
+the midshipmen, though most of them found it necessary to give the
+time to study.
+
+Jetson was not one of the latter. Always well up in his studies, he had
+no occasion to worry about daily markings or semi-annual examinations.
+
+He had not grown less sulky, but he found himself a victim of unusual
+restlessness. So he decided upon remaining out in the open air for
+the present.
+
+Though actuated by a very different class of feelings, Darrin, also, felt
+disinclined for books. He tried to study, for a few minutes, but gave it
+up and caught up his cap. The winter day being mild, he did not trouble
+himself to don his uniform overcoat.
+
+"Going to slip your cable?" inquired Dan, who was moored fast to a
+text-book.
+
+"Yes; I feel the need of fresh air."
+
+"Shove off, then!"
+
+Dave went out quietly, Dan gazing curiously after his friend until the
+door had closed behind him.
+
+"Poor chap," muttered Dan. "I reckon he has need enough of something to
+stop that restless feeling. The class meets to-night!"
+
+Jetson, after some fifteen minutes of aimless wandering, felt himself
+attracted to the gymnasium. Going inside, he went to his locker, where,
+with feverish energy, he changed to gym costume.
+
+For a few minutes the sulky one performed on the flying rings. He was an
+adept at this work, and something in the rapid motion soothed his
+troubled mind.
+
+Tiring of the rings at last, Jetson stood with folded arms, looking about
+him, until his eyes lighted with interest on the trapezes. One was up
+higher than the rest. Drawn toward this one, Jetson took hold of the
+climbing rope and drew himself up, hand over hand. Seating himself on the
+bar, he sat looking about at the few other midshipmen who were exercising
+at that hour.
+
+"There comes that Darrin fellow," thought Jetson, with a sudden burst of
+rage. "Wonder if he's going to work this afternoon? If he does, I'll put
+it all over him, even if I break my neck in the trying."
+
+Back and forth swung Jetson, getting up speed on the trapeze. Then,
+suddenly, he threw his head downward, hanging on by his knees. An
+intentional slip, and he hung fully downward his ankles holding at the
+ends of the crossbar.
+
+Folding his arms, Jetson again began to swing as he hung head downward.
+Among the midshipmen there were not so very many who were skillful at
+this form of exercise. Jetson was, and he was secretly proud of it.
+
+"This will put the fellow Darrin to the bad if he came in with any notion
+of showing off," thought the sulky one exultantly.
+
+Now the other midshipmen turned to leave the gym. In a moment more the
+only two left were Darrin and the man on the trapeze. In addition to the
+midshipmen there were two gym. attendants at some little distance.
+
+"Who's doing that fine work?" wondered Dave, stepping closer. "Why, it's
+Jetson! Well, he has one accomplishment that I really envy him!"
+
+Midshipman Jetson was now going through some rapid evolutions, first
+hanging head downward, and then, after developing speed, raising himself
+and turning over the crossbar. It was really work of which any athlete
+might have been proud.
+
+"Say, Jim," muttered one attendant to the other, "that middie has me
+nervous for fair."
+
+"Forget it," advised the other attendant, "It's the middie's neck,
+not yours."
+
+"But we took the net down that goes with that bar. Suppose the young
+man should fall. He'd break his neck, and what could we say with the
+net gone?"
+
+"He's no business up there at this late hour in the afternoon," grumbled
+the other man.
+
+"That talk won't save us, either, if anything happens."
+
+Jetson, filled with the desire to show off before the comrade he hated,
+had increased the speed of his brilliant flying movements.
+
+But suddenly he slipped. There was no regaining his grip. With a howl of
+fright he felt himself plunging head downward more than thirty feet to
+the hard floor of the gym. He was in a fair way of landing on his head,
+cracking his skull and breaking his neck. Worse, in his sudden dread, he
+seemed to have lost control of his muscles.
+
+"Turn! Land on your feet!" called Dave.
+
+It all happened in a second. Dave, brief as the instant was, realized
+that the other midshipman was not going to land on his feet. In the same
+fleeting moment that Darrin called he hurled himself into position.
+
+Straight down shot Jetson. Dave waited, with outstretched arms, ready to
+risk his own neck in the effort to save his sulky comrade.
+
+From their end of the gym. the two startled attendants had watched the
+impending disaster, but there was no time for them to do anything.
+
+From the way that Jetson fell it looked as though he had made a straight
+dive for Dave Darrin's head. At all events, their heads met in sharp
+collision.
+
+Down went Dave, as though shot, and Jetson went with him, but Darrin's
+outstretched arms had grasped the other's body, and Jetson was saved the
+worst of his fall.
+
+Now the two midshipmen lay where they had fallen, Jetson lying somewhat
+across Dave's motionless body.
+
+"They're killed!" yelled the attendant Jim hoarsely.
+
+"We'll look 'em over first, before we give up," retorted the other
+attendant, stooping and gently rolling Jetson over on his back.
+
+"Sure they're killed, Bob," protested Jim huskily. "They met head on.
+You'll find that both middies have their skulls broken."
+
+"Bring two pails of water, you chump," ordered Bob. "I tell you, we won't
+raise a row until we've done the best we can for 'em."
+
+[Illustration: Straight Down Shot Jetson.]
+
+The water was brought. Under liberal dashes of it over his face and neck
+Jetson soon opened his eyes.
+
+"I--I had a bad fall, didn't I?" he asked of the man nearest him.
+
+"You'd have broken your neck, sir, if Mr. Darrin hadn't jumped forward
+and broken the force of your fall."
+
+"I'd rather any other man had saved me," muttered the sullen one, slowly
+aiding himself to sit up. "How did Mr. Darrin do it?"
+
+"Well, sir," responded Bob, "he stopped you partly with his head, and it
+would have been broken, only he had his hands out and gripped you at the
+shoulders or trunk. It may be that his head was split as it was, but I
+hardly think so."
+
+Two more liberal douses of water, and Dave, too, opened his eyes.
+
+"Is Jetson all right?" was Darrin's first question.
+
+"Yes," muttered Midshipman Jetson, "and thanks to you, as I
+understand it."
+
+"Oh, if you're all right, then I'm glad," responded Dave. "Bob, have you
+time to help me to stand up?"
+
+"How do you feel, sir?" asked Bob, after he had complied and stood
+supporting Midshipman Darrin on his feet.
+
+"Just a bit dizzy, Bob; but that'll pass off in a moment. Jetson, I'm
+glad to see you alive. Not badly jolted, I hope?"
+
+Jim was now aiding Jetson to his feet.
+
+"Do you want a surgeon, either of you?" asked Bob.
+
+Both midshipmen shook their heads.
+
+"I think I'll go over to one of the side seats," remarked Darrin, and
+Bob piloted him there, while Jim aided Jetson out to the shower room
+and locker.
+
+Dave Darrin soon conquered the dizzy feeling enough to stand up and walk
+without assistance.
+
+"I think I'll go, now," he told Bob. "I don't believe there is anything
+that I can do for Mr. Jetson."
+
+"There is, sir, if you don't mind," interposed Jim, striding up. "Mr.
+Jetson has just asked if you mind waiting for him."
+
+"My compliments to Mr. Jetson, and I shall be glad to wait for him."
+
+The sulky midshipman soon hove in sight, having donned his uniform. He
+came up to Dave looking decidedly embarrassed.
+
+"Mr. Darrin, I fear I must thank you for having stopped my course to the
+floor," admitted Jetson, with a sheepish grin.
+
+"I won't make it too hard to thank me," replied Dave, with a smile.
+"I'll just say that you're wholly welcome."
+
+"But if you hadn't caught me in just the way that you did, your skull
+would have been smashed by the impact with my head. You risked your life
+for me, Mr. Darrin."
+
+"I didn't stop to think of that, at the time. At any rate, risking one's
+life goes with the Naval service, doesn't it?"
+
+"It was a splendid thing for you to do, Mr. Darrin! May I walk along
+with you?"
+
+Dave nodded. It was dark, now, and that portion of the yard appeared
+clear of any moving beings but themselves.
+
+"Darrin," continued Jetson, "when you risked Coventry in the effort to
+save me from it, I thought you were posing, though for the life of me I
+couldn't fathom your motive. But the risk that you took this afternoon
+wasn't in the line of posing. Do you mind telling me why you did it?"
+
+"I'd have done as much for any man in the brigade," Dave answered
+frankly.
+
+"Just the same it has touched me--touched me deeply."
+
+"I'm glad of that, Jetson," Dave answered heartily. "And now I hope that
+we can bury the hatchet and be friends, as men in the brigade should
+always be."
+
+"But why do you want to be friends with a fellow like me?"
+
+"Because I want to know the real Jetson--not the one that you
+present outside of a sulky exterior. Jetson, I know there's gold in
+you, and I want to see it brought to the surface. I want your
+friendship because--well, it may be a selfish reason, but I think
+it's worth having."
+
+"That's a funny notion to take," laughed Midshipman Jetson uneasily.
+"I have never been conceited enough to fancy that my friendship was
+worth having."
+
+"Let yourself out and be natural, man!"
+
+"How?"
+
+Then indeed did Dave Darrin plunge into his subject. There was a lot
+to be said, but Dave said it briefly, tersely, candidly. Jetson
+listened with a flushing face, it is true, but at last he stopped and
+held out his hand.
+
+"Will you take it, Darrin?"
+
+"With all my heart!"
+
+There was chance for but little more talk, as now the slowly moving
+midshipmen were close to the entrance to Bancroft Hall.
+
+"You'll be at the class meeting this evening, won't you?" asked
+Dave Darrin.
+
+"You may be very sure that I shall!"
+
+Then they entered the lobby of Bancroft Hall, parting and going their
+different ways.
+
+In Darrin's eyes there was a strange flash as he turned down the "deck"
+on which he lived. But Dan, still absorbed in study, did not pay especial
+heed to his roommate.
+
+Immediately after supper in the mess-hall, Dalzell caught his chum's arm.
+
+"Let's get in early at the meeting, David, little giant. I'm afraid
+there's big trouble brewing, and we must both be on hand early. We may
+have some chance to talk a bit before the meeting is called to order."
+
+"I don't believe I shall care to talk any, Danny boy, before the
+president raps."
+
+"Don't be too stubborn, Davy! Your future will very likely be at stake
+to-night. Your most dependable friends will be on hand and under arms for
+you. Back 'em up!"
+
+At least half of the class was gathered when the chums entered. Darrin
+looked about him, then took a seat. He watched the door until he saw
+Midshipman Jetson enter.
+
+Rap, rap, rap! went the gavel at last.
+
+"Gentlemen," announced the president, "there is some unfinished business
+before the meeting. At the last class meeting a motion was made and
+seconded that Midshipman Jetson be sent to Coventry. Any remarks that may
+be offered on that resolution will be in order now."
+
+Dave Darrin was on his feet in an instant. Three or four men hissed, but
+Dave appeared not to notice.
+
+"Mr. President," Dave began in a slow, steady voice, "this motion more
+closely affects Mr. Jetson than it does any other member of the class. I
+understand that Mr. Jetson has a few remarks to make."
+
+There was a murmur that ran around the room as Jetson rose to his feet,
+claiming the chair's recognition.
+
+"Mr. President and gentlemen," began Jetson, his face pale and his words
+coming with effort, "I am not going to discuss the question of whether
+the class will or will not be justified in sending me to Coventry. I have
+a duty to perform to-night, and I assure you that it comes hard, for my
+temper and pride have been beyond my control for a long time. I wish to
+make a most earnest apology for remarks of mine that were construed as
+being insulting to the members of the brigade. I further desire to make
+any statement, or any admission that will most quickly banish any sense
+of wrong coming from me. In doing so, I am moved to this proper course by
+my friend, Mr. Darrin!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+THE BIRTH OF A GENTLEMAN
+
+
+It wasn't a real bombshell that hit the class, of course, but the effect
+was almost as startling. First, there were murmurs, then a hubbub of
+voices, last of all a rousing cheer.
+
+In the midst of the excitement Midshipman Farley leaped to his feet.
+
+"Mr. President!" he bellowed.
+
+But his voice did not carry ten feet from where he stood.
+
+"Mr. President!" he yelled, louder than ever before.
+
+Still the hubbub continued. Farley leaped to the seat of his chair,
+turning and waving both arms frantically. Any midshipman who had glanced
+toward the chair would have discovered that the occupant of the class
+chair was rapping hard with his gavel, though no sound of it was heard
+above the tumult.
+
+Presently, however, Farley's antics produced their effect. The noise
+gradually lessened.
+
+"Mr. President!" essayed Farley once more.
+
+"Mr. Farley has the floor!" shouted the class president hoarsely.
+
+"Mr. President," went on Farley, at the top of his voice, "class honor
+and that of the brigade have been satisfied by the direct, manly
+statement of Mr. Jetson. I move you, sir, that the motion now before this
+body be tabled, all further action dropped and the class meeting
+adjourned subject to call."
+
+"Second the motion!" yelled Page.
+
+"The motion to adjourn must follow the disposal of the first part of the
+motion," ruled the chair.
+
+"I accept the amendment," called Farley.
+
+"I, also," assented Page.
+
+"Question! question!"
+
+"Before putting the motion," continued the chair, "I desire to ask Mr.
+Jetson if he has fully considered his statement and the revised position
+that he has taken? Since the matter affects the entire brigade, and not
+this single class, I feel that there should be no doubt, or any question
+to be raised later."
+
+"Mr. President," announced Jetson, when he had secured recognition,
+"I have retracted any offensive words that I may have uttered. I
+have attempted no justification of any of my words, but have made
+flat apology."
+
+"Three cheers for Jet!" shouted one impulsive midshipman.
+
+"Any remarks?" questioned the chair.
+
+"Mr. President!"
+
+"Mr. Darrin."
+
+"I do not see how Mr. Jetson's retraction or apology could be made any
+more explicit. I trust to see Mr. Farley's motion, seconded by Mr. Page,
+put to the vote and carried at once. I am wholly aware that I have
+incurred the class's displeasure (cries of 'no! no!') but I urge that
+whatever action may be taken regarding myself be deferred until after Mr.
+Jetson has been restored to the fullest measure of class and brigade
+fellowship."
+
+"Any further remarks?" questioned the class president, when Darrin had
+seated himself. "If not, I will state the motion."
+
+A few "nays" succeeded the great chorus of "ayes," and the motion of
+Coventry for Jetson was declared tabled.
+
+"Any further action?" demanded the chair.
+
+"Move we adjourn!" called Farley.
+
+"Second the motion!" seconded Page.
+
+The motion was put and carried without dissent Then, amid the greatest
+jollity, the meeting was declared adjourned.
+
+There was a rush of at least twenty men to shake hands with Jetson, who,
+with flushed but pleased face, bore his honors as modestly as he could.
+
+"What on earth came over you, Jet?" demanded Joyce bluntly.
+
+"It would be a long story about Darrin," replied Midshipman Jetson. "He
+had the grace to show me that I was a constitutional ass, with perhaps
+some slight chance of being reborn. To make it short, Darrin persuaded me
+to come before the class, eat humble pie and set myself right with
+myself, even if I couldn't with the class."
+
+"It was beautifully done, Jet," murmured Page, who was tremendously
+grateful at seeing Dave Darrin rescued from sacrificing himself to a
+principle.
+
+"If any of you fellows catch me in the sulks hereafter," spoke up Jetson,
+though he winced as he said it, "I hope the man who catches me will do me
+the very great favor of passing me a few sound kicks before others have a
+chance to catch me to the bad."
+
+"Bully for you--you're all right, Jet!" called several warmly.
+
+Fully half of the class members had left the room by this time. Dan
+Dalzell, who had been thunderstruck, and who was now full of questions,
+was being urged out of the room by Dave.
+
+"So Darry converted you, did he?" laughed Joyce. "Bully for Darry. Why,
+that great and good fellow dared the class to send him to Coventry after
+it got through with you. He accused the class of kicking a man without
+giving that man a chance to get up on his feet."
+
+"It's a good deal like Darrin," remarked Jetson, his eyes a trifle
+misty, "though it took me a thundering long time to realize that Darrin
+was really of that kind."
+
+"How did it happen, any way?" insisted Farley.
+
+"You've heard nothing about it?"
+
+"Not a word--not a hint," protested Page eagerly.
+
+There were less than twenty of the midshipmen now remaining in the
+room, so Jetson did not feel as embarrassed as he might have done had
+he been called upon to give the recital before a class meeting. He
+told his listeners the story of Dave's splendid conduct in the gym.
+that afternoon, and of the talk that had followed the reconciliation
+of the enemies.
+
+"That was like good old Darry again," remarked Farley proudly. "No fellow
+has a warmer temper than Darry when he's aroused to righteous anger, but
+no fellow has a more generous temper at all times."
+
+"Let's go down and jump in on Darry, all hands!" proposed Joyce.
+
+"Listen!" warned Farley.
+
+Study call! That took the young men hastily to their regular
+academic duties.
+
+"One thing this business has done," remarked Midshipman Farley, looking
+up from his books.
+
+"I'll be the goat," murmured Page.
+
+"Darry has always been somewhat the leader of the class, ever since the
+fellows began to find him out, back in the first year here. But this last
+business has boosted Dave Darrin unmistakably and solidly now into the
+post of leader of the class."
+
+"We're safe, then!" retorted Page. "Darry won't lead us into any
+trouble!"
+
+The realization that Midshipman Dave Darrin was assured leader of
+the second class was not long in coming to most of the other men of
+the class.
+
+Yet Dave did not seek the post, nor did he attempt to do any actual
+leading. He still considered himself as possessing one voice, and one
+only, in the class councils.
+
+If Dave was leader, Dan Dalzell, both by reflected glory and by virtue of
+his own sterling merits as well, shared the leadership with Dave to a
+great extent. Dan's power might have gone further than it did had it not
+been for the fact that he was so full of mischief as to leave his
+comrades often in doubt as to whether he were really serious in what he
+said and did.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+"BAGGED," AND NO MISTAKE
+
+
+"Plebes Flint and Austin are having a good many callers," remarked Dave
+Darrin, halting by the door of quarters before he and Dan entered.
+
+"Sure! Aren't you wise?" inquired Dan, with a wink.
+
+"I think so," murmured Dave. "The callers all seem to be third classmen."
+
+"Of course; they're putting the rookies through their paces."
+
+"Surest thing!" murmured Dalzell without excitement.
+
+"But this is March. Isn't it a rather late time in the year to be still
+hounding the poor new men?"
+
+"I don't know," mused Dalzell. "It may be that Mr. Flint and Mr. Austin
+are unusually touge."
+
+"Touge" is Annapolis slang for "fresh." It corresponds closely to the "b
+j" of West Point.
+
+A sound as of protest came from behind a closed door at the further end
+of the deck.
+
+"I hope our youngsters aren't going too far," Dave remarked, "youngster"
+being the accepted term for the third classmen, and the same as
+"yearling" at West Point.
+
+"Well, it's none of our business," replied Dan, with a shrug of his
+shoulders. "Study call will be along in fifteen minutes. Going to get an
+early start with the books to-night?"
+
+"I guess that will be wise," Darrin nodded.
+
+"It surely will."
+
+The rest of the winter had gone along rather uneventfully, save for the
+inevitable, overpowering amount of grind through which a midshipman must
+pass. It was now spring, and midshipmen thoughts were divided between two
+topics--annual exams, and summer cruise.
+
+Dan had started into the room, and Dave was about to follow, when he
+heard an unusually loud thud at the further end of the deck.
+
+"Danny boy, the plebes must be getting it hard to-night."
+
+"I'd like to see the fun," muttered Dalzell, his eyes snapping with
+mischief. "But it doesn't seem to be any of our business. Hazing work is
+left in charge of the youngster crowd."
+
+"Yes; a second classman shouldn't interfere," assented Dave. "Well, study
+for ours."
+
+"I'm afraid I'm not as studious as I was a minute ago," contended Dan,
+with a grin.
+
+Dave looked almost startled as he seized his chum by the arm.
+
+"Inside with you, Danny boy!"
+
+"Not under compulsion," laughed Midshipman Dalzell.
+
+"I'll condescend to coaxing, then. But don't anger the youngsters by
+butting in."
+
+"And why not? An upper classman has a right to step in, if he wishes."
+
+"It is, at least, against the rules of good taste to interfere,"
+argued Darrin.
+
+"Well, hang you, I don't want to interfere. All I want to do is to look
+on. Can't an upper classman do that?"
+
+"I won't," returned Dave.
+
+Yet almost immediately he changed his mind, for two hard bumps and a gust
+of laughter swept up the deck.
+
+"They're making so much racket," murmured Dave, lingering by his own
+door, "that, the first thing we know, a duty officer will swoop down and
+rag the bunch."
+
+"Let's go in, then, as grave and dignified second classmen, and warn the
+youngsters like daddies," proposed Dan, but his eyes were twinkling with
+the spirit of mischief.
+
+A good deal against his own inclination Darrin allowed himself to be
+coaxed into the thing.
+
+Nine youngsters were found in Midshipmen Flint and Austin's room when
+Dave and Dan entered after rapping.
+
+"We're not intruding, I hope?" inquired Dalzell, with his most
+inviting grin.
+
+"Not at all, gentlemen," responded Midshipman Eaton, of the third class.
+
+"These fourth classmen seemed unwontedly popular to-night,"
+insinuated Dan.
+
+"They've been most uncommonly touge all through the year, sir," replied
+Eaton, tacking on the "sir" in order to impress Midshipmen Flint and
+Austin with the tremendous dignity or all upper classmen.
+
+"What form does their tougeness take?" Dan wanted to know.
+
+"They have not yet learned the respect that is due to upper
+classmen, sir."
+
+"And especially to third classmen?" inquired Dan, now without the flicker
+of a smile.
+
+"They are especially touge, sir, with third classmen."
+
+"And you are showing them the error of their ways?"
+
+"We are trying to do so, sir."
+
+"I thought so, from the noise we heard," pursued Dalzell.
+
+"If you have any better ways, Mr. Dalzell, we shall be glad to profit
+from your riper experience, sir," suggested Midshipman Eaton.
+
+"No; I've forgotten almost everything that I ever knew in that line,"
+remarked Dan.
+
+"Mr. Darrin, sir?" suggested Eaton, turning to the other second
+classman present.
+
+"I have nothing to suggest," replied Dave slowly, "unless--" Then
+he paused.
+
+"Unless--sir?" followed up Midshipman Eaton.
+
+"No; I won't say it. It might give offense," Darrin responded.
+
+"Have no fear of that, Mr. Darrin," urged Eaton.
+
+"All I was going to suggest, Eaton, was that this is the month of March."
+
+"Yes, sir?" inquired Eaton wonderingly.
+
+"When Dalzell and I were fourth classmen we weren't troubled at all by
+the youngsters after Christmas. Last year, Eaton, our class didn't bother
+yours at any later date, either."
+
+Some of the youngsters present began to look embarrassed, though Dave's
+tone had been quiet and free from rebuke.
+
+"But, sir, don't imagine that we're doing anything to the plebes for our
+own amusement," protested Eaton. "This is the only pair of the fourth
+class left that need any attention from our class. These two young
+misters are the tougest lot we've had to deal with. In fact, sir,
+they're ratey!"
+
+"Still," rejoined Dan Dalzell, "I think you are keeping it up pretty
+late in the year, even if they are ratey."
+
+A midshipman who is "ratey," as has been explained in an earlier volume,
+is a much greater offender than a midshipman who is merely touge. For a
+ratey fourth classman makes the foolish blunder of considering himself as
+good as an upper classman.
+
+"Of course," suggested Dan, making haste to smooth over any astonishment
+that his own and his chum's remarks might have caused, "we don't propose
+to instruct the members of the third class in the way they shall perform
+their duties toward the members of the fourth. Don't let us interfere
+with you, Mr. Eaton."
+
+"By no means," murmured Dave Darrin, smiling. "We don't wish to intrude."
+
+"But wait just one moment gentlemen," begged Eaton. "We want you to see
+for yourselves how effectively we are smoothing the touge creases out of
+these baby midshipmen."
+
+During the discussion Flint and Austin had been standing at one side of
+the room, looking decidedly sheepish. Both had their blouses off, though
+neither had been required to take off his collar. The trousers of the two
+fourth classmen were rather liberally overlaid with dust, showing that
+they must have been performing some rough stunts on the floor.
+
+"Step over to that, basin, mister," ordered Youngster Eaton, eyeing
+Flint, who promptly obeyed.
+
+"Now, mister, stand on your head in that bowl," commanded
+Midshipman Eaton.
+
+Looking doubly red and uncomfortable, with these two grave-looking second
+classmen present, Flint bent down, attempting to stand on his head in the
+bowl of water, while he tried, at the same time to push his feet up the
+wall, thus standing on his head. Twice Flint essayed the feat and failed,
+splashing a good deal of water over the floor. Then, for the third time,
+Flint tried the performance. This time he succeeded, but his two previous
+failures had provoked such a storm of laughter that no man present heard
+a cautious rap on the door. The next instant that door was flung open and
+Lieutenant Preston stepped into the room.
+
+With the entrance of that discipline officer half of the midshipmen
+present wheeled about, then, startled as they were, did not forget to
+come to attention.
+
+"Hm!" said Lieutenant Preston, at which the other half heard and
+came to attention. Flint, whether too scared, or perhaps enjoying
+the discomfiture of his tormentors, made no effort to return to
+normal position.
+
+"What's your name, sir?" thundered the discipline officer, glaring
+fiercely at Midshipman Flint.
+
+"Flint, sir," replied the fourth classman in a gasp.
+
+"Bring your feet down and come to attention, sir!"
+
+Flint obeyed.
+
+During this time Lieutenant Preston had stood so that no midshipman in
+the room could slip by him into the corridor.
+
+"I will now take the names of the gentlemen present," went on the
+discipline officer, drawing a notebook and pencil from an inner pocket
+and commencing to write.
+
+"All except the fourth classmen present will at once fall in by twos
+outside," commanded Lieutenant Preston, closing the notebook and slipping
+it away. "Midshipmen Flint and Austin will mend their appearances as
+speedily as possible and then form the last file outside."
+
+"Wow!" whispered Dan in his chum's ear outside. "Talk about the
+fifty-seven varieties! We're in all the pickles!"
+
+"Yes," murmured Dave.
+
+"What are you going to do about it, Davy?"
+
+"Take my medicine," Dave replied.
+
+"But we weren't really in the thing."
+
+"Danny boy, never get out of a thing, or try to, by playing cry baby!"
+
+"No danger," retorted Dalzell. "David, little giant, we'll just console
+ourselves with the realization that we're in the worst scrape we ever
+struck yet."
+
+"Yes," nodded Dave.
+
+Fourth classmen Flint and Austin were not long in making themselves
+presentable. Then they fell in at the rear of the line.
+
+"Squad, forward march!" commanded the discipline officer dryly.
+
+Through the corridor and off that deck the little squad of thirteen
+midshipmen marched. Never had thirteen been more unlucky, for the present
+superintendent was known to be a man determined to stamp out hazing.
+
+Nor did the affair remain a secret for more than a moment Midshipmen
+returning to their own decks stepped to the wall to let the squad pass.
+Nor was more than a look at the two rear fourth classmen needed to enable
+any wondering midshipmen to guess the nature of the offense with which
+the remaining eleven upper classmen were to be charged.
+
+"Our Darry in that!" gasped Farley, as the squad went by. "Did you see
+him?"
+
+"Yes," Page mournfully admitted.
+
+"Then my eyes didn't play me any trick, as I had hoped. Darry and
+Dalzell! What evil spirit tempted them to be in that scrape?"
+
+In the meantime Lieutenant Preston was arraigning the captured
+delinquents before the officer in charge, and the commandant of
+midshipmen had already been telephoned for and was on the way.
+
+Study call cut short a good deal of excited discussion on the different
+decks. The commandant of midshipmen arrived, heard the evidence of the
+discipline officer, looked over the offenders, entered their names on his
+own record, and then spoke briefly, but in the voice of fate itself:
+
+"The accused midshipmen will go to their rooms. They will, until further
+orders, remain in their quarters, except for recitations and meal
+formation. They will forego all privileges until the superintendent or
+higher authority has acted finally in this matter. That is all, young
+gentlemen. Go to your rooms, except Midshipmen Flint and Austin, who
+will remain."
+
+As soon as the upper classmen had departed, the commandant took Flint and
+Austin in hand, questioning them keenly and making notes of the more
+important answers.
+
+Back in their own rooms, Midshipman Dan Dalzell was at first overwhelmed
+with horror.
+
+"We're dished, Davy! We walk the plank! The super won't forgive a single
+man who is caught at the royal pastime of hazing! I'm going to write,
+now, for the money to get home with. You know, in the last two affairs,
+the hazers have been dismissed from the Naval Academy."
+
+"Yes," Dave nodded. "It looks black for us. But keep a stiff tipper lip,
+Danny boy."
+
+"It's all my own miserable fault!" uttered Dalzell, clenching his fists,
+while tears tried to get into his eyes. "You've got me to blame for this,
+Davy! It was all my doing. I insisted on dragging you down to that room,
+and now you've got to walk the plank, all because of my foolishness! Oh,
+I'm a hoodoo!"
+
+"Stop that, Danny!" warned Dave, resting a hand on his chum's arm. "I
+didn't have to go, and you couldn't have made me do it. I wouldn't have
+gone if I hadn't wanted to. I'm not going to let even you rest the blame
+for my conduct on your shoulders."
+
+Finally the chums went to study table.
+
+"What's the use!" demanded Dan, closing a book after he had opened it.
+"We don't need to study. We've got to walk the plank, at any rate, and
+all the study we do here for the next day or two is so much time wasted!"
+
+"We may walk the plank," retorted Dave. "In fact, I feel rather certain
+that we shall. But it hasn't happened yet Danny boy, open that book
+again, and open it at the right page. Study until recall, and work
+harder than you ever did before. You know all about that old-time Navy
+man who said, 'Don't give up the ship!'"
+
+They studied, or manfully pretended to, until release sounded. How
+much they learned from their books that night may have been a
+different matter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+
+By the next day it was generally conceded among the midshipmen that the
+ranks of the brigade were about to be thinned as a result of the last
+hazing episode. Nor did the third class generally uphold Eaton and his
+youngster associates in the affair of the night before.
+
+"They were out for trouble, and they got it," declared one third
+classman. "The rest of us let up on all hazing before Christmas."
+
+In some underground way Farley and Page heard the straight story
+concerning Dave and Dan; how the two upper classmen had gone to the room
+and Darrin had entered a mild protest against the hazing.
+
+Though it was against regulations to visit them confined to their
+quarters, Farley took the chance and got a few words with Dave.
+
+"Darry, don't let anyone trim you for what you didn't do," begged
+Midshipman Farley. "Go straight to the com.; tell him that you and Dan
+had just entered the room to see what was going on, and that you had just
+made a protest against the hazing."
+
+"Nothing doing there, Farl," Dave gently assured his friend. "We were
+present and we really had no business to be. We wouldn't make ourselves
+look any more manly by crying when the medicine is held out to us."
+
+"But you did protest," urged Farley anxiously. "Stand up for your own
+rights, Darry. Remember, I'm not counseling you to lie, or to make any
+stretched claims. That would be unworthy of you. But tell the full truth
+in your own defense."
+
+"Dan and I will truthfully answer all questions put to us by competent
+officers," Dave replied gravely. "Farl, that is about all we can do and
+keep our self-respect. For, you understand, we were there, and we knew
+just about what we were going to look in on before we crossed the
+threshold of that room."
+
+"But we can't lose you from the brigade, Darry," pleaded Farley hoarsely.
+"Nor can the people of this country spare you from the Navy of the
+future. Stick up for all your rights. That's all your friends ask of you.
+Remember, man, you're nearly three fourths of the way through to
+graduation! Don't let your fine chances be sacrificed."
+
+Dave, however, still maintained that he was not going to play baby. In
+dismay some forty members of the second class held an unofficial outdoor
+meeting at which ways and means were suggested. In the end Joyce, Farley
+and Page were appointed a committee of three to think the matter over
+solemnly, and then to go to the commandant of midshipmen with whatever
+statement they felt justified in making.
+
+At the earliest possible moment the three waited outside the door of the
+commandant's office, after having sent in their cards and a message as to
+why they desired to see the commandant.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," began the commandant briskly, "I understand that
+you want to see me in reference to the last hazing outrage. What have
+you to say?"
+
+"We come in behalf of two members of our own class, sir," spoke up
+Farley.
+
+"Hm! What do you expect to be able to say for Midshipmen Darrin and
+Dalzell? They do not attempt to deny the fact that they were present at
+the hazing, and that they were at least looking on when Lieutenant
+Preston entered the room."
+
+"May I inquire, sir," replied Farley very respectfully, "whether either
+Mr. Darrin or Mr. Dalzell have stated that Mr. Darrin had just entered a
+protest against the hazing, and that they had made the protest just
+before Lieutenant Preston went into the room?"
+
+"No; such a statement has not been made by either Mr. Darrin or
+Mr. Dalzell," admitted the commandant. "Are you sure that Mr.
+Darrin did protest?"
+
+"I can only say, sir," replied Farley, "that I have been so informed. I
+also know, from Mr. Darrin's own lips, that he has refused to inform you
+that he made such a protest."
+
+"Why?" shot out the commandant, eyeing Mr. Farley keenly.
+
+"Because, sir, Mr. Darrin feels that he would be doing the baby act to
+enter such a defense."
+
+"And so has commissioned you to appear for him?"
+
+"No, sir," returned Farley almost hotly. "In fact, sir, I believe Mr.
+Darrin would be very angry if he knew what I am doing and saying at this
+moment. This committee, sir, was appointed by some forty members of the
+second class, sir, who are familiar with the facts. We have been sent to
+you, sir, by our classmates, who are frantic at the thought of losing the
+finest fellow in the class."
+
+"I thank you, gentlemen," said the commandant, in a tone which signified
+the polite dismissal of the committee. "I will keep in mind what you
+have told me."
+
+The investigation was being carried on daily. All of the third class
+offenders were put on carpet more than once. At the next session with
+the youngsters the commandant questioned them as to the truth of the
+statement that Darrin had tried to protest against the hazing.
+
+"Why, yes, sir," Eaton admitted, "Mr. Darrin did say something against
+what we were doing."
+
+"As an upper classman, did Mr. Darrin order you to stop?"
+
+"No, sir," Eaton admitted; "he didn't command us to stop."
+
+"What did Mr. Darrin say?"
+
+"I can't state with accuracy, now, sir, just what Mr. Darrin did
+say to us."
+
+"Did he disapprove of your acts?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I am very certain that he made every third classman present
+feel uncomfortable."
+
+"Then whatever Mr. Darrin's words were, they had the effect, if not the
+exact form, of a rebuke against your conduct?" pressed the commandant.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Midshipman Eaton with great positiveness.
+
+Eaton's companions in the hazing all bore him out in the statement. The
+commandant of midshipmen then took up the matter of their testimony with
+the superintendent of the Naval Academy.
+
+After six days of confinement to quarters, Darrin and Dalzell were
+ordered to report before the commandant. With that officer they found the
+superintendent also. It was the latter officer who spoke.
+
+"Mr. Darrin and Mr. Dalzell, on the testimony of others, not of
+yourselves, we have learned that Mr. Darrin had just entered a rebuke
+against the hazing before Lieutenant Preston entered the room in which
+the hazing was taking place. We have this on such general assurance that
+both the commandant and myself feel warranted in restoring you to full
+duty and privileges. At the same time, Mr. Darrin, I desire to thank you
+for your manliness and attention to duty in entering a protest against
+the hazing."
+
+"I thank you very much, sir," Dave Darrin answered. "However, much as I
+long to remain in the Navy, I do not want to hide behind a
+misunderstanding. While I spoke against the hazing, candor compels me to
+admit that I did not protest so vigorously but that more hazing went on
+immediately."
+
+"That I can quite understand," nodded the superintendent. "I am aware of
+the disinclination of the members of one upper class to interfere with
+the members of another upper class. The fact that you made a protest at
+all is what has convinced me that yourself and Mr. Dalzell were in the
+room at the time with a worthy instead of an unworthy motive. Worthy
+motives are not punished at the Naval Academy, Mr. Darrin. For that
+reason yourself and Mr. Dalzell are restored to full duty and privileges.
+That is all, gentlemen."
+
+Thus dismissed, Dave and Dan could not, without impertinence, remain
+longer in the room.
+
+There was wild joy in the second class when it was found that the class
+leaders, Darrin and Dalzell, had escaped from the worst scrape they had
+been in at Annapolis.
+
+Eaton, Hough and Paulson, of the third class, proved to have been the
+ringleaders in the hazing. They were summarily dismissed from the Naval
+Academy, while the other six youngsters implicated in the affair all came
+in for severe punishments that fell short of dismissal.
+
+After that matters went on smoothly enough for the balance of the term.
+Dave, Dan, Joyce, Farley, Page, Jetson and all their closest intimates in
+the class succeeded in passing their annual examinations. Jetson, in
+addition, had made good in his new role of amiable fellow.
+
+As these young men, now new first classmen, stood on the deck of a
+battleship, watching the Naval Academy fade astern, at the beginning of
+the summer cruise, Dave Darrin turned to his friends, remarking
+wistfully:
+
+"Fellows, if we get through one more year of it without falling down, we
+shall then be putting to sea once more, and then as graduated midshipmen,
+afloat in our effort to win our ensign's commissions!"
+
+How did they come out?
+
+The answer must be deferred to the next and last volume of this series,
+which is published under the title, "DAVE DARRIN'S FOURTH YEAR AT
+ANNAPOLIS; Or, Headed for Graduation and the Big Cruise."
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dave Darrin's Third Year at Annapolis
+by H. Irving Hancock
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10319 ***
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+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #10319 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10319)
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dave Darrin's Third Year at Annapolis
+by H. Irving Hancock
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Dave Darrin's Third Year at Annapolis
+       Leaders of the Second Class Midshipmen
+
+Author: H. Irving Hancock
+
+Release Date: November 27, 2003 [EBook #10319]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAVE DARRIN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+                 DAVE DARRIN'S THIRD YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS
+
+                                   or
+
+                 Leaders of the Second Class Midshipmen
+
+
+                          By H. IRVING HANCOCK
+
+                                  1911
+
+
+
+
+Illustrated
+
+[Illustration: "There She Goes!"]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+      I. WHY THE MIDSHIPMEN BALKED.
+
+     II. PROVING THEIR TRAINING.
+
+    III. THE TROUBLE-MAKING FOP.
+
+     IV. IN THE VIEW OF THE NAVY DEPARTMENT.
+
+      V. NAVY FOOTBALL IN THE AIR.
+
+     VI. THE HATE OF A RIVAL.
+
+    VII. "DID JETSON DO IT?".
+
+   VIII. DAN TRIES HARD TO KEEP COOL.
+
+     IX. A NARROW SQUEAK WITH THE O. C.
+
+      X. THE GRIDIRON START.
+
+     XI. THE BAND COULDN'T MAKE ITSELF HEARD.
+
+    XII. JOYCE IS BITTEN WITH THE TROUBLE BUG.
+
+   XIII. HEPSON IS "SOME WILD".
+
+    XIV. TWO SIDES OF A STORY.
+
+     XV. THE NAVY GOAT WEEPS.
+
+    XVI. THE MAN WITH A SCOWL ON TAP.
+
+   XVII. AN AFFAIR OF SULKS.
+
+  XVIII. THE CLASS MEETING SITS AS JURY.
+
+    XIX. DAVE STANDS ON PRINCIPLE.
+
+     XX. "DON'T BE A FOOL, DARRY!"
+
+    XXI. MIDSHIPMAN JETSON HAS THE FLOOR.
+
+   XXII. THE BIRTH OF A GENTLEMAN.
+
+  XXIII. "RAGGED" AND NO MISTAKE.
+
+   XXIV. CONCLUSION.
+
+
+
+
+Dave Darrin's Third Year at Annapolis
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+WHY THE MIDSHIPMEN BALKED
+
+
+"So Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton have been here?" demanded Midshipman
+Dave Darrin.
+
+That handsome young member of the brigade of midshipmen at the United
+States Naval Academy at Annapolis was now in mufti, or cits,--meaning, in
+other words, that he was out of his Naval uniform and attired in the
+conventional clothing of a young American when calling on his sweetheart.
+
+It will make the situation even clearer to the reader to explain that
+Dave was back in the home town, on his September leave, after just having
+completed his second summer practice cruise with the three upper classes
+from Annapolis.
+
+Dave was now a fine looking and "husky" second classman. He was just a
+shade more than half way through his course of instruction at Annapolis.
+
+Being back in the home town, where would Midshipman Darrin be more
+naturally found than in the parlor at the home of his sweetheart, Miss
+Belle Meade?
+
+The first greetings had been exchanged fifteen minutes before.
+
+Since that time the young people, being sweethearts as they were, had
+naturally talked about themselves.
+
+And Dave, who, in the Naval service, was fast learning to become a good
+listener, had been content to have Belle do most of the talking, while he
+sat back watching the motions of her pretty lips and catching glimpses of
+two rows of pearly teeth.
+
+But now Belle had just mentioned two of Dave's former High School chums.
+
+"So Tom and Harry were really here?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes; they came up from Arizona on leave."
+
+"I wonder why they couldn't have remained here longer?" mused Dave.
+
+"They both told me that they were very young in their profession as civil
+engineers, and that they had to spend nearly all of their time 'on the
+job,' as Tom phrased it," replied Belle.
+
+"How did they look?" asked Dave.
+
+"A shade older, of course, than when they were in the High School."
+
+"Are they much taller?" asked Darrin.
+
+"Somewhat; but they have not shot up in height, the way you and Dan, and
+Dick Prescott and Greg Holmes have done," Belle continued.
+
+"Brown as berries, I suppose, after working down in the alkali
+deserts?" asked Dave, who felt that he could not hear enough of those
+dear old chums.
+
+"Meaning Tom and Harry?" smiled Belle. "Or Dick and Greg?"
+
+"Tom and Harry, that time, of course," laughed Dave. "But I'm waiting to
+hear a whole lot about Dick and Greg as well."
+
+"No; I wouldn't call Tom and Harry exactly as brown as berries,"
+went on Belle, laughing, "for I am not acquainted with many kinds of
+brown berries."
+
+"Coffee berries?" hinted Darrin.
+
+"I would call Tom and Harry fully as bronzed as Indians," Belle ventured.
+
+"Have you ever seen any Indians?" asked Midshipman Darrin, looking at his
+sweetheart rather quizzically.
+
+"Oh, haven't I?" laughed Belle Meade, her eyes sparkling. "We had Indians
+here the early part of this summer. There was a medicine show here, with
+Indians and cowboys, and that sort of thing. One day the Indians and
+cowboys got intoxicated and they went through Main Street like a tornado.
+They were yelling and shooting, and had people all along the street
+running for cover. Even the chief of police, though he wasn't a coward,
+ran into safety.
+
+"In the midst of it all Dick Prescott, Greg Holmes, Tom Reade and Harry
+Hazelton came out of an ice cream parlor. Tom and Harry got a glimpse of
+the very Wild West looking company of yellers and shooters. Tom and Harry
+have seen enough Indians and cowboys to know the real thing--and that
+these were only poor imitations. All of a sudden Tom and Harry and Dick
+and Greg charged into that howling, shooting crowd and knocked them right
+and left. Your four old-time chums simply disarmed the 'bad' ones and
+turned the weapons over to the chief of police."
+
+Belle went on, describing the famous incident, while Dave leaned back,
+laughing heartily.
+
+"How I wish I had been on hand! I'd like to have helped, too," he added.
+
+"Those four youngsters didn't need any help," laughed Belle.
+
+"Which was the most surprised crowd--the 'bad' Western outfit or the
+police department?" chuckled Dave.
+
+Readers of our "WEST POINT SERIES" will find the "Wild West" scene fully
+narrated in "DICK PRESCOTT'S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT."
+
+"Isn't it outrageous," demanded Dave, "that the West Point and the
+Annapolis leave of absence should be so arranged that midshipmen and
+cadets who are old, old friends never get a chance to meet each other on
+furlough!"
+
+"I don't suppose," replied Belle, "that it often happens that one little
+city often has the honor of furnishing, at the same time, two midshipmen
+for Annapolis and two cadets for West Point."
+
+"Very likely not," nodded Dave. "But it seems too bad, just the same.
+What wouldn't I give to see Tom or Harry? Or Greg or Dick? And now that
+I'm here Dick Prescott and Greg Holmes are but just barely gone."
+
+"Yes; they have been but four days gone," assented Belle. "It does seem
+too bad that you and your West Point chums couldn't have been one day
+together."
+
+"I haven't seen a blessed one of the good old four since I left for
+Annapolis, more than two years ago," muttered Dave complainingly. "What
+wouldn't I give--just to see what they look like in these days?"
+
+"Well, what would you give?" demanded Belle, rising and hesitating.
+
+"They've given you their photos, then!" asked Dave Darrin guessing.
+"Please be quick--let me see the photos."
+
+Belle glided from the room, to return with a large card.
+
+"They were taken altogether," she explained, handing the card over to
+Darrin. "There they are--all in one group."
+
+Dave seized the card, studying eagerly the print mounted thereon.
+
+"Whew! What a change two years make in a High School boy, doesn't it?"
+demanded Darrin.
+
+"Of course," answered Belle Meade. "Do you imagine that you and Dan
+Dalzell haven't changed any, either?"
+
+Readers of our "HIGH SCHOOL SERIES" will well remember Dick Prescott,
+Greg Holmes, Tom Reade, Harry Hazelton, Dave Darrin and Dan Dalzell, a
+famous sextette of young High School athletes, who, in their High School
+days, were known as Dick & Co.
+
+Readers of the four volumes of that series will recall that Dick Prescott
+received the congressman's nomination to West Point, and that Greg Holmes
+was appointed a cadet at the same big government Army school by one of
+the state's senators. Dave Darrin and Dan Dalzell, a little later,
+secured nominations to Annapolis from the same gentlemen; and Tom Reade
+and Harry Hazelton, who had thrown their lot with civil engineering, had
+gone West to engage with an engineering firm of railroad builders.
+
+From that passing of the old High School days the experiences and
+adventures of Dick Prescott and Greg Holmes are told in the volumes of
+"THE WEST POINT SERIES."
+
+Those of Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton are set forth fully in "THE YOUNG
+ENGINEERS' SERIES."
+
+As for Dave Darrin and Dan, their life, since leaving the High School,
+and casting their lot with the Navy, has been fully told in the two
+preceding volumes of the present series, "DAVE DARRIN'S FIRST YEAR AT
+AKNAPOLIS" and "DAVE DARRIN'S SECOND YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS."
+
+"Well, I'll meet Dick and Greg this coming Thanksgiving, at any rate,"
+predicted Midshipman Darrin. "You know what happens the Saturday after
+Thanksgiving on Franklin Field, don't you, Belle?"
+
+"You young men of Annapolis and West Point play football, don't you!"
+asked Belle.
+
+"Do we?" demanded Dave, his eyes aglow with enthusiasm. "Don't we,
+though. And, mark me, Belle, the Navy is going to carry away the Army's
+scalp this year."
+
+"Are you going to join the team?" asked Belle.
+
+"I can't say, until I get back. But I've been training. I hope to be
+called to the team. So does Dan."
+
+"I hope you and Dan both make the eleven," cried Belle, "so that you can
+get away to see the game."
+
+"Why, we can see the game better," retorted Dave, "if we don't make
+the team."
+
+"Why, are midshipmen who don't belong to the eleven allowed to see the
+game?" asked Belle in some surprise.
+
+"Are we?" demanded Dave. "Belle, don't you know what the Army-Navy game
+on the Saturday after Thanksgiving Day is like? The entire brigade of
+midshipmen and the whole corps of cadets travel over to Philadelphia.
+There, on Franklin Field, before an average of thirty thousand yelling
+spectators, the great annual game of the two great national academies is
+fought out."
+
+"You haven't gone to see the annual game at Philadelphia before this,
+have you?" asked Miss Meade.
+
+"No."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because, Belle, both years, at Thanksgiving time, Danny boy and I have
+found ourselves so far behind in our studies that we just took the time
+to stay behind and bone, bone, bone over our books."
+
+"And you think this year will be different?"
+
+"Oh, yes; when a man is half way through Annapolis the studies become
+easier to him. You see, in two years of the awful grind a fellow, if he
+lasts that long, has learned how to study in the right way. I'm going to
+get two tickets, Belle, so that you and your mother can go to see the
+game. And of course good old Dick can do as much for Laura Bentley and
+her mother. You'll come, of course, to root your hardest for the Navy,
+just as Laura will go and root for the Army. By the way, have you heard
+whether Dick and Greg expect to play on the Army eleven?"
+
+"When they were here this summer they said they hoped to play
+football with the Army. That's all I know, Dave, about the plans of
+Dick and Greg."
+
+"I hope they do play," cried Midshipman Darrin cheerily. "Even with two
+such old gridiron war horses as Dick and Greg against us, I believe that
+the Navy team, this year, has some fellows who can take the Army scalp
+with neatness and despatch."
+
+Dave rambled on, for some time now, with of the athletic doings at the
+Naval Academy. It was not that he was so much interested in the
+subject--at that particular moment--but it was certainly fine to have
+Belle Meade for an interested listener.
+
+"Well, you're half way through your course," put in Belle at last. "You
+passed your last annual examinations in June."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"How did you stand in your exams?"
+
+"I came through with honors," Dave declared unblushingly.
+
+"Honors?" repeated Belle delightedly. "Oh, Dave, I didn't know you were
+one of the honor men of your class."
+
+"Yes," laughed Midshipman Dave, though there was a decidedly serious look
+in his fine face. "Belle, I consider that any fellow who gets by the
+examiners has passed with honors. So we're all honor men that are now
+left in the class. Several of the poor fellows had to write home last
+June asking their parents for the price of a ticket homeward."
+
+"But, now that you've got half way through, you're pretty sure to go the
+rest of the way safely," Belle insisted.
+
+"That's almost too much of a brag to make, Belle. The truth is, no fellow
+is safe until he has been commissioned as an ensign, and that's at least
+two years after he has graduated from the Naval Academy. Why even after
+examination, you know, a fellow has to go to sea for two years, as a
+midshipman, and then take another and final examination at sea. A whole
+lot of fellows who managed to get through the Academy find themselves
+going to pieces on that examination at sea."
+
+"And then--" went on Belle.
+
+"Why, if a fellow can't pass his exams, he's dropped from the service."
+
+"After he has already graduated from Academy? That isn't fair," cried
+Belle Meade.
+
+"No, it isn't quite fair," assented Midshipman Dave, with a shrug of his
+shoulders. "Yet what is one going to do about it? It's all in the
+game--to take or leave."
+
+"Who ever made the Naval Academy and the service so hard as that?" the
+girl wanted to know.
+
+"Congress, I guess," laughed Dave, "but acting, very likely, on the
+advice of a lot of old admirals who are through themselves, and who
+expect the youngsters to know as much as the very admirals. Why, Belle,
+when I was a few years younger, and first began to dream about going to
+the Naval Academy I had a mental picture of a very jolly life, in which
+we sailed the seas and absorbed our knowledge. I had an idea that the
+midshipman's life was made up mainly of jolly larks ashore and afloat,
+with plenty of athletics to keep us from ever feeling dull. Of course, I
+knew we had to do some studying, but I didn't imagine the studies would
+be hard for a chap who had already gone through a good High School."
+
+"Your High School studies did help, didn't they?" demanded Belle.
+
+"They helped somewhat in the exams, to enter Annapolis, but they've never
+helped me with any of the studies that I've had to tackle as a
+midshipman."
+
+"Oh, well, you'll get through," the girl predicted with cheery
+confidence.
+
+"I shall, if it's really in me," Dave promised. "But I'm not going to do
+any bragging, Belle, until I'm safely through and have been out of the
+woods for a long time."
+
+"And you won't do any bragging then, either. It isn't in your line.
+What's Dan Dalzell going to do while he's home on leave?"
+
+"Sleep, he says."
+
+"The lazy boy!"
+
+"No, he's a tired boy, Belle. I think the past year has been even just a
+little harder on him than it has on me. However, of course Dan won't
+really sleep. He'll be out by this afternoon. Just now I imagine that
+he's talking like wildfire with his mother."
+
+It was a wrong guess, however. Just then the telephone sounded in the
+next room, and Belle went to answer it.
+
+"It's your shipmate, Dan," she called laughingly. "He wants to talk with
+you, Dave."
+
+"I wonder how the fellow ever guessed that I was here," smiled Darrin, as
+he hastily joined Belle at the 'phone.
+
+"Hello," hailed Dalzell at the other end of the wire. "Going to do
+anything in particular this afternoon, David, little giant?"
+
+"Yes; I hope to make myself more or less agreeable to Miss Meade."
+
+"A small crowd won't be any bar to that, eh?" Dan wanted to know.
+
+"Not if the crowd and the occasion are agreeable to Miss Meade."
+
+"Well, you know Foss and Canty?"
+
+"Two of our old High School boys? Yes."
+
+"Foss has a new gasoline launch; he says it's a beauty, and he wants us
+to invite Miss Meade and Miss Bentley, to join them and a couple of the
+former High School girls for a couple of hours' cruise on the river.
+What say you?"
+
+"What does Belle say, you mean. Wait a moment, and I'll ask her."
+
+Darrin explained the invitation.
+
+"Why, if it will be pleasant for you, Dave, I shall be delighted to go,"
+Belle answered.
+
+"It's all right," Dave called back over the 'phone. "What's the hour for
+the start!"
+
+"Two o'clock," Dan answered.
+
+"All right, then; will you ask Laura Bentley, or shall we, from here?"
+
+"I've already asked Laura," Dalzell replied. "She accepted on condition
+that Belie did. Now I'll ring up Laura and tell her that it's all
+arranged."
+
+"It'll be a pleasant trip for you, won't it!" inquired Belle,
+half-anxiously. "Or do you get too much of boats in your working year?"
+
+"I shall be glad to be anywhere that you are," Dave replied
+gallantly. "The form of entertainment doesn't matter to me as long as
+it appeals to you."
+
+At two o'clock the young people met at the float of the Boat Club house
+on the river's bank.
+
+On the way across town Dave had been noting the direction and force of
+the wind. He didn't altogether like it, but didn't say anything. At the
+float he found Tom Foss, Ab Canty, Ella Wright and Susie Danes awaiting
+the midshipmen and their fair companions.
+
+"All ready and waiting for you amateur sailors," called Foss laughingly.
+"And here's the boat. Say, isn't she really a beauty?"
+
+"Good lines," nodded Dave Darrin. "And she looks speedy. But you've
+changed your mind about going out this afternoon, haven't you, Foss?"
+
+"Why?" demanded the young fellow, in very evident astonishment.
+
+"Look at the water," responded Dave, pointing to the white-caps, which
+were running rather high for an inland stream.
+
+"Pooh! You're not afraid of a little foam on top of the water, are you?"
+demanded Foss.
+
+"The waves are running pretty high for the inches of freeboard that your
+boat has," remarked Darrin quietly. "And look at the sky to windward.
+There's a bit more blow coming out of those clouds yet."
+
+"Say, what do they teach you at Annapolis?" grinned Foss. "To go sailing
+only in calm weather?"
+
+"Since you ask," Dave replied as quietly as before, though a slight flush
+mounted to his face, "one of the things they teach us at the Naval
+Academy is consideration for women. Now, if just we four fellows were
+going out, I wouldn't say a word."
+
+"Don't think we girls are afraid," broke in Belle with spirit.
+
+"I'm well aware that you're not afraid," Darrin replied turning and
+looking at her. "But I'm afraid, Belle of what I might think of myself
+afterwards, if I were a party to taking you out in this boat when the
+river is running so much to whitecaps."
+
+"Do you think the boat is one of the kind that will turn turtle and sink
+the crowd?" demanded Tom Foss, flushing in turn. "I tell you, Darrin, the
+craft is as tight and sound, and as manageable, as any boat of her length
+to be found anywhere on fresh water."
+
+"She is a fine boat," Dave assented; "but I don't feel like being
+responsible for what may happen to the young lady who is more especially
+under my escort and care. There's too big a chance of danger this
+afternoon, Foss."
+
+"Pooh, Mr. Sailor!" laughed Ella Wright. "I'll show you that some
+folks who don't know what Annapolis looks like are not frightened by
+toy waves."
+
+Miss Ella thereupon stepped into the launch and seated herself. Miss
+Susie followed.
+
+"Aren't you people going?" asked Ab Canty.
+
+"I'm not going if Dave considers it so unwise that he'd be worried about
+our safety," Belle answered promptly.
+
+"Going, Laura?" called Foss.
+
+"No, though I thank you," Miss Bentley replied. "If Mr. Darrin objects
+on the score of safety I'm not going to torment him by disregarding
+his opinion."
+
+"I'm of about the same opinion as Darrin, if anyone cares to know,"
+broke in Dan Dalzell.
+
+Tom Foss looked at the other half of his party quizzically, then
+called to Canty.
+
+"Cast off, Ab. Ha, ha! I never thought to see United States sailors and
+embryo Naval officers so much afraid of a little tossing water."
+
+Chug-chug! Ella and Susie were laughing a bit teasingly as the motor
+started and the little craft darted away from the float and took to the
+waves beyond.
+
+Dave did not answer. Instead, he gripped Dan's nearer wrist, muttering:
+
+"Don't you say it, Danny!"
+
+"Say what?"
+
+"Whatever hot words were coming to your lips. As long as we feel that
+we're right in not risking Belle and Laura, never mind what the others
+think and say."
+
+"This breeze is so fine," suggested Laura, "what do you say if we seat
+ourselves here and watch the river for a while?"
+
+Accordingly the four young people seated themselves. The launch was the
+only craft in sight that was away from her moorings. A sailboat and three
+canoes lay tied to the lee side of the float, that is the off-side from
+the weather. Even they rocked a good deal.
+
+"What kind of weather is coming?" asked Belle.
+
+"It's going to be pretty squally, in all probability," spoke up
+Midshipman Dan. "Do you see the big puffs of wind in the clouds yonder?"
+
+"It must take a sailor to see that sort of thing," remarked Belle. "What
+I see in the cloud looks like big, fluffy masses of cotton, streaked with
+something darker."
+
+"That's the wind," nodded Dave Darrin. "Now, girls, I don't want you to
+think me a muff. That wind may swerve, and not come this way, although in
+all probability the wind will get this way and the water will be rougher.
+If it does get rougher on the river, and if we had taken you two out, and
+the boat had capsized, then by some chance we might not have been able to
+get you to shore. What would your folks then say to us if we had had the
+miserable luck to survive you?"
+
+"You did just right," Laura declared promptly. "To tell the truth, I
+didn't want to disappoint either of you boys this afternoon, but I didn't
+believe the wind was quiet enough for boating on the river. But mother
+reminded me that I was going with two young men who had been trained as
+sailors, and that I ought to be as safe as I would in the home parlor."
+
+"Well, aren't you?" smiled Belle Meade.
+
+"Did you really want to go out on the river, Belle?" Dave asked.
+
+"Not when you don't believe it to be safe."
+
+"I suppose Foss will be joking around town about our being afraid of the
+water," muttered; Dan.
+
+"What do you care!" asked Dave quietly. "You're responsible to the
+United States Government--not to a few private citizens on the streets
+of Gridley."
+
+"You'll take us out on the water before your leave is over, won't you?"
+urged Belle.
+
+"A dozen of times, if you care to go," Dave; replied quickly.
+
+"In a sailboat?" quizzed Belle. "It must; be great fun to sail, and I've
+never been in a sailboat."
+
+"I'd rather take you out in a good, solid rowboat," Dave answered slowly.
+
+"Why, haven't you had much sailboat practice at Annapolis yet?"
+
+"We've had some," Darrin nodded. "But I'm afraid I don't believe much in
+small sailboats for girls' parties."
+
+"Oh, very well."
+
+"Now, Belle, you will begin to believe that I'm a muff at heart," Darrin
+remonstrated.
+
+"I won't anyway, Dave," Laura broke in. "I can see that you're merely
+determined that we shall take no risks when we go out with you. I shall
+feel very safe in whatever you propose for water sports."
+
+"It's a good deal better to be safe, than sorry, when you have girls
+under your care," Dan Dalzell added.
+
+The motor boat, a fast though a low-hulled craft, had been long out of
+sight up the river. Presently there came a new turn to the wind. Dan wet
+a forefinger and held it up to the breeze.
+
+"I hope Foss has sense enough to run in somewhere and tie up until the
+coming squall blows over," Dalzell remarked.
+
+"Are we going to have a storm?" Belle asked quickly.
+
+"Not rain, if that's what you mean," Darrin replied. "But I believe the
+river is going to be pretty rough before long."
+
+Ere two minutes more had passed Dave suddenly rose and
+straightened himself.
+
+"Look downstream, girls," he cried. "Do you see the big rollers coming?"
+
+In truth the surface of the river was now beginning to behave in an
+unusual way. Where, heretofore, the water had been choppy and
+whitecapped, the water now broke in longer, foam-crested waves. Owing to
+the course of the wind the waves were rolling upstream. Within five
+minutes from the time when Dave first called attention to the rougher
+water the waves had considerably increased in size.
+
+"Oh, I'm glad I'm not out on the water," shivered Laura.
+
+"So am I," Belle admitted candidly.
+
+"Do you believe Tom Foss can bring his boat down against such waves!"
+Laura inquired.
+
+"Oh, no doubt, he has had sense enough to run in somewhere and tie up,"
+predicted Midshipman Dan charitably.
+
+"I hope so," murmured Belle. "But Tom is an awfully stubborn fellow."
+
+Toot! too-oo-oot! sounded a whistle up the river.
+
+"By ginger, there comes Foss's boat now!" muttered Dan, standing up and
+staring. "Why doesn't the idiot make land?"
+
+"He's got his craft away on the other side of the river, looking for
+quieter water," muttered Dave uneasily.
+
+"Well, isn't that right?" asked Belle.
+
+"Right, yes, unless he makes the mistake of trying to cross the
+stream," nodded Darrin. "Then he'll run his craft into the trough of
+the sea, and--"
+
+"Well, what?" demanded Belle as Dave paused.
+
+"Then, when he's in the trough, a big wave may roll his small boat
+over," Dan finished for his comrade.
+
+"Do you really think there's danger of that?" demanded Laura,
+looking anxious.
+
+"I don't know," murmured Dave. "But I wish I had some way of signaling
+Foss, some way so that he could understand the signals."
+
+"What good would it do?" demanded Midshipman Dalzell, grimly. "Tom would
+only laugh and say it was more old maidishness on the part of Navy men."
+
+"There--confound the idiot!" suddenly blazed Dave Darrin. "He is
+crossing. Look at that boat wallow in the trough. Jupiter! There she goes
+over--nearly!"
+
+All four young people on the float held their breath for an instant. The
+motor launch, after almost having turned turtle, righted itself.
+
+"I wish I were at the wheel of the boat for about three minutes,"
+muttered Darrin hoarsely.
+
+At that moment Laura and Belle both screamed, while Dan Dalzell shouted:
+
+"There she goes--for sure, this time!"
+
+A bigger wave than usual had half filled the launch and caused it to
+careen. Before the little craft could right itself a second and a third
+wave, rolling along, had completed the work. The launch had sunk!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+PROVING THEIR TRAINING
+
+
+In the same instant, without a word to each other, Dave Darrin and
+Dalzell had done the same thing. That is, they started to run and at the
+same time doffed coats and vests, leaving these garments to flutter
+behind them.
+
+As they reached the sailboat both midshipmen cast off their shoes. Dave
+leaped into the boat while Dalzell threw off the bowline, then boarded.
+
+Like a flash both youngsters went at the lashings of the mainsail.
+
+"There isn't a reef in," Dan discovered. "Going to take time for a close
+reef, Dave?"
+
+"There isn't time," Darrin muttered, with drops of cold perspiration on
+his forehead as he toiled. "We'll have to go out under a full sail, Dan."
+
+"Great Scott!" muttered Dalzell.
+
+"We may be too late to save any one as it is. There! Jump to the halyard.
+I've got the sheet."
+
+Dan Dalzell began to hoist with a will. In an incredibly short time he
+had the sail hoisted all the way up, while Darrin, stern and whitefaced,
+crouched and braced himself by the tiller, gripping the sheet with his
+left hand.
+
+In a twinkling Darrin had the wind in his canvas. They had nearly a fair
+wind as they bounded away from the float.
+
+During these few instants of preparation neither Belle nor Laura had
+spoken. Both girls realized the gravity of the situation, and they knew
+that a word from them might distract the rescuers from the work in hand.
+
+Knowing that he had the high, fast wind with him, Dave steered straight
+for the last spot where he had seen the motor launch. Though the boat was
+no longer visible, and the distance too great for seeing the heads of the
+swimmers, if there were any, Darrin had taken his bearings by trees on
+the further shore upstream.
+
+At first, to keep the sailboat from capsizing, the young skipper at
+the helm let the sheet well out. Then, when Dan hurriedly rejoined
+him, Darrin passed the sheet over to his comrade as to one who would
+know exactly what to do with it. Dan perched himself on the weather
+gunwale, his weight there serving as ballast to keep the craft from
+capsizing. Yet, even so, everything had to be done with the utmost
+skill, for, with the mainsail up, the least fluke in handling the boat
+would send her over.
+
+"We've got to go fast and take all the chances," muttered Dave.
+
+"Sure," nodded Midshipman Dan understandingly. "It would be no great
+scare to us if we did heel over into the drink. It might mean a different
+story, though, for those who are already sopping up the wet."
+
+"Aren't they splendid fellows?" cried Laura.
+
+"Yes," answered Belle, her eyes snapping and her face glowing. "Though I
+won't claim that they're any finer than your own West Point boys."
+
+That brought an added flush to the color in Laura Bentley's face, and her
+eyes sparkled her gratitude, for Dick Prescott, now at West Point with
+his chum, Greg Holmes, had been her High School sweetheart, and doubtless
+was to become her Army sweetheart after he had made sure of his career.
+
+"Dave and Dan are experts," glowed Miss Bentley. "They'll know just
+what to do."
+
+"They're better than mere experts," returned Belle Meade. "They're strong
+and manly to the core, and with them there's no such word as fear when
+there's a duty to be done."
+
+Both Dave and Dan were peering fixedly ahead all the time that they drove
+the sailboat toward the scene of the late disaster.
+
+"I think I see a head," cried Darrin.
+
+"Boy or girl!" demanded Midshipman Dalzell.
+
+"Can't tell at this distance. And now the next wave has blotted out what
+I thought I saw."
+
+"We've got to be patient," uttered Dan.
+
+The position of the midshipmen was far from being free of danger. With
+all their coolness and their undoubted skill in boat handling, there was
+grave danger, with the mainsail set, that, at any instant, wind and wave
+would capsize the boat.
+
+Indeed, Dave was running the lee gunwale under water half the
+time, trusting to the human ballast supplied by his comrade to
+keep them afloat.
+
+"See anything now?" demanded Dave.
+
+"No," uttered Dan, "though I'm working my eyes three shifts to try to
+make out something. I'll have to go to an oculist as soon as I get
+through with this. This eyestrain is awful."
+
+Midshipman Dan Dalzell was really unconscious of the fact that
+he was joking. It was second nature with him; he would have
+jested--unconsciously--with death in its most awful form.
+
+"There, I see a head--two of them!" cried Midshipman Dave suddenly, as he
+half rose and pointed.
+
+"Hurrah!"--from Dan.
+
+Dan let the boat's head fall off a point in order that he might see
+better around the mast on the weather side, just where he must head his
+craft in the last dash in.
+
+"It's Foss and Ella Wright," called Dan, as the flying sailboat got in
+closer over the foam-crested waves. "No, it isn't; Foss has Susie."
+
+"Can you make out Canty and Ella?" demanded Darrin hoarsely.
+
+"Not a sign, Dave. Maybe he's gone under trying to save Ella."
+
+"Canty was one of our Gridley High School boys, so I'd expect him to have
+both the nerve and the grace to go down with a girl, if he couldn't save
+her as well as himself," muttered Darrin.
+
+"There's Canty, just come up!"
+
+"Can you make out Ella's head?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Look hard."
+
+"I don't see her, and--there!"
+
+"What's up?"
+
+"Nothing," returned Dalzell soberly. "Canty's down--just gone down
+again."
+
+"I hope he's gone down trying to find and rescue Ella," murmured Dave.
+
+They were now so close that the young midshipmen would have been able to
+hear the shouts of the imperiled ones had it not been that the wind blew
+the sounds of voices away from the would-be rescuers.
+
+"Better ease off the sheet a bit, I guess, Davy," called Dan, as he
+suited the action to the word. "We don't went to run 'em down."
+
+"No."
+
+As he spoke, Dave Darrin brought the boat slightly around. They were now
+close enough to see that Tom Foss was supporting dead weight in the
+person of Susie, who was unconscious.
+
+"Waiting the word from you on the sheet, Davy," nodded Dan, as the boat
+drew close to the only pair of survivors now visible.
+
+"Let go the sheet!" called Dave an instant later, and Dan let it run off
+clear, handing the end of the rope to Darrin.
+
+"Can you head Susie this way, Foss?" Dalzell called.
+
+"I'd rather have help," came the faint answer. Tom Foss was evidently
+well spent by his exertions in keeping up the girl so long.
+
+Splash! Dan Dalzell was in the water, without waiting to hear more. The
+athletic young midshipman swam with a steadiness and speed that was
+glorious to see. Many an excellent swimmer, in smooth water, would dread
+buffeting with such waves as were now rolling.
+
+Dave Darrin, meanwhile, held on to the tiller and the paid-out sheet,
+ready to manoeuvre the now pitching, rolling boat at an instant's notice.
+It took all his seamanship to keep the craft afloat, though the sailboat
+was far better modeled for such water than the motor launch had been.
+
+"Give her over to me, and save yourself," commanded Dalzell cheerily, as
+he reached Tom Foss. "Think you can make it, old fellow?"
+
+"If I can't, I ought to drown," retorted Tom Foss, as he struck out, none
+too strongly. "This is all my fault. You fellows gave me better advice
+than I had sense to follow."
+
+Dan, with a skill that he had acquired directly from the excellent
+instruction given him by the swimming master at the Naval Academy, was
+now piloting the unconscious form of Susie Danes toward the sailboat.
+
+Even encumbered as he was, Dan made the boat before Tom Foss could
+accomplish that feat alone. Truth to tell, Foss was very nearly "all in."
+Had rescue been delayed a few moments longer, Foss and his fair companion
+must have sunk.
+
+"Get hold of her, Davy," called Dan, as he ranged up on the weather side
+of the tossing boat.
+
+Darrin promptly leaned over and lifted the unconscious girl into the
+boat. By the time he had done that Tom Foss reached up both hands,
+seizing the boat's stern.
+
+"Going to help me in?" he called.
+
+"I don't know," Dave answered dubiously.
+
+"If we can find Ella Wright there may not be room. With such a sea
+running, this boat won't hold many."
+
+"No matter about me, then," muttered Tom. "If Ella isn't found right away
+I don't believe I care about going back to Gridley."
+
+Dave's response was swiftly to knot a noose and let it down over Tom's
+shoulders. The other end of the line he made fast astern. Dalzell, in the
+meantime, had swum back again. Susie Danes lay as still as death in the
+bottom of the boat.
+
+As Dalzell got back where he had first reached Foss and Susie, he espied
+the head of Ab Canty some distance away.
+
+"Ab!" called Dan.
+
+"Here!"
+
+"What has become of Ella?"
+
+"Oh, I wish I knew!"
+
+"Was she afloat at all!" demanded Dan, swimming nearer.
+
+"Yes; I kept her up for a couple of minutes, maybe. Then she got more
+scared, wound her arms tight around me, and we both sank. We had a
+struggle under water. I freed myself, but when I came to the top I found
+that my hand was clutching nothing but her empty jersey. There it is
+now," chattered Ab, his teeth, knocking against each other, as he pointed
+to the garment in question on the top of a distant wave. Then Ab sank.
+
+For just an instant Dalzell thought Canty had gone below on purpose. Dan
+swam closer, to be of assistance. Then he saw the bubbles of air coming
+up rapidly.
+
+"Cantys given out--he's going to drown!" gasped Midshipman Dan,
+with horror.
+
+Like a flash Dan dived below, found and clutched at Canty. The young man
+returned the grip with interest, but Midshipman Dalzell struggled to the
+surface with him. Ab Canty was exhausted, out of his head and altogether
+past reasoning. Dan hated to do it, but he had to strike the young man in
+the forehead. Canty gave a gasp and ceased to resist.
+
+Dave Darrin, watching, had run the boat up close alongside as soon as the
+struggling pair appeared above the waves.
+
+"You'll have to take him in, Davy," announced Midshipman Dalzell. "Canty
+isn't strong enough to tow behind. And I'm coming aboard for a fresh look
+before I dive for Miss Wright."
+
+"You're going to stay aboard and manage the boat," retorted Darrin
+quietly. "I'm going in next."
+
+"Oh, all right, if you want to," half grumbled Dan. "But I'm just
+beginning to get used to it and to like it."
+
+Dan, however, followed orders and took his seat by tiller and sheet as
+soon as they had towed Canty safely in the boat. Tom Foss, lied and
+holding on at the stern, was beginning to chatter hard, but said he was
+all right.
+
+A brief instant of consultation the two midshipmen held. Then Dave
+Darrin, holding his hands before him, dived hard and deep into the water.
+
+After nearly a minute he came up again, but only to take an observation.
+Then he sank, to explore more of the space under water.
+
+For five minutes Darrin continued this, making four dives in all, and
+sinking twice without diving.
+
+"I can't give this up, and abandon a girl," he muttered. "Dan, I've got
+to take more account of the current, and work gradually downstream."
+
+A little later Dave rose with a whoop the instant that his head showed
+above the water.
+
+"I've got her," Dave announced, though his voice was hoarse and panting.
+
+"Hurrah!" came from Dan, as he saw the girl's head show above the
+surface. Dalzell, hauling on the sheet, ran the boat in close. Dave
+grasped at the rail on the weather quarter, while Dan bent over him,
+hauling hard. And so Ella Wright was dragged unconscious into the boat.
+
+"I'd stay here in the water with you, Tom," explained Dave, "but I've got
+to be in the boat to do my share of handling her."
+
+"Th-th-that's all r-r-r-r-right," chattered poor Foss, "I'm d-d-d-doing
+f-f-f-fine here--c-c-c-couldn't h-help in the b-b-b-boat"
+
+While lying to, it had taken some fine management on the part of the
+midshipmen to keep the sailboat from capsizing. And now, on this rough,
+wave-strewn river, they had to tack back against a nearly head wind.
+
+"Look at the crowd on the clubhouse float," gasped Dan as soon as the
+Naval chums had gotten their craft under way.
+
+"Good thing," muttered Darrin. "We'll need plenty of help."
+
+"I wonder how the crowd got wind of the thing in such short time?"
+
+"You forget," nudged Darrin, "that there's a telephone in the clubhouse.
+Laura and Belle are not given to losing their heads. Undoubtedly they've
+been 'phoning to Gridley."
+
+"Then they can't have overlooked the need of physicians," ventured Dan,
+"especially as Laura is the daughter of one."
+
+As the boat drew nearer to the float the noise of cheers was borne to the
+ears of the midshipmen.
+
+"More of the hero racket," uttered Dan disgustedly.
+
+"I hope this won't get into the newspapers," grunted Darrin in a tone of
+something like real alarm. "Say, the fellows of the brigade wouldn't do
+a thing but make us mount chairs and read all the fulsome gush about
+this rescue."
+
+"And then, after we'd finished a straight reading," groaned Dan, "we'd
+have to sing it next, to the tune of 'Columbia, the Pride of the Ocean.'"
+
+"'Gem of the Ocean,' Dan," Darrin corrected.
+
+Though in the middle of the river the sailboat had many a close shave
+from capsizing in the strong puffs of wind, especially with the load that
+the little craft carried, yet Dan Dalzell, at the tiller, brought the
+boat at last in under the lee side of the float, and there a score of
+pairs of willing hands reached out with offers of help.
+
+Dr. Bentley was in the crowd, as were two other Gridley physicians. There
+were also two trained nurses, and one of the druggists had brought along
+a big emergency box of drugs and supplies. Between them the telephone and
+the automobile can accomplish a lot in these modern times.
+
+Laura and Belle, though they had summoned the aid, now kept tactfully in
+the background.
+
+The two apparently drowned girls were lifted from the boat in haste and
+borne to a room that had been made ready on the second floor of the
+clubhouse. Ab Canty was carried to another room, and Tom Foss, who nearly
+shook to pieces when lifted from the water, was helped after his friend.
+
+"You two young midshipmen will have to come inside and get some of our
+attention," called Dr. Bentley in an authoritative voice.
+
+"I think not, thank you, doctor," replied Dave Darrin. "The most that we
+want is some place where we can strip and rub down, while waiting for dry
+clothing."
+
+"I know just the room, and I'll take you there," urged Len Spencer,
+reporter for the "Morning Blade." Len was an old friend of Dick Prescott,
+who, in his High School days before going to West Point, had worked as an
+amateur space reporter for the "Blade."
+
+Len led the way gladly. While Dan and Dave stripped and rubbed down, Len
+got out of them the whole account of what they had been through.
+Reporter Spencer had already talked with Belle and Laura. A man in an
+auto had already started for the homes of the two midshipmen, to obtain
+changes of clothing for them.
+
+"Now, Len," begged Dave, "don't spread on a lot of taffy. Don't smother
+us under the hero racket."
+
+"But it was an heroic thing," Len argued. "And, besides, it was done with
+great skill, of the kind that you've gained at the Naval Academy. It
+makes a corking, elegant story about two of our brightest Gridley lads."
+
+"But, Len, do you realize that the fellows at the Naval Academy will make
+us read aloud to them this yarn you're proposing to write about us--that
+is, if they happen to hear about it?"
+
+"And then, after we've read the yarn straight, they'll make us sing it
+all to some blamed old tune or another," groaned Dalzell.
+
+"Well, I can't help it," sighed good-natured Len. "It's a story we've got
+to have to-morrow morning. I'd lose my position if I didn't write a good
+story about this afternoon's work. And, now that I've got a wife and baby
+to feed, I can't afford to waste any good time in job-hunting."
+
+"Then I hope none of the other fellows at the Naval Academy hear about
+the 'Blade's' story," gulped Dan, as he wrapped himself in a blanket
+while waiting for his dry clothes.
+
+"Hear about it?" retorted Len. "They'll hear about it, all right. The
+Associated Press man at Gridley will be sure to send something about it
+to the papers all over the country."
+
+"I guess we've got to take our medicine, Danny," hinted Midshipman
+Dave Darrin.
+
+In the meantime Tom Foss was soon comfortable, wrapped up in blankets and
+with plenty of coffee inside him. Nor did it take long to bring Ab Canty
+around. In three quarters of an hour Susie Danes opened her eyes.
+
+As for Ella Wright, the physicians and nurses worked over her long and
+earnestly, and were on the point of giving her up when at last a flutter
+of her eyelids was seen.
+
+By night time all of the young people were quite out of danger, but the
+parents of the Wright and Danes families were highly indignant over the
+recklessness of Tom Foss in taking the girls out on the river in such a
+heavy wind.
+
+Three days later even the launch was saved; that is, it was raised and
+was towed to a boat-builder for overhauling and repairs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE TROUBLE-MAKING FOP
+
+
+The story that Len Spencer wrote for the "Blade" was "worse" than the
+midshipmen had expected. That is, the newspaper made them out to be
+heroes of some rare, solid-gold type. To add to the trouble, the
+story, in a condensed form, was printed broadcast by the dailies all
+over the country.
+
+"We can't hope to keep it quiet, Danny boy," groaned Dave when the two
+chums met the next morning.
+
+"No," sighed Dan. "The most we can hope for is to be allowed to
+live it down."
+
+"And I'm much afraid that we've got to stand for a lot more of gush this
+afternoon," continued Darrin.
+
+"At the reception? Oh, yes! I wish we could desert the town and get away
+somewhere to hide."
+
+The affair for the afternoon was a reception for which Laura Bentley had
+sent out hurried invitations to a lot of the former High School boys and
+girls of Gridley. Though Laura was more especially interested in the U.
+S. Military Academy at West Point--because Dick Prescott was there--yet
+she did not show undue partiality to the Army.
+
+"I'm sorry Laura didn't wait a fortnight," Dan continued.
+
+"Oh, well, she doesn't understand," Dave urged.
+
+"You're going, of course?"
+
+"I surely am. I wouldn't slight that splendid girl. She's a whole lot to
+me, Danny boy, both for her own sake and Dick Prescott's."
+
+Even the short stroll, however, between Belle Meade's home and Laura's,
+was bound to bring Dave Darrin again into the unwished-for limelight.
+
+He and Belle had turned into Main Street together, and were walking
+along, chatting, when Belle's eyes flashed suddenly.
+
+"There's that horrid wretch Ardmore," she murmured in an undertone.
+
+"Don't believe I know him," Darrin returned.
+
+"Then you haven't been deprived of much," replied Belle, in a tone that
+was very nearly bitter. "I've been meaning to tell you about him, Dave,
+but other matters have been cropping up and it has escaped me until now."
+
+"What's wrong with Ardmore?" asked Dave.
+
+"He's posing as an admirer of mine."
+
+"I can't quarrel with his taste," smiled Darrin.
+
+"But he annoys me."
+
+"Has he dared to do that?" demanded Dave, a quick flash in his eyes.
+
+"Not in any way that it would be easy to resent," Belle assured him.
+
+"Who is this fellow Ardmore?"
+
+"He appears to be a gentleman--at least in his ordinary conduct," Belle
+Meade answered. "He moved here last spring with his parents. The father
+is a retired lawyer, and wealthy. The Ardmores move in a rather good set
+in town. About a month ago Caspar Ardmore, the young man, met me at a
+church affair. Ever since then he has all but waylaid me. Several times
+he has tried to walk with me when we met, and has often tried to see me
+home from church or elsewhere. I've been almost downright rude to him,
+and have shown him in every way I can that I don't wish to continue
+acquaintance. But he's hard to discourage."
+
+"He hasn't insulted you?" asked Dave quietly.
+
+"Oh, dear, no! If he had, I think I might have been able to startle him
+somewhat," laughed Belle, who had a "temper" when it was necessary to
+have one. As she spoke she raised her eyes, glancing ahead.
+
+"There, he has stopped, and looks almost as though he were waiting for
+us," she added.
+
+"There's an ugly scowl on his face, too."
+
+Dave Darrin looked ahead at the foppish, rather good-looking, tall and
+slender young man of some twenty-six years.
+
+"I hope he isn't going to be troublesome," murmured Dave. "I don't want
+to have to fight with him--at least, not when you're along with me."
+
+As they neared Ardmore, Dave continued to look at the young man quietly,
+steadily, frankly. Ardmore seemed trying to ignore the gaze, and looked,
+instead, at Belle.
+
+Just as the young couple reached him, Ardmore raised his hat, at the same
+time stepping forward so that he blocked Belle's progress.
+
+"Good afternoon, Miss Meade," was Ardmore's greeting. "I was on my way to
+your house when I saw you. Mother has some tickets for a concert at the
+Sorosis rooms, and is unable to use them this afternoon. So I have come
+to ask you if you will not honor me with your company at the concert?"
+
+"Thank you, no," Belle answered coldly. "And I would also like to make it
+plain, Mr. Ardmore, since you make it necessary, that I do not wish your
+company at any time or place. I am sorry to have to speak so plainly."
+
+A deep flush dyed the cheeks of the fop. But he was not so easily
+discouraged.
+
+"I had intended to call this evening, Miss Meade. I am to have a box at
+the theatre."
+
+"You may call anywhere you wish," Belle retorted, her eyes flashing,
+"provided it is not at my home."
+
+"Oh, I am very much afraid that you are annoyed with me," cried Ardmore.
+
+"I am," Belle admitted. "Mr. Ardmore, will you do me the very great favor
+of ceasing your attempts at acquaintance?"
+
+"Acquaintance? Why, we're already very well acquainted, Miss Meade; in
+fact, I had hoped that we were, by this time, the most excellent friends.
+If this gentleman," with a sidelong look at Dave, "will excuse us, Miss
+Meade, will you stroll along with me and tell me in what way I may have
+offended you without intending anything of the sort?"
+
+Dave, who had remained quiet, now felt called upon to interpose.
+
+"Sir," he demanded, "will you observe Miss Meade's request and take
+yourself away?"
+
+"And what have you to say about this?" demanded Ardmore sneeringly.
+
+"The young lady is under my protection."
+
+"I have offered her mine."
+
+"And Miss Meade has just told you that you will please her most by
+keeping away from her at all times," replied Darrin quietly but firmly.
+
+"What? After all the good times she and I have enjoyed together?"
+demanded Ardmore, as though astounded beyond measure.
+
+"I? Good times with you?" cried Belle, her cheeks flaming. "I've never
+even spoken to you when I could avoid it."
+
+"That's false!" cried young Ardmore hotly.
+
+"Stop, right there!" warned Dave Darrin in a quieter voice than ever,
+though his face paled swiftly. "Did I understand you to remark that Miss
+Meade had made a false statement?"
+
+"You did!"
+
+Whack! Darrin's clenched right fist caught the fop on the temple, felling
+him to the ground.
+
+"Go right on to Laura's, Belle," begged Dave quickly. "I'll be
+along soon."
+
+Miss Meade walked rapidly ahead.
+
+Ardmore was on his feet in an instant. Not wanting in a certain amount
+of animal courage, he rushed at Dave, only to be met with a blow in
+the mouth that floored him again. The fop's lip was cut and bleeding
+when he rose.
+
+"You cur!" bellowed the fellow.
+
+"The opinion of a person like you can't matter very much," Dave
+retorted coolly.
+
+A little crowd was beginning to gather. Dave's pallor increased, for his
+very soul writhed at the thought of having Belle's name involved in a
+brawl in this fashion.
+
+"You're a--" began Ardmore, but Dave Darrin moved quickly up to him.
+
+"Do you retract the statement you made?" demanded the midshipman in a
+low voice.
+
+"I retract nothing," quivered Ardmore. "I repeat, and repeat--"
+
+Dave closed in like lightning, Ardmore attempted to guard himself, but he
+was all but helpless before such a fast, trained hitter as Dave. The fop
+went down under two well-aimed blows delivered almost together.
+
+Once more Ardmore leaped to his feet, while Darrin disdainfully
+awaited him.
+
+But two or three men in the crowd leaped between the enemies, forcing
+the fop back.
+
+"Don't be a fool, Ardmore!" urged one of the men, speaking in the
+fellow's ear. "That's Midshipman Dave Darrin, and he's one of the
+quickest, hardest hitters in Gridley."
+
+"Oh, that's the midshipman, is it?" demanded Ardmore in a sneering voice.
+"Oh, well, then, I won't hit him again. I know another way of making his
+skin smart."
+
+Dave tarried only long enough to make sure that the fop did not care to
+carry the encounter further. Then, turning on his heel, he walked rapidly
+in the direction Belle had taken. He overtook that young lady before she
+reached the Bentley home.
+
+[Illustration: Darrin's Blow Felled the Fop to the Ground.]
+
+"If the fellow intends to trouble you again, I hope he'll do it before
+my leave is finished," spoke Dave quietly. "I think I've given him a
+little lesson, Belle, though there's no telling how long it will last
+with inferior animals of Ardmore's type."
+
+"He's a spiteful fellow, Dave. You must be on your guard against him,"
+Belle urged.
+
+"I guess Ardmore is wishing his own guard had been more effective,"
+smiled the midshipman.
+
+Caspar Ardmore was "busy" within an hour after Dave's summary handling of
+him. Ardmore had never been considered a truly bad fellow, though he was
+foppish, conceited and wholly unable to understand why anything that he
+wanted should be denied him. Belle was now two years beyond her High
+School days, and had developed into a most attractive young woman.
+Ardmore had fallen victim to her charms and had decided that he would
+make a better husband for her than any Naval officer could. Hence the
+young dandy had pursued Miss Meade with his attentions; upon finding her
+with Dave, he had hoped, in his foolish way, to put an end to Darrin's
+pretensions.
+
+Ardmore, therefore, having met only disaster, was now engaged in drawing
+up a complaint to be sent to the Secretary of the Navy, complaining that
+he had been set upon and treated with severe physical violence by
+Midshipman Darrin.
+
+Nor was there great difficulty in finding three men, out of the small
+crowd that had witnessed the assault, to swear to affidavits that they
+had seen Darrin knock Caspar Ardmore down repeatedly.
+
+All this "evidence" Ardmore got together with great relish, and mailed
+the mass of stuff, that same night, to the Secretary of the Navy at
+Washington.
+
+Then Ardmore went out of town for three days. Behind him he left an
+active toady who promised to keep watch of matters and to advise him.
+
+It was through this toady that Dave received an intimation that his case
+would be attended to at Washington. Belle, also, received a hint, and
+with it she went to Darrin.
+
+"Can the fellow really make any trouble for you, Dave?" she asked
+anxiously.
+
+"Why, yes," admitted Dave. "Anyone can make trouble for a midshipman, to
+the extent that the charge must be investigated by the Navy Department.
+If the Secretary were satisfied that I am a reckless sort of bully, he
+would decide that I am unfit to be an officer of the Navy."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+IN THE VIEW OF THE NAVY DEPARTMENT
+
+
+Dave Darrin did not let the news of the charges disturb his outward
+serenity, though he was inwardly aware that perjured evidence might work
+great harm to his future career.
+
+Until he was advised by the Navy Department that charges had been made
+against him, he really could do nothing in the matter.
+
+But that letter from the Secretary was not long in coming. The letter
+informed Midshipman Darrin that he has been accused of severely
+assaulting a citizen without just provocation, and contained, also, some
+of the circumstances alleged by Caspar Ardmore. Dave was commanded to
+forward his defense promptly.
+
+This Darrin did, in a courteous answer, as briefly as he could properly
+make it. He admitted knocking Ardmore down, but stated that he did it in
+resenting an insult offered by Ardmore to a young lady under his
+(Darrin's) escort at the time.
+
+This letter he showed Belle.
+
+"It is the first step, on my side in the matter," he explained
+with a smile.
+
+"I should think the Secretary of the Navy ought to be satisfied with
+your answer and drop it at once," replied Belle.
+
+"He may."
+
+"But you think he won't?"
+
+"It is likely, Belle, that there will be a court of inquiry at least."
+
+"Oh, dear!" cried Belle, a few tears gleaming in her eyes now. "Why
+should so much fuss be made over the matter?"
+
+"Because I am being trained to be an officer in the Navy. An officer must
+be a gentleman as well. Any charge affecting a Naval officer's honor or
+courtesy must be investigated, in order that the government may know
+whether the accused is fit to hold an officer's commission. The
+government wouldn't be dealing justly with the people if such standards
+were not observed."
+
+"And I am the cause of all this trouble for you?" cried Belle.
+
+"No, Belle, you are not. You have nothing to do with the matter, except
+indirectly. Ardmore is the one responsible for the trouble. If he had not
+insulted you he wouldn't have gotten into any difficulty."
+
+"It seems too bad, just the same."
+
+"It's annoying; that's all," Dave assured her. "If I had to do the same
+thing over again, for the same reason, I'd do it cheerfully."
+
+Mrs. Meade heard of it all, from her daughter. Without saying a word as
+to her intentions the mother herself wrote a letter to the Secretary of
+the Navy. Mrs. Meade set forth the persistent fashion in which Ardmore
+had sought to force his attentions upon Belle, to the latter's great
+annoyance. Mrs. Meade's letter declared that Darrin had taken the only
+possible means of saving Belle from future annoyance. The mother's letter
+to the Secretary concluded by offering to procure statements from other
+people on the subject if the Secretary wished.
+
+Mrs. Meade received a prompt reply from Washington. The Secretary thanked
+her for her statements and expressed entire belief in them.
+
+By the same mail Caspar Ardmore, just returned to Gridley, received
+this letter:
+
+"Referring to your letter and complaint bearing date of September 6, the
+Department has to advise you that other statements have also been
+received bearing upon your accusations of an assault alleged to have been
+committed upon your person by Midshipman David Darrin.
+
+"It is claimed by the signers of other statements, including that of
+Midshipman Darrin, that you grossly insulted a young woman under his
+escort and completed the insult by accusing her of falsehood. If these
+statements be true, and there be no other important circumstances,
+except the assault, the Department begs to advise you that, had not
+Midshipman Darrin resented the gross insult tendered the woman under
+his protection, he would thereby, by such inaction, have rendered
+himself liable to dismissal from the Navy. It is always the first duty
+of a gentleman to afford ample protection to any woman under his
+escort and care.
+
+"Should you deny the statements quoted above in favor of Midshipman
+Darrin, and should you further desire to have the matter brought to issue
+before a duly appointed court of inquiry, before which you would be
+required to appear as a material witness, this Department will be glad so
+to be advised. If you do not make formal application for the appointment
+of such court of inquiry within the next few days, no further action will
+be taken in the matter. Very respectfully,
+
+"Your obedient servant,
+"(Signed) LEOK B. CHAMBERS,
+"_Secretary of the Navy_."
+
+As he read, and realized how flat his charge had fallen, Ardmore's face
+passed through several shades of red.
+
+"Of all the government red tape!" he muttered wrathfully. "I didn't think
+the fool Secretary would do anything like this. I thought he'd just call
+Darrin down hard and plenty, and perhaps bounce him out of the Naval
+Academy. Humph! I guess all these Navy folks stand together. There
+doesn't seem to be much justice about it."
+
+Ardmore thereupon took another vacation away from Gridley. A few days
+after he went Midshipman Darrin received a brief communication from the
+Secretary of the Navy, stating that no further action had been taken by
+the accuser, and that the Department was satisfied that the midshipman's
+conduct had been fully justified. Therefore the matter would not be
+called to the attention of the Naval Academy authorities for action.
+
+"So you see," smiled Dave, as he called at Belle's home and handed her
+the letter, "there is never any need to be worried until trouble breaks
+in earnest."
+
+"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Belle, her eyes shining with delight, "I hope
+you won't meet that Ardmore fellow again while you're home."
+
+"If I do," promised Dave, "I shall merely look over his head when we
+meet, unless he repeats the offense that brought him that thrashing."
+
+Ardmore, however, did not appear in Gridley again during Dave's leave
+of absence.
+
+Dave and Dan tasted, to the full, the delights of life in the old home
+town until the day when it was necessary for them to take train and
+return to Annapolis.
+
+"Mother, Laura and I will go down to Annapolis whenever we hear from
+you as to the best time for coming," Miss Meade promised at the
+railway station.
+
+Then she found chance to murmur, in a voice too low for any of the others
+present to hear:
+
+"And I'll try hard not to be such a goose as I was last winter!"
+
+She referred to the trouble that had been made by another girl at
+Annapolis, the circumstances of which are wholly familiar to the readers
+of the earlier volumes of this series.
+
+"I don't blame you for the way you felt last winter," Dave assured her
+heartily, "Next time, however, I hope you'll come to me first for an
+explanation."
+
+"There isn't going to be any next time, Dave."
+
+Three minutes later two midshipmen were being whirled through the city
+limits of Gridley.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+NAVY FOOTBALL IN THE AIR
+
+
+Back on the old, familiar Academy grounds!
+
+Both Dave and Dan underwent an unconscious brace as they passed the
+watchman at the main gate and stepped on, each with a suit case in hand,
+to the left, with Bancroft Hall in the distance.
+
+Their first move was, as it must be, to report their return to the
+officer in charge. By that officer the two midshipmen were assigned to
+the rooms that they were to occupy during the coming academic year.
+
+Once behind their doors, both young men hastened to get out of cit.
+clothes and back into their beloved uniforms.
+
+"There are worse liveries to wear than Uncle Sam's," murmured Dan
+Dalzell when, having arrayed himself, he glanced down lovingly at the
+neat, dark blue.
+
+"Much worse," replied Dave briefly, as, having dressed, he set to work to
+help make their quarters neat enough to please even the captious eye of
+the discipline officer. By the time that the two midshipmen finished
+policing their quarters no housekeeper in the land could have found the
+least sign of disorder.
+
+Rap-tap! sounded briskly at the door.
+
+"Come in," called Dave.
+
+The door opened, revealing Midshipman Hepson, of the first class.
+
+"Are you fellows to rights?" he called.
+
+"Come in, Hepson," urged Dave. "Yes; we're to rights as far as
+quarters go."
+
+Hepson came no more than inside the door before he halted, asking
+briskly:
+
+"Have you anything on!"
+
+"Nothing but our clothes," grinned Dan, "and some hair."
+
+"You've no appointments or engagements, then?" persisted Hepson. "My
+being here won't interfere with anything that you want to do?"
+
+"Not in the least," Dave replied.
+
+"Oh, then, I'll invite myself to a chair," declared the first
+classman, suiting the action to the word. "Now, you fellows can guess
+why I'm here."
+
+"You're captain of this year's football eleven," Dave replied. "Has that
+anything to do with your call?"
+
+"Everything," admitted Hepson briskly. "Have you fellows any notion that
+we've a poor eleven, so far, this year?"
+
+"Why I thought it pretty good, from the practice work that I saw done in
+August," Darrin answered slowly.
+
+"A pretty good eleven doesn't win games, sir," retorted Hepson. "Man,
+we've got to strengthen the team all along the line, or I'll go down in
+Naval Academy history as captain of the worst lot of dubs who ever chased
+a pigskin around the field!"
+
+"Is it as bad as that?" demanded Dan, opening his eyes.
+
+"Dalzell," said Hepson, "our eleven is rotten, sir--simply and
+fiercely useless!"
+
+"If it's as bad as that," hinted Dan innocently, "wouldn't it be a prime
+good idea to draw our eleven from the field this year?"
+
+"What? Strike the Navy's colors, and especially to the Army?" glared Mr.
+Hepson. "What are you talking about?"
+
+"Then I guess," nodded Dan, "that we'll have to stay in the ring, and let
+it go by apologizing to the Army for getting in their way on the field
+the Saturday after Thanksgiving."
+
+"We won't do that, either, by Jingo!" retorted Midshipman Hepson. "But
+we've got to strengthen our team. We've got to practice every minute that
+the commandant will allow us for practice. We've got to make a front-rank
+team out of--nearly nothing!"
+
+"Aren't there any good players who have been holding back?" asked
+Dave Darrin.
+
+"Two that I know of, Darrin," rejoined Hepson, fixing his eyes
+keenly on Dave.
+
+"Who are they?"
+
+"You and Dalzell."
+
+"We haven't backed out, or refused duty," Darrin retorted quickly.
+
+"No; but you haven't pushed yourselves forward any, either."
+
+"Well, we're hardly team material," objected Dave modestly. "However,
+I'll promise for myself and Dalzell, too, that we'll turn out to all the
+practice we can, and work like blazes!"
+
+"Will you?" cried Midshipman Hepson delightedly. He jumped up, grasping
+each midshipman by the hand in turn.
+
+"But you don't want to bank on us too much," Darrin continued. "You
+know, we've never played on anything as big as the Navy team. We used to
+be good enough little players on a country school team. But it's
+different here."
+
+"Let the coaches and the captain find that out, then," grunted Hepson.
+"But you'll work? You'll try to make good? You'll try to make the team
+and some history?"
+
+"We'd lay down our lives for the Navy, at any point and in any sort of
+game," rejoined Dave Darrin simply.
+
+"Good! Bully! That's the way I like to hear a fellow talk!" glowed
+Hepson, making toward the door. "You'll turn out for practice to-morrow
+afternoon?"
+
+"Without fail, if we're physically able," promised Midshipman Darrin.
+
+"Awfully obliged to you, fellows," cried Hepson, throwing the door open.
+"And now you won't mind if I cut my visit short? I've a lot of fellows to
+see, you know."
+
+The door banged and Hepson was gone.
+
+"Say, how's the Navy going to win under a chap as nervous as Hepson?"
+asked Dan.
+
+"That isn't nervousness, Danny boy."
+
+"If it isn't, what is it, then?"
+
+"Electricity."
+
+"Elec--Oh, say, now--"
+
+"It's electricity," Dave insisted. "He's a live wire, that man Hepson.
+He'll pull us through on the field this year, if any one can."
+
+"There's nothing like looking on the bright side of things," murmured
+Dalzell, drumming on his chair.
+
+"I'd rather see Hepson under estimate the Navy team," went on Dave, "than
+feel too sure that it is invincible. Still, I believe that the Navy is
+going to put forward a mighty strong eleven this year. Though, of course,
+that is not saying that we can beat the Army."
+
+"Why not?" demanded Dalzell almost fiercely.
+
+"Because, no matter how good a line we put forward, the Army may put
+forward a better."
+
+"Now, don't go tooting the Army's bugle!"
+
+"I am just considering the average of chances," Darrin returned. "Danny
+boy, sometimes the Navy wins, but most of the games of past years have
+gone to the Army. So the chances are that we'll be beaten this year."
+
+"Not if I have to die on the line to stop it!" glowed Dalzell at red
+heat.
+
+"Maybe you won't even get on the Navy line; perhaps I won't, either,
+Danny boy. But you know we saw by the "Army and Navy Journal" that
+Prescott and Holmes are playing on the West Point eleven this year."
+
+"Holmes isn't necessarily such a much, is he?" flared Dan.
+
+"Greg Holmes is a pretty handy man on the football field," retorted
+Darrin warmly. "None ought to know that better than we, after we've seen
+Holmes pull out so many victories for the old High School team. Of
+course, Prescott is the better player, but Holmes can back him up to
+amazing advantage."
+
+"Didn't we play about as good a game as that pair?" Dalzell demanded.
+
+"I don't know," Dave answered thoughtfully. "Perhaps not quite as good a
+game. You see, in the old High School days, Dick Prescott used to lead
+and I often backed up his plays. So one could hardly compare us."
+
+"If you're in such a blue funk over the Navy's chances, you'd better keep
+off the line-up," muttered Midshipman Dalzell.
+
+"Oh, I'm in no funk," returned Darrin, smiling. "However, I'm not going
+to be betrayed into any bragging until we've wiped the field up with the
+Army--if we can."
+
+Rap-tap! came on the door.
+
+"I'll wager that's Farley," whispered Darrin.
+
+"Or Page"--from Dan.
+
+"Come in," called Dave.
+
+The door opened, to let in Farley, with Page crowding on his heels.
+
+Dave and Dan both hastened forward to clasp hands with these tried chums
+of other days.
+
+"Seen Hepson?" asked Dan.
+
+"Yes," nodded Farley. "He told us he had gobbled you. Hepson just left
+us."
+
+"You're going to be on the eleven!" pressed Dan.
+
+"If we can make it," nodded Farley slowly. "I'd like to play, too, but
+I'm hoping that the Navy can hit on some one better than myself."
+
+"Cold feet!" grinned Dan.
+
+"Not exactly," Farley answered, with a slight flush. "But it's a big
+thing to play on the Navy's fighting eleven. It seems almost too big a
+responsibility for any but a demi-god."
+
+"Demi-gods don't play football," jeered Dan. "They're nothing but idols,
+anyway, and they're two thousand years out of date. What we want on the
+Navy line is real human flesh and blood."
+
+"There'll be blood on the doorstep of the moon if the Army carries things
+away from us this year," predicted Page mournfully.
+
+"Well, all we can do is our best," declared Dave. "We'll do that, too,
+and do it mightily. Wow! What's that?"
+
+Ta-ra-ra-ta-ra-ta! sounded musically in the corridors.
+
+"Supper formation, by Jove!" gasped Dan.
+
+Farley and Page fled without a word. Soon the "decks" of Bancroft Hall
+swarmed with young life. Then, outside, to seaward, the brigade fell in
+by companies.
+
+Military commands rang out briskly, roll was called, reports made and the
+brigade marched in to supper.
+
+What a joyous, noisy affair it was. Some license in the way of
+boisterousness was allowed this evening, and most of the young men took
+full advantage of the fact.
+
+Swat! A slice of bread, soaked in a glass of water and kneaded into a
+soppy ball, struck Dalzell full in the back of the neck, plastering his
+collar and sending a sticky mess down his spine.
+
+"I'll fight the man who did that," promised Midshipman Dan, wheeling
+around. Then added cautiously:
+
+"If he's a graduate."
+
+There being, naturally, no graduates present except the officer at the
+furthest corner of the mess hall, Dan's challenge provoked laughter.
+
+Many other pranks were played, but there is not room to record them here.
+The meal over and the brigade dismissed, some of the midshipmen--there
+were nearly eight hundred of them--went to their own quarters, or visited
+the rooms of cronies. Hundreds took the air in the grounds.
+
+Almost the sole topic was football. Hepson speedily had most of the
+members of the big squad gathered about him. Others, who could not hope
+to "make" in football, gathered near-by, as though afraid of losing some
+of the talk.
+
+"Remember, gentlemen, until the Army game is over, it's to be nothing
+this year but work, work, work!" warned Midshipman Hepson, with intense
+earnestness.
+
+With nothing but football in the air, Dan soon caught the infection even
+more deeply than his chum.
+
+"Hang it, I'm a dub," groaned Dan. "Lots of the fellows gave up their
+leave in order to be here and practise. Why in the mischief didn't I?"
+
+"For the same reason that perhaps I didn't sacrifice leave," replied
+Dave. "I wasn't asked to. And you weren't, either, were you?"
+
+"No; but I wish I had flung myself at Hepson's head, and made him take
+me, instead of going off to Gridley like a deserter! It's October now,
+and what earthly chance, Dave, have you and I to get in shape?"
+
+"We'll do our best, Danny boy, or stay off the line. There's nothing to
+be gained by losing our heads. Regrets will be equally worthless."
+
+"Hepson," called one midshipman, "has anyone invented the Navy yells for
+this year?"
+
+"Yells?" repeated the football captain scornfully. "It's more to the
+purpose to fit ourselves to do something worth yelling about!"
+
+"Has Hepson got the blues?" asked another midshipman.
+
+"Or only the rattles?"
+
+Football was still in the air, dominating the minds of the midshipmen
+when a turn of the master switch shut off the lights at taps.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE HATE OF A RIVAL
+
+
+The day following was one of intense, almost complicated routine.
+
+There were books and supplies to be drawn for the new academic year.
+There were uniforms and other articles of apparel to be drawn. The
+sections were detailed and section marchers to be appointed. There were
+details of military organization to be announced. Some of the young men
+had to go up for physical examination, even if only of the eyes.
+
+At the afternoon recreation hour Hepson led the big football squad out to
+the field. Hundreds of midshsipmen went there to see how the Navy would
+show up in the vitally important tests. At the outset Hepson was
+everywhere, like a buzzing, excitable wasp. Nor did he prove to be minus
+a sting at times.
+
+"I think, sir," suggested Hepson, going over to Lieutenant-Commander
+Havens, the head coach, "that it would be well for us to know something
+about the running speed of every candidate."
+
+"Very good, Mr. Hepson; try out any man that you're curious about,"
+replied the officer.
+
+"Darrin, Dalzell, Page, Farley, White, Bryant," called the captain of
+the Navy team. "Each of you pick up a ball. Line up at this goal-line,
+Joyce, will you take a stop-watch and go over to the other goal-line?
+Adams, go along and assist Joyce. I want a record of the time it takes
+each man to cover the distance, running as fast as he can with the ball."
+
+The men designated took their places.
+
+"I'll run you first, Darrin," announced the captain. "Go like a streak,
+if you can. If you fall down it counts zero. Start when I say 'go.' Are
+you ready?"
+
+"Quite ready."
+
+"Go!"
+
+At the word Dave sped away like a shot, Hepson giving a hand signal as he
+uttered the starting word, that the time-keeper at the other end might
+know when to release the watch. Dave's time was noted. Then Dan took a
+try, covering the distance in only two fifths of a second more time than
+Darrin had required. Farley was a second and three fifths behind Darrin's
+time; Page, a full two seconds behind. White and Bryant then ran, but
+only succeeded in about tying Page's work.
+
+Then six more men were called to the line and tried out. After that a
+third squad. By this time Midshipman Hepson had his mind about made up
+as to the relative speeds of some of the most likely men for the final
+Navy team.
+
+"Get out for some kicks, now!" called Hepson.
+
+"When are you going to play football?" growled one man.
+
+Midshipman Hepson turned on him like a flash.
+
+"Jetson, there's a substitute captain in the squad, but you're not the
+man. Neither are you one of the coaches."
+
+"Oh, you make me--" began Jetson, but Midshipman Hepson cut him
+short with:
+
+"If you can't keep silence when you've nothing to say, your absence from
+the field will be considered a favor to the whole squad."
+
+Jetson scowled, but said nothing more. Neither did he offer to retire
+from the field.
+
+"Jetson has always been a kicker and a trouble mosquito," whispered Dan
+Dalzell to his chum.
+
+"Oh, in a lot of ways Jetson is a nice fellow," Darrin replied quietly.
+"The greatest trouble that ails him is that he has just a trifle too
+large opinion of the importance of his own opinions. There are a lot of
+us troubled in that way."
+
+The kicking practice was put through with dash and vim. Then Midshipman
+Hepson, after a brief conference with the head coach, called off the
+line-up for the provisional Navy team, following this with a roster of
+the second team, or "Rustlers," so called because they force the men of
+the Navy team to rustle to keep their places.
+
+Dave Darrin was called off for left tackle, Dan for left end. Farley and
+Page held the corresponding positions on the right end of the line-up.
+
+"Begin the game, the Rustlers to have the ball," called
+Lieutenant-Commander Havens.
+
+"And mix it up lively, Navy," called Hepson, who, both on account of his
+size and other qualifications, played center.
+
+At the whistle-blast the Rustlers kicked it off--a beautiful,
+long, arching curve. The ball came to quarter-back, who passed it
+to Dave Darrin.
+
+Then the fun began.
+
+The Navy line hit the Rustlers hard and tried to bump through. Dan
+Dalzell devoted every ounce of his strength and every turn of his energy
+to boosting Darrin through--and Dave himself was not idle. There was an
+instant of sullen, hard resistance. Then, somehow, Dave was shot through
+the opposing line. Like a deer he sped, Dan hanging to his flanks. It was
+up to the Rustlers' halfback now, and that bulky young midshipman leaped
+to the fray, cleverly barring the way.
+
+At least, the Rustlers' halfback thought he had Darrin blocked. It is
+never wise to take too much for granted.
+
+As the halfback planted himself for the grapple, Dave suddenly dropped
+through that opponent's grip and went to the ground.
+
+As though he had been shot through, Dave Darrin went under and past, on
+one side, between the halfback's legs. He was up again, with Dan at his
+back. Fullback came at them, but Dan bumped that player aside. Dave
+dashed on across the line, scoring a touchdown.
+
+Never had the gridiron been the scene of greater excitement than in that
+rousing moment.
+
+"Darrin! Darrin! Darrin!" came hoarsely; from hundreds of throats.
+
+"Dalzell! Dalzell!" came the next gusty roar.
+
+Hepson wiped a moist brow with one hand.
+
+"There are two real players, if they can keep that up," muttered the
+captain of the eleven.
+
+Jetson had been the tackle opposed to Dave. Just now Jetson was nursing a
+bump to his vanity.
+
+"How on earth did I ever happen to let Darrin through?" Jetson demanded
+of himself. "I won't do it again, anyway. If I can only make Darrin look
+small, I may get his place on the Navy eleven. Darrin is a good fellow,
+but I've got to make the team, confound him!"
+
+The kick for goal failed. Then the Navy took the ball and promptly
+enough the Rustlers came back with it, Jetson carrying.
+
+Dave and Dan met the ball-carrier. The Rustlers' support failed, and
+Jetson went down with the ball. Nor could the second team advance the
+ball, so it presently came to the Navy men again.
+
+"I want you to put it through again like a cannon-ball, Darrin,"
+Midshipman Hepson whispered as they passed.
+
+So the quarter-backs called for a repetition of the play, giving
+different signals.
+
+Dave received the ball with a rush of his old-time fervor and confidence.
+Dan started behind him as full of fire as ever.
+
+In a fraction of a second the impact of the two opposing lines came.
+Jetson went down, one of his legs flying between Darrin's in such a way
+as to constitute a foul.
+
+Dave Darrin went down on top of the ball. Half a dozen players sprawled
+over him. The referee's whistle blew.
+
+"Jetson, that was a mean, deliberate trip," remarked Darrin, as he sprang
+to his feet. He spoke coolly, with a warning flash in his eyes.
+
+"Not on my part," retorted Jetson.
+
+"You thrust your leg between mine as you went down."
+
+Coach signed to referee not to renew the game for the moment. Then
+Lieutenant-Commander Havens and the two team captains crowded close.
+
+"I didn't do it deliberately, as you charged," retorted Jetson, hot
+with anger.
+
+"You deny it?" insisted Dave.
+
+"I do."
+
+"On your word as a gentleman you did not intend, a foul trip?" demanded
+Midshipman Darrin.
+
+"I have already answered you."
+
+"Answer me on your word as a gentleman."
+
+"I don't have to."
+
+"Very good, then," retorted Dave, turning away with a meaning smile.
+
+"Hold on. I pledge you my word as a gentleman that I did not intend
+to make a foul trip," said Jetson, swiftly realizing the error of
+his refusal.
+
+In the meantime Lieutenant-Commander Havens had turned to Motley, of the
+first class, who was serving as referee.
+
+"Mr. Motley," demanded coach, "did you see just what happened?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Do you call it a foul trip?"
+
+"I do, sir. If I were referee in a regular game, I would penalize the
+team and order the player from the field."
+
+"Mr. Jetson--" began the coach, but, swift as a flash Dave Darrin
+interposed, though respectfully, saluting at the same time.
+
+"Will you pardon me, sir. Mr. Jetson has given me his word that he did
+not intend a foul trip. I accept his word without reservation."
+
+"Very good, then," nodded coach. "But Mr. Jetson, you will do well to be
+careful in the future, and avoid even the appearance of evil."
+
+"Yes, sir; very good, sir," answered Jetson, looking decidedly sheepish.
+
+In giving his word Jetson had told the truth, or had intended to. The
+exact truth was that he really did not realize what he had done until it
+was too late to avoid the foul. He had meant to stop Darrin, somehow.
+
+"Pull that scrimmage off again," directed Coach Havens dryly.
+
+The ball was placed, the whistle sounded, and again Dave received the
+ball and tried to break through. With the Rustlers prepared for the move,
+it was blocked and the ball was "down."
+
+Jetson felt his face burning. He knew, well enough, that many of the
+players regarded him with suspicion.
+
+"I suppose that suspicion will stick, and my chances of making the Navy
+eleven are now scantier than ever," muttered the unfortunate midshipman
+to himself.
+
+The whistle blew before any further advantage had been gained. Coach
+and Midshipman Hepson had gained considerable insight into the work
+of the team.
+
+"Mr. Hepson," said coach aside, in the interval that followed, "you have
+done well, I think, to place two such men as Darrin and Dalzell on the
+provisional team."
+
+"I am glad you think so, sir," replied the Navy football captain, "for
+that is the way it strikes me."
+
+"If you keep them at the left flank you'll have something like dynamite
+there," smiled coach. "Mr. Darrin goes through like a cannon-ball, and
+Dalzell is always just where Darrin needs him."
+
+"These men have played together before, and they're used to team work,
+sir," said Midshipman Hepson.
+
+"So? Where did they play before coming to Annapolis?"
+
+"On what was, in their day, one of the best High School eleven's
+going, sir."
+
+"Oho! Do you know, Mr. Hepson, they play more like college men than
+anything else. It must have been a bully High School team that
+graduated them."
+
+"From the little that I've heard, sir, that High School team was a
+great one."
+
+Coach and captain walked back to the scene.
+
+"You will now play another ten-minute period," directed Mr. Havens.
+"Jetson will withdraw from the second eleven during the next period and
+Doyle will take his place."
+
+"So that's what coach and team captain were hatching up?" thought
+Midshipman Jetson. "That gives me a black eye, and my chances of making
+the Navy eleven are now worse than ever. Probably I won't even make sub."
+
+As Navy and Rustlers again collided in the fray, Jetson watched Dave's
+work narrowly, furiously.
+
+"Darrin always was a smooth one," Jetson declared angrily to himself.
+"And now, just because he raised a 'holler', my football prospects are
+set back for this year. Probably I can't make the eleven next year,
+either. And it's all Darrin's fault!"
+
+In forming the second half the coach called:
+
+"Mr. Jetson will resume his place as right tackle on the second eleven."
+
+"Jetson's not here, sir," called a midshipman.
+
+"Where is he?" asked Coach Havens.
+
+"I think he went off the field, sir, to un-tog."
+
+"He should not have left the field without permission," remarked the
+coach coldly.
+
+Jetson heard of the remark that evening, and his anger against Dave
+Darrin increased.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+"DID JETSON DO IT?"
+
+
+No sooner had release from studies sounded through big and handsome
+Bancroft Hall, than there came a tap at Dave Darrin's door.
+
+"Come in," called Dave.
+
+Hepson came in first, followed by a score of other midshipmen.
+
+"Say, I didn't hear assembly blow lately," remarked Dan Dalzell, closing
+a new text-book and looking up with a smile of welcome.
+
+"Are we intruding--so many of us," inquired Hepson, halting.
+
+"Not on me, anyway," answered Dave pleasantly. "As for Danny boy, don't
+mind the little chap. He really believes that study release sounds
+before supper-call. Come right in, all of you fellows. Dan barks, but
+won't bite."
+
+"And take seats, all of you, do," urged Dan, with unnecessary
+hospitality. "After the table and the chairs are used up, we'll provide
+tacks for the rest."
+
+"Does this little boy ever have a serious streak?" asked one of the
+callers, regarding Dan with feigned interest.
+
+"Yes; whenever he finds himself marked down to 2.1 in more than three
+studies," laughed Dave.
+
+"Oh, that's no laughing matter," grimaced another of the visiting
+midshipmen.
+
+"I don't suppose you can guess what we came to talk about?" went on
+Midshipman Hepson.
+
+"At a wild guess it might be football," hazarded Darrin.
+
+"Wonderful! Marvelous!" gasped another visitor.
+
+"Darry, we've come in to tell you that we believe that you and your
+erratic roommate are going to save a desperate situation for us," resumed
+the captain of the Navy team. "Not that we were destitute of good players
+before. But we lacked enough of different kinds to make a strong,
+all-around eleven. Now we've a team that we're not afraid, after more
+work, to put up against anything that the Army can show us."
+
+"Now, I wouldn't be too sure," urged Dave. "Confidence is all right, but
+don't let it rob us of a jot of practice and work."
+
+"Are you afraid of the Army, Darry?" demanded Hepson.
+
+"I'm not going to be too cock-sure, if the story is true that Prescott
+and Holmes are out with the Army team this year."
+
+"Are they such great players!" demanded Hepson.
+
+"They are," Dave responded solemnly, "or were. I know something
+about that pair, since I've played on the same eleven with Prescott
+and Holmes."
+
+"Are they better than you two, Darry?" Hepson demanded.
+
+"Yes," answered Dave unhesitatingly.
+
+"Is that honesty or extreme modesty?"
+
+"Extreme mod--" broke in Dan Dalzell, but he closed his mouth with a
+snap and ducked as he saw three of the visitors making for him.
+
+"It's hard to believe," muttered Hepson, though he spoke uneasily. "Why
+do you rank Prescott and Holmes so high, Darry?"
+
+"Well, for one reason, Dick Prescott taught Dalzell and myself the game.
+Anything that we know about the game we learned in the team that Prescott
+captained."
+
+"Still, it's hard to believe," spoke up Midshipman Joyce. "Darrin, we
+look upon you as the best thing that ever happened to the Navy end of the
+gridiron."
+
+"I don't know that I care about being 'kidded,'" responded Dave
+seriously.
+
+"But we honestly do," contended the same speaker, "and we don't like to
+have you tell us that Prescott is a better man."
+
+"But I believe he is."
+
+"Are you afraid of him?"
+
+"I'm not afraid of any one on the gridiron," Darrin retorted bluntly.
+"I'll work hard to beat any man that I have to go up against, and if
+work, this season, will do it, I'll beat Dick Prescott out!"
+
+"Good! That's the way we like to hear you talk," glowed Hepson.
+
+"And I'll bottle up Holmes and put the stopper in," promised Dan with
+solemn modesty.
+
+Again two of the men made a rush for him to quiet him.
+
+"It may be only a rumor that Prescott and Holmes are on the Army eleven,"
+spoke up another midshipman.
+
+"No," objected still another, "I had a letter, this afternoon, from a
+cousin who has been up to West Point and has seen the Army crowd at work.
+The Army is rejoicing over Prescott and Holmes as a pair of precious
+finds, and they're both nailed to the colors for this season."
+
+"Then we're going to have a tough time in our game with the Army," Darrin
+declared thoughtfully. "And the Army will beat more college teams this
+year than usual."
+
+"We won't die until the Army shoots, anyway," promised Hepson. "And now,
+Darry, there's another question we want to put to you, and we want an
+out-and-out answer. Do you believe that Jetson really meant to trip you
+this afternoon?"
+
+"You heard his denial," Dave rejoined.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, Jetson is a midshipman and a gentleman. There has never been any
+question here about his honor," Darrin replied. "I accepted his denial of
+intention at the time, and I still accept it."
+
+"It's queer, then, how Jetson came to give you such a nasty trip,"
+observed another caller.
+
+"I'll tell you what I think really must have happened," Dave continued
+frankly. "I think Jet was crazy to stop me. It was on his mind, and he
+was determined to do it. He tripped me, of course, but I think he
+really acted on an unconscious impulse and without intention. So, at
+that rate, the trip was not really intended, since he had not
+deliberately planned it."
+
+"Would you be willing to play on the same team with him, Darry?" pursued
+Midshipman Hepson.
+
+"Yes, or with any other man in the brigade. I don't suspect any man here
+at the Naval Academy of anything intentionally and deliberately
+dishonorable."
+
+"Good, Darry!" cried several midshipmen.
+
+For a few minutes the talk grew fast and furious. Then some one looked
+at his watch and there was a prompt flight of visitors. Ten minutes later
+taps sounded and a master switch turned off the lights in midshipmen's
+quarters, with nearly eight hundred young men in their beds and already
+dropping asleep.
+
+At eight the next morning the many sections marched off to recitations
+and for hours the grind of the day was on. At the Naval Academy, as at
+West Point, not even football is allowed to interfere in the least with
+studies or recitations. No football player is permitted to go into
+section room, after extra practice in the field, and announce himself
+unprepared to recite. Only midshipmen of a good grade of scholarship are
+permitted to join or remain in the football squad.
+
+Late in the afternoon, when recreation time came, all was speedily
+changed. Every member of the squad hastily reported in togs. Scores of
+midshipmen not of the squad hastened over to see the practice work. The
+scores were presently increased to hundreds. Fifty or more Naval officers
+detailed at the yard were scattered along the side lines. Many of the
+wives and daughters of officers stationed at Annapolis turned out to view
+the work. Other young ladies came from Annapolis. There was also a big
+delegation of "St. Johnnies," as the gray-clad young men from St. John's
+College are called.
+
+The news had evidently traveled far that the Navy had two new men on the
+team who were expected to prove "wonders."
+
+"A big part of this crowd is out to see you and Danny boy," Hepson
+remarked to Darrin.
+
+"Haven't they anything better to do with their time, then?" laughed Dave.
+
+"Great Scott, man! Every one of the spectators wants to see the Navy beat
+the Army this year."
+
+"But these spectators are a heap cheered up by what they've heard about
+you and Dalzell."
+
+Dave, however, went about his work all but unconsciously. Never much
+of an egotist, he declined to believe himself the star man of the
+Navy eleven.
+
+When Coach Havens called off the two teams that were to play that day,
+Jetson observed that he was not called for either.
+
+"It looks as though Darrin has queered me," muttered that midshipman
+gloomily to himself. "I didn't think Darrin was quite as bad as that."
+
+After the practice game had started, and Dave had put through the most
+brilliant play that he had yet exhibited, the air rang with his name from
+hundreds of throats.
+
+"That's the way!" grumbled Jetson. "It's all Darrin now! These idiots
+will forget that I was ever at Annapolis."
+
+Jetson sulked about. After the rebuke he had received the day before from
+the head coach, he did not dare to carry his sulk so far as to go and
+un-tog without leave.
+
+Towards the end of the first half of the practice game, a man on the
+second team was hurt enough to be retired, and Joyce was called.
+
+"They might have given me a chance," quivered Jetson sulkily. "I'm a lot
+better player than the fool coach imagines. But, anyway, I suppose Darrin
+has turned the coach and Hepson against me. I owe Darrin for that one!"
+
+Five minutes later another player of the second eleven was retired with
+an injured wrist.
+
+"Howard!" called the coach briskly.
+
+"Excused for to-day, sir," reported another player.
+
+"Any one but me!" growled Jetson.
+
+"Jetson!" sounded the head coach's heavy voice.
+
+Midshipman Jetson started. His face flushed. Then, for an instant, a
+sulky impulse seized him to reply that he did not feel up to form to-day.
+But the midshipman smothered that desire and started forward.
+
+"Here, sir," he reported.
+
+"Take right guard on second," directed Coach Havens.
+
+"Very good, sir."
+
+The game was resumed. Jetson, however, had a face full of sulkiness. As
+he joined the line-up his eyes rested on Dave Darrin.
+
+"I wonder if Jetson means me any harm?" flashed through Dave's mind. In
+an instant, however, he dismissed the suspicion.
+
+"Jetson is a midshipman, a gentleman and a man of honor," thought Darrin
+generously.
+
+The whistle sounded, the ball was snapped back and passed, Darrin
+received it and dashed forward to carry it past the opponents.
+
+In a twinkling there was a staggering crash. Dave was down with the ball,
+with men of two teams piled above him.
+
+At the sound of the referee's whistle the mass disentangled itself. Dave
+and Jetson were at the bottom of the heap. Jetson was the last man up,
+but Dave still lay there.
+
+"Surgeon here?" called the coach's steady voice, devoid of excitement.
+But there was anxiety enough when it was seen that Midshipman Darrin
+still lay face downward.
+
+"Has Darrin been hurt--our Darrin--the great Darrin?" flew from tongue
+to tongue.
+
+"Did Jetson do it?" was another question that was instantly asked.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+DAN TRIES HARD TO KEEP COOL
+
+
+A surgeon and a hospital man were quickly on the spot, the others,
+anxious as they were, drawing back considerately to give the men of
+medicine room in which to work.
+
+As Dave Darrin was gently turned over on his back it was seen that Damn's
+face was a mass of blood.
+
+"Jetson's work," grunted two or three of the players.
+
+"He did it on purpose!"
+
+"If he didn't, then the fellow is too clumsy to be trusted on the
+gridiron, anyway."
+
+"We must chase Jetson away from the squad."
+
+"Silence!" remarked Head Coach Havens, very simply, though in a tone
+which meant that obedience must follow.
+
+Jetson, however, was not ignorant of the comments that were passing. His
+dark face flushed hotly with anger.
+
+"They'll blame anything on me, if I'm within a mile of the field," he
+told himself sullenly.
+
+"Is Mr. Darrin badly injured, doctor!" inquired Lieutenant-Commander
+Havens of the Naval surgeon.
+
+"I think not, sir, beyond a possibly nasty mark on the face," replied the
+surgeon, as he examined and directed the hospital men. "Mr. Darrin is
+merely stunned, from too hard an impact of some sort. He'll soon have his
+eyes open--there they come now."
+
+As if to back up the surgeon, Dave opened his eyes, staring curiously at
+the faces within his range of vision.
+
+"What's all this fuss about?" Dave asked quietly.
+
+"There isn't any fuss, Mr. Darrin," replied the surgeon. "You were
+stunned by the force of that scrimmage, and there's some blood on
+your face."
+
+"Let me wipe it off then, please, sir?" Dave begged. "I want to get back
+in the game."
+
+"You won't play again, Mr. Darrin," replied the surgeon.
+
+"Not play this season?" demanded Dave in anguished amazement. "Please
+don't joke with me, sir."
+
+"Oh, you'll play, after a few days," replied the surgeon, wetting a piece
+of gauze from the contents of a bottle that he had taken from his bag.
+With the gauze he wiped the blood away from Darrin's cheek, revealing a
+surface cut of more width than depth. Then a light bandage was put on
+over the cut.
+
+"Now, I guess you can rise all right, Mr. Darrin. This hospital man will
+go over to hospital with you."
+
+"I'm not ordered to stay there, I hope, sir?" murmured Dave anxiously.
+
+"For two or three days, at any rate--yes," replied the Naval surgeon.
+"Not because you're going to be weak, but because we've got to have you
+under our eyes all the time if your face is to heal without a bad scar."
+
+Midshipman Darrin brought his hand up in salute to the surgeon, and again
+to Lieutenant-Commander Havens.
+
+"Darrin laid up for a few days!" growled Captain Hepson, of the Navy
+team, just after Dave had started. "Now, when every day's work counts!"
+Then wheeling suddenly:
+
+"How did Darrin come to get cut in that fashion, anyway! Mr. Jetson, do
+you know anything about it?"
+
+"What do you mean, sir?" demanded Jetson, bridling. "Do you insinuate
+that I tried to put a scar on Mr. Darrin's face?"
+
+"I asked you what you knew about the accident--if it were an accident?"
+Hepson pursued coldly.
+
+"Your 'if,' sir, is insulting!"
+
+Then there came to the spot a presence that could not be treated with
+anger. Lieutenant-Commander Havens was determined to know the truth.
+
+"Mr. Jetson, had you anything in your possession, or did you wear
+anything, that could cut Mr. Damn's face like that?" demanded the
+head coach.
+
+"Nothing, sir, unless the sole of one of my shoes was responsible,"
+returned Jetson, barely concealing his anger under a mask of respect to
+an officer of the Navy.
+
+"Let me see your shoes; sit down on the ground first, Mr. Jetson."
+
+The midshipman obeyed, though with no very good grace, and held up his
+right shoe for the inspection of the head coach.
+
+"Now the other shoe, Mr. Jetson. Hm! Yes; along the inner sole of
+this shoe there are signs of what looks very much like blood. See
+here, Mr. Hepson."
+
+"Yes, sir; most certainly this is a streak of blood rubbed into the
+leather along this rather sharp edge of the sole."
+
+"May I suggest, Mr. Havens," hinted Jetson, "that something else may
+have scratched Mr. Darrin's face, and that the blood trickled to my
+shoe? I was under Mr. Darrin, somewhat, sir, in the scrimmage when the
+bunch went down."
+
+There was really nothing that could be proved, in any case, so the head
+coach could only say very quietly:
+
+"Let the practice go on, Mr. Hepson. Put Mr. Wardell temporarily in Mr.
+Darrin's place on the line."
+
+There was one in the group who had not said a word so far. But he had
+been looking on, his keen eyes studying Jetson's face. That looker-on was
+Midshipman Dan Dalzell, who, as the reader knows, sometimes displayed a
+good deal of temper.
+
+"Jetson," muttered Dan, as the other midshipman came over by him, "I
+shall need a little talk with you at the early convenience of us both."
+
+"Whenever you like," retorted Midshipman Jetson, flashing back a look
+of defiance.
+
+Then the game went on. By supper time the men of the brigade knew that
+Darrin was getting along comfortably; that he was in no pain and that he
+was in hospital only in the hope that he might be saved the annoyance of
+wearing a disfiguring scar on his face throughout all his life.
+
+"I'm afraid that some of the fellows think I purposely cut Darrin up in
+that fashion," remarked Jetson to his tablemates during the evening meal.
+
+"Don't you know that you didn't?" inquired one of the midshipmen
+laconically. None of the other men at table took heed of Jetson's words.
+
+At some of the other tables equal silence did not prevail. Midshipmen who
+did not accuse or suspect Jetson of intentional wickedness expressed the
+opinion that he was, at all events, careless and not a valuable member of
+the football squad.
+
+Jetson himself was wholly aware that he was more or less suspected in the
+minds of many, and the knowledge made him savage.
+
+During the few minutes recreation that followed the evening meal, Dan
+Dalzell approached the sullen one, who was now standing quite alone.
+
+"Mr. Jetson, I shall be glad to have a talk with you," announced Dan.
+"Will you come to my room, or shall I go to yours?"
+
+"Lead the way to your room, sir," replied Jetson stiffly.
+
+Dan did so, and behind the door the two midshipmen faced each other.
+
+"Well, sir!" demanded the visitor.
+
+"Mr. Jetson, both times that you have played against Darrin something has
+happened to him."
+
+"Don't insinuate, Mr. Dalzell. If you anything to say, speak out
+plainly, sir."
+
+"I hardly know what to say," Midshipman Dan confessed. "As a midshipman,
+your honor should be above question."
+
+"Do you wish to remark that it isn't?"
+
+"Why, I don't know," Dan answered frankly. "It seems a fearful thing to
+say, or even to think, about a midshipman."
+
+"Mr. Dalzell, either I did, or I didn't, intentionally injure Mr. Darrin.
+Yon must think one thing or the other. If you suspect that I did the
+thing intentionally, then why beat about the bush?"
+
+"I don't want to beat about the bush, and, on the other hand, I don't
+want to do you any injustice, Mr. Jetson, I thought perhaps you would be
+willing to help me out by proffering your midshipman's word of honor--"
+
+"And I," rejoined Jetson in cold anger, "consider it insulting, sir, that
+I should be asked to pledge my word of honor."
+
+"That is an extreme position to take," protested Dan. "No good man,
+when appearances are against him, should be afraid to offer his word
+of honor."
+
+"Suppose," sneered Jetson, in suppressed fury, "I should go to the other
+extreme, and say that I did it on purpose?"
+
+"Then I'd knock you down, like a dog," Dan answered directly and simply,
+"and next call on the men here to drive you forth from the brigade."
+
+"If you think you could knock me down," quivered Midshipman Jetson,
+"you'd better go ahead and find out whether your guess is correct.
+Dalzell, you've been highly insulting, and I don't mind declaring that a
+fight with you would suit me, at present, better than anything that I can
+think of."
+
+"Then you have your recourse, in a challenge," Dan hinted promptly.
+
+"What's the need of a challenge, seconds--or of anything but fists? I
+don't need them."
+
+"The brigade claims some supervision over fights between the men here,"
+Dan replied. "I intend to demand that the class take up, as a class
+matter, the mishap to Darrin this afternoon."
+
+"You--you hound!" panted Jetson, in a sudden flare-up of anger.
+
+"Careful!" warned Dalzell, clenching his fists and facing his man
+squarely.
+
+With a snort of rage Jetson launched himself forward, aiming two
+blows at Dan.
+
+Dan parried the blows coolly, but his eyes flashed.
+
+He had not lost control of himself, but he was warming up to the instinct
+of fighting when no other course seemed open.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+A NARROW SQUEAK WITH THE O.C.
+
+
+Jetson's next blow grazed Midshipman Dalzell's chin. The follow-up blow
+landed on Dan's left ear.
+
+Now Dalzell "sailed in" in earnest. He attacked forcefully and swiftly.
+Jetson was forced to give ground. Dan pursued him around the room. Being
+no coward, Jetson stood well up to the work, driving in for himself at
+least two out of every five blows that were landed.
+
+Rap-tap-tap! sounded on the door, but neither combatant heard.
+
+Smash! Dan's forceful right landed on Jetson's neck, sending that
+midshipman to the floor, whereupon Dalzell sprang back three paces.
+
+"Take your time getting on to your feet," called Dan in a low voice.
+
+"I don't want any time," snapped Jetson, leaping to his feet.
+
+The words of both speakers were heard at the door, and the visitor who
+had knocked now promptly entered.
+
+Fortunate it was for the combatants facing each other that the intruder
+was not one of the discipline officers. Had it been, both midshipmen
+would have been reported at once under charges that would have borne
+serious results.
+
+Instead, it was Farley who entered, followed by Page, Hepson and Joyce.
+
+"Wow!" uttered Midshipman Farley in a low voice. Then: "Stop this,
+fellows!"
+
+At the order, which Dan knew to be intended for his own good, the latter
+turned away, letting his hands fall. Jetson, on the point of a rush,
+realized that he had better desist.
+
+"Joyce, you stand outside," ordered Farley in a low voice. "Stand right
+at the door. If you see the O.C. (officer in charge) turning into this
+corridor, you rap as hard as you can on the door, and we'll understand."
+
+Midshipman Joyce wanted most badly to be a spectator to what was likely
+to happen on the inner side of the door, but he had the good sense to
+realize that some one must do guard duty, so he stepped outside, closing
+the door after him.
+
+"Now, gentlemen, what's this all about?" demanded Hepson in a low,
+smooth voice.
+
+"It means," cried Jetson passionately, "that I'm not going to stand any
+more of this petty persecution. Everyone has been trying to pretend that
+he believes I've been trying to do Darrin up so that he can't play on the
+Navy football team. It's all just a mean scheme to keep me from making
+the Navy eleven."
+
+"There's no such scheme afloat, or I'd know about it," returned Hepson
+coolly. "Fact is, there isn't any intention whatever of playing you on
+the Navy team."
+
+"Ah, you admit it!" snapped Midshipman Jetson, first turning white, after
+which his face showed a deep crimson of humiliation. "You've already done
+the dirty work."
+
+"Fellow, stop this talk!" commanded Hepson, almost at a white heat of
+resentment, "Among midshipmen and gentlemen there can be no thought of
+what you term 'dirty work.' The fact that you won't play with us is due
+to your uncontrollable temper. A fellow who can't control his nerves and
+temper isn't fitted to play football--a game that requires cool judgment
+at every moment of the game."
+
+"Then, while you're telling me what to stop, you just stop addressing me
+as 'fellow,'" cried Jetson, his lip quivering with rage.
+
+"I'll admit that was hasty on my part," agreed Midshipman Hepson, "but it
+seemed necessary to use some word to bring you to your senses. And now,
+this fight, which would get you both into serious trouble if a discipline
+officer came upon the scene, must cease."
+
+"I'm afraid it can't," broke in Midshipman Dalzell with quiet dignity.
+"At least, I won't agree to stopping until Mr. Jetson admits himself
+satisfied. It was he who started the fight, and only his word can close
+it. But we don't want you other fellows pulled into this trouble as
+spectators, so we'll wait until you all withdraw."
+
+"If you're determined to fight," rejoined Hepson, who was the only first
+classman present, "then we don't want to stop the fight. We'll stay and
+see it pulled off fairly. But, Dalzell, do you really want to fight?"
+
+"I didn't want to," Dan answered. "But, now that Mr. Jetson has started
+it, it must go on until he's satisfied. Up with your hands, sir, and when
+you start in, I'll answer you."
+
+The visitors skipped back, in order to leave the combatants plenty of
+room for footwork. Since Jetson had heard definite announcement of the
+fact that he could not hope to be called to the Navy eleven, his inward
+flame of passion had burned up high. He was now ready to fight with all
+the force that there was in him.
+
+In the first few seconds his assault was so resolute that Dalzell was
+forced to give ground. As he slowly retreated and shifted, Jetson drove
+in more impetuously than ever.
+
+Midshipman Dan found himself at last in a position of advantage.
+
+"Now, hammer him, Danny boy!" advised; Farley, breathing deeply.
+
+"Silence among the spectators," warned Hepson in a low, stern voice.
+"Absolutely fair play, gentlemen, to both contestants!"
+
+Again the showering exchange of blows. Jetson, after his late rapid
+expenditure of force and nerve-energy, was now just the least bit
+confused. Dan landed on one ear, and then against his enemy's chin. Both
+were hard, dazing blows, though neither left a mark.
+
+Then an uppercut and Dalzell landed on Jetson's jugular. With, a gasp the
+fellow went down to the floor.
+
+"One, two, three, four--" Hepson began counting.
+
+"Don't bother with the count," begged Dalzell "I'll give him all the time
+he wants to get to his feet."
+
+Rap-tap-tap-tap! came a banging summons on the door, followed by
+Midshipman Joyce's voice demanding:
+
+"Are you in, Danny boy?"
+
+Swift as a flash Hepson and Farley leaped forward, fairly snatching
+Jetson, who was still half dazed, to his feet.
+
+In the same instant Page called out cheerily:
+
+"Come in under full steam, whatever craft is outside!"
+
+"Brace up? Jetson! Don't look silly or dazed,", warned Hepson, in a stern
+whisper. "That rap was the signal of the approach of the O.C."
+
+Farley was industriously brushing the signs of dust from Jetson's
+uniform.
+
+"I tell you, fellows," boomed Hepson's tranquil, earnest voice, "we've
+got to hustle every minute of practice time. Nothing else will give us a
+chance to win."
+
+"We haven't even a chance if Darry isn't soon back on the gridiron,"
+argued Farley.
+
+"Oh, he'll be all right soon," broke in Dan Dalzell eagerly.
+
+Joyce had already stepped into the room, leaving the door open. Now, as
+though by instinct, the midshipmen seemed aware that the O.C., who to-day
+happened to be Lieutenant Cotton, U.S.N., was standing in front of the
+doorway gazing in.
+
+Instantly the middies came to the position of attention, looking straight
+ahead of them.
+
+"Good evening, gentlemen," greeted the O.C. "Is anything unusual
+going on?"
+
+"We have been discussing the football situation, sir," announced
+Midshipman Hepson quite truthfully.
+
+Had Hepson been asked if there had recently been a fight in progress he
+would have answered truthfully, but he did not feel called upon to
+volunteer damaging information.
+
+"I thought I heard sounds as of some disturbance," remarked the O.C.,
+looking at the young men rather sharply. "That is to say, I was under the
+impression that there had been some unusual agility in operation. I heard
+something that sounded like scuffling."
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Mr. Hepson; "I think it very likely. The men on this
+deck, sir, can't think of anything in these days but line-ups and
+scrimmage tactics."
+
+"It occurred to me," went on the O.C., "that there was some sound of
+scuffling in this room."
+
+"There was, sir," admitted Midshipman Hepson candidly. "There was a
+species of scrimmage."
+
+"Was it in connection with football?" inquired Lieutenant Cotton.
+
+"Yes, sir,"--which answer, again, was wholly truthful.
+
+"Ah, I thought I heard something like a scrimmage in the room," assented
+Lieutenant Cotton. "Yet remember, gentlemen, that quarters is not the
+place for football practice."
+
+"Very good, sir; thank you, sir," replied the unmovable Hepson.
+
+"And remember that it is now very close to the time for study call,"
+continued the O.C.
+
+"Yes, sir; thank you, sir. We are just parting to our various
+quarters, sir."
+
+"Good evening, gentlemen."
+
+"Good evening, sir."
+
+Lieutenant Cotton passed on down the corridor, and the midshipmen eased
+themselves from the rigid position of attention.
+
+"That was a narrow squeak," grunted Hepson. "Now, Jetson, get out ahead."
+
+"I'll renew this argument at another time," retorted Jetson slowly, as he
+crossed the floor.
+
+"You don't need to, sir," Midshipman Hepson advised him. "Every gentleman
+here will agree with me that Mr. Dalzell had the best of the affair right
+up to the end. Nor is Mr. Dalzell under any obligation whatever to afford
+you another meeting on the score of to-night's disagreement."
+
+"We'll see about that," snapped Jetson, as he passed through the doorway.
+
+At that instant the study call sounded. The others hastened away to
+their quarters.
+
+Dan Dalzell stepped over to the handbowl, washing his hands, after which
+he went to his study-table and began to arrange his books.
+
+"It's kind of lonely to sit here without old Darry," sighed Dan dismally.
+"I hope he'll be here with me to-morrow evening. No; I don't either,
+though. I want him to stay over in hospital until there's no chance
+whatever that he'll have to wear an ugly scar through life."
+
+It was three evenings later when Midshipman David Darrin returned to
+his own quarters in Bancroft Hall. By this time the surface wound on his
+face was healing nicely, and with ordinary care he would soon be without
+sign of scar.
+
+"Pills (the surgeon) told me that I'll have to be careful and not let
+anything bump this face for days to come," remarked Dave, pointing to the
+strip of adhesive plaster that neatly covered his injury.
+
+"Well, you don't need to bump anything," replied Dan quietly. "Hepson
+wants you on the gridiron the worst way, but he has told me that he
+won't even allow you to get into togs until Pills has certified that
+you're fit to play."
+
+"It's tough," sighed Dave, then quietly began his studies.
+
+It is a rare proceeding to send a midshipman to Coventry; a step that is
+never taken save for the gravest reasons. Dan, having fought, did not
+feel it necessary to bring Jetson's case before a class meeting, and
+Jetson escaped Coventry. He was not cut, yet he soon discovered that the
+average classmate paid no more heed to him than appeared to be necessary
+for courtesy's sake.
+
+After another week "Pills" consented to Dave Darrin's going out for
+regular gridiron practice. Dave needed the work badly, for the Navy team
+was now on the eve of the first game of the season.
+
+Jetson, with no hope now of making the eleven this year, avoided the
+field for a few days.
+
+The first game of the season took place on a Saturday afternoon. The
+opponent was Hanniston College. Ordinarily, in the past, Hanniston had
+been an easy enough opponent, though there had been years in which
+Hanniston had carried the score away from the field.
+
+"How many of the regular team do you want to throw into the game against
+Hanniston, Mr. Hepson?" inquired Lieutenant-Commander Havens the night
+before the game.
+
+"Every one of them, sir," Hepson answered the head coach. "Until we get
+into a real game, we can't be sure that we've the strongest eleven.
+To-morrow's game will show us if we have made any mistakes in our
+selections."
+
+Even though Hanniston was considered one of the lesser opponents, every
+man in the brigade speculated with great interest, that night, on the
+probable outcome of the morrow.
+
+"Darrin will have a good chance to prove himself, a dub to-morrow,"
+thought Midshipman Jetson darkly. "I hate to wish against the Navy, but
+I'll cheer if Darrin, individually, ties himself up in foozle knots!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE GRIDIRON START
+
+
+On the day of the game the midshipmen talked eagerly, and mostly of
+football, through dinner in the great messhall of the brigade.
+
+"Did any one see the Hanniston infants arrive?" demanded Page.
+
+"Infants, eh!" called Joyce from the next table. "That shows you didn't
+see the visiting eleven."
+
+"Why? Are they of fair size?" asked Farley.
+
+"It took two 'buses to bring the regular eleven, besides the subs and all
+the howlers," retorted Joyce. "And the regular eleven, I am reliably
+informed, tip the scales at four tons."
+
+"Oh, come, now, Joyce, shave off a ton or two," protested Farley.
+
+"I won't take off more than fifty pounds, sir," retorted Joyce with mock
+stubbornness. "Say! The Hanniston fellows are enormous."
+
+"Then they've run all to bones and haven't any brains," grinned Dan.
+"After all, we don't mind mere bulk, for intelligence wins most of the
+games on the gridiron."
+
+"As to their intelligence, I can't say," admitted Joyce. "At any rate,
+from the glimpse that I got of the Hans, I should say that they average
+two years older than our men."
+
+"Let's throw up the sponge, then," proposed Dalzell demurely. "If we
+can't beat the visitors what's the use of playing them? It isn't even
+necessary to get into togs. We can send a note to the referee, and he can
+award the game to Hanniston."
+
+"Fine!" broke in Hepson scornfully.
+
+"However, I guess we aren't going to have any cinch to-day," joined
+in Midshipman Waite, from another table. "I have word from outside,
+by the way."
+
+"What word?"
+
+"Well, the Hanniston fellows have brought over some money with which to
+back up the howls they're making for their team. They're offering odds of
+ten to six that Hanniston wins."
+
+"They stand to lose a lot of money," grinned Hepson.
+
+"But here's the funny part of it," continued Waite. "You know, when the
+townspeople in Annapolis think they have a really good thing on us, they
+cover the money of visitors in any wagers on the games."
+
+"Then here's hoping that the Annapolis townspeople win a lot to-day,"
+laughed Midshipman Hepson.
+
+"Yes, but," returned Waite, "what I hear from town is that the Annapolis
+townspeople have been driven to cover; that they aren't taking up the
+offers of the visiting Hanniston boys."
+
+"Too bad!" sighed Dave Darrin. "And Annapolis needs the money so
+badly, too."
+
+"Are we going to win?" asked Waite bluntly.
+
+"Too early to tell you," replied Hepson coolly. "Ask me at supper
+to-night. But the townies won't wager any money on us this year, eh?"
+
+"The Annapolis people have put up some, but not much," replied Waite.
+
+"We're going to win, just the same," announced Dan Dalzell.
+
+"Sure?" questioned several voices.
+
+"Oh, yes! It's all settled now," laughed Midshipman Waite. "I've been
+waiting for Danny boy to tell us. Now, we know--we've heard from the
+hot-air meter."
+
+There was a laugh in which Dan didn't join readily, though his face
+reddened considerably. Midshipman Dalzell was one of those who always
+believed that the Navy must win, just because it was the Navy. Some of
+the other midshipmen didn't go quite as far as that in their confidence.
+
+"Better not call Danny boy names," advised Dave Darrin gravely. "He
+might be sulking at just the time when we need him this afternoon."
+
+"That would be unmilitary," retorted Mr. Waite.
+
+"Oh, no," said Dave lightly. "Even as good a soldier as Achilles sulked
+in his tent, you know."
+
+"Achilles? What class was he in, then?" demanded Waite. "I don't remember
+the name."
+
+"He was in a class of his own, at the siege of Troy," volunteered Farley.
+
+"Troy, N.Y.?" inquired Waite.
+
+"If you keep on, Waite," muttered Farley, "someone will have to give you
+an ancient history book at Christmas. You don't seem well posted on
+Greek tales."
+
+"Don't have to be, thank goodness," returned Waite, helping himself to
+another piece of beef. "Greek isn't on the list here."
+
+There was abundant time for rest before the game. The players and
+subs, for the Navy team, however, were early at dressing quarters.
+Jetson hadn't been called as one of the subs., so he walked sulkily
+and alone through the grounds while most of the midshipmen strolled,
+about in groups.
+
+Half an hour before the time for the game the spectators' seats held
+fair-sized crowds. At that time the Naval Academy Band began to play,
+just to keep the waiting ones more patient.
+
+Ten minutes later the Hanniston players came on to the field at a slow
+trot. Instantly the Hanniston howlers in the audience began to whoop up
+the noise. The midshipmen joined in cheers, and then the band took up the
+music again.
+
+At first sight of the visitors, some of the Navy people began to have
+their doubts about victory. The Hannistons surely were "bulky." In size
+and age, the visitors were as formidable as any of the college elevens.
+
+Many of the midshipmen, too, recalled what they had heard Waite say
+at table. It seemed little wonder that the popular odds were against
+the middies.
+
+But the band, having played its welcome to the Hannistons, who were now
+chasing a ball over the field in practice, almost immediately switched
+off into the strains of "See, the Conquering Hero Comes!"
+
+All doubts were dispelled for the moment at least, as all the Navy people
+present let loose a tremendous cheer in which the midshipmen spectators
+led, for now Captain Hepson was leading his own men on to the field, the
+hope of the Navy that day.
+
+"Hepson! Hepson!" went up rousingly from the brigade.
+
+"Darrin! Darrin!" howled others.
+
+"Dalzell!"
+
+"Darrin! Darrin!"
+
+"Hepson must enjoy hearing more noise for Darrin than for himself,"
+reflected Jetson moodily.
+
+But Hepson, big in body, heart and mind, was intent only on victory. It
+did not even occur to the captain of the Navy eleven that Darrin was
+getting more of a reception than himself. Hepson was simply and heartily
+glad to find himself supported by two such promising gridiron men as
+Darrin and Dalzell.
+
+"Remember, Darry, how much we're backing on you to-day," muttered Hepson,
+after another round of yells for Dave had been given.
+
+"I can't do everything, and perhaps not much," smiled Dave. "But I'll do
+my level best to do all that you call upon me for at my own little spot
+in the line."
+
+A din of Hanniston yells was now smiting the air. Uncle Sam's midshipmen
+waited with patience and courtesy, but when their turn came they volleyed
+forth four times as much as the visiting howlers could supply.
+
+"I hope Darry is in great form to-day," murmured the midshipman seated
+next to Jetson.
+
+"He looks to be in as good shape as ever doesn't he?" asked Jetson
+sullenly.
+
+"Oh, I forgot," exclaimed the other. "You don't like Darry any
+too well."
+
+"I've nothing against him that would make me want to see him in bad
+form," grumbled Jetson. "I'm a Navy man and I don't want to see any but
+Navy victories."
+
+The toss had just been made, the visitors winning the kick-off. At a sign
+from a Navy officer in the field the leader silenced his band and a hush
+fell over the gridiron and the seats of the onlookers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE BAND COULDN'T MAKE ITSELF HEARD
+
+
+Within five minutes the Hanniston players had established the fact that
+they were not only bulky, but quick and brainy. In fact, though the Navy
+promptly blocked the ball and got it, the middies were unable to make
+headway against the college men. Then Hanniston took the ball, fighting
+slowly but steadily toward the Navy goal line.
+
+"I don't see Darrin making any wonderful plays," thought Jetson to
+himself. He was gloomy over seeing the Navy outplayed, but secretly glad
+that the spectators had as yet found no occasion to shout themselves
+hoarse over Midshipman Dave's work.
+
+Outside of the brigade the other spectators in the Navy seats felt
+themselves tinder a cloud of increasing gloom.
+
+"From all the talk I had expected more of Mr. Darrin," remarked an
+officer's wife-to her husband.
+
+"Darrin has a fearful Hanniston line against him," replied the officer.
+"Captain Hepson realizes that, too, and he isn't pushing Darrin as hard
+as you might wish to see."
+
+"We're going to be beaten, aren't we?" asked another Navy onlooker.
+
+It was as yet too early to predict safely, though all the appearances
+were that the visitors would do whatever scoring was to be done to-day.
+
+Yet, even when they felt themselves outclassed, the middies hung to their
+opponents with dogged perseverance. It took nearly all of the first half
+for the Hannistons to place the Navy goal in final, desperate danger.
+
+Then, of a sudden, while the Hannistons worked within a dozen yards of
+the Navy goal line, the college boys made a new attack, the strongest
+they had yet shown.
+
+There was a bumping crash as the lines came together, at the Navy's
+right. Farley and Page were swept clear off their feet and the assailants
+swept onward. Another clever attack, backed by a ruse, and one of the
+college boys started on a dead run with the ball. In vain the Navy's
+backs tried to stop him. The Hanniston boys successfully interfered for
+their runner, and the ball was touched down behind the goal line.
+
+Gone were the cheers that had been ascending from the brigade. All the
+Navy crowd gasped in dismay. The ball was carried back, kicked, and
+Hanniston had scored six points.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha, ha--Hanniston! Wow!" went up derisively from
+the visiting howlers.
+
+"Hepson! Hepson! Pull us out!" came the appeal.
+
+"Darry! Darry! Rush it!"
+
+As the two elevens were lining up for another start the time-keeper's
+whistle sounded the end of the first half of the game.
+
+Gloomy, indeed, were those who had hoped to see the Navy win. There were
+no cheers, save from the visitor-howlers. The best that the leader of the
+band could do, was to swing his baton and start in the strains of "'Twas
+Never Thus in Olden Times."
+
+"What do you make of the enemy, Hepson?" inquired Joyce, as the middies
+rested at the side lines.
+
+"We haven't made anything of them yet, but we've got to make wrecks of
+'em before the last half is over," grunted the captain of the Navy.
+
+"How are we going to do it?" asked another player.
+
+"By just hanging at them with sheer grit," replied the captain gravely.
+"Fellows, they've beaten us so far, but they haven't worn us out any. Big
+fellows as the Hannistons are, they may not have the endurance to hang to
+us through all of the coming half."
+
+"That makes me remember a song I heard when on leave this year," grinned
+Page. "A part of it runs:
+
+'Said the ant to the elephant,
+"Who are ye shoving?
+There's one wide river to cross!"'
+
+"And we're the elephants?" inquired Farley in mock innocence.
+
+"Do we look it?" demanded Page in disgust.
+
+"Remember, fellows," warned Hepson, as the signal summoned both teams
+back to the field, "many a hopeless game has been won in the last five
+minutes. But don't wait. Hammer the college boys from the start!"
+
+"Dalzell and I can stand hard work and pounding whenever you get ready to
+put it on us," Dave announced to Hepson. "Don't try to spare us any. Both
+of us would sooner be carried away on stretchers than see the Navy lose
+its first game to a minor college."
+
+The game was resumed. For ten minutes the Navy played mainly on the
+defensive. Indeed, to the spectators it seemed all that the middies could
+do against such big fellows as the visitors.
+
+Just after that, however, Hepson passed the silent signal, and then the
+midshipmen hurled themselves into the fray to test out all the endurance
+that the Hanniston players might possess.
+
+Many a college boy on the opposing line wondered where these smaller men
+in the Navy togs had obtained all the fight that they now showed. The big
+fellows didn't seem able to stand it long. The Navy had the ball, and now
+slowly fought down toward the college goal. Onlookers in the Navy seats
+began to stand up, to watch breathlessly, and be ever ready to cheer.
+
+"Hurl little Darry in!" yelled someone hoarsely in a momentary lull in
+the noise.
+
+But Hepson, watching every chance with tigerish eyes, was yet
+cool-headed, as a football general should be. Twice he used Darrin to
+advance the ball, and each time Dave gained a few yards. The third time,
+wearied by pounding his head against a human stone wall, Dave failed to
+gain more than half a yard. Watchful Hepson sent the ball, after the next
+snap-back, over to the Navy's right.
+
+The time of the second half was slipping away, and it now looked as
+though the middies might gradually have won by the steady, bull-dog
+quality of their tactics.
+
+Nearer and nearer to the college goal line the team of smaller men fought
+the pigskin, until at last they had it within six yards of the Hanniston
+fortress. But at this point the visitors stayed further progress long
+enough to have the pigskin ovoid come to them by a block.
+
+The situation was desperate. Hanniston could not get the ball away from
+its present locality, and in dread the college captain sent the ball back
+of his own line to a safety.
+
+This counted two for Annapolis, but it also set the ball back twenty-five
+yards from the college line.
+
+"Block! block! block--if you can't fight the ball back to the Navy goal,"
+was the word that Captain Hart, of the college team, sent along his own
+line. "Don't be too reckless. Just fight to keep the Navy from scoring."
+
+"Hepson! Hepson!" came, appealingly, from the seats, as the two elevens
+lined up at the twenty-five-yard line.
+
+"Darry! O Darry!"
+
+Grim determination written on their faces, eleven middies awaited the
+signal, then hurled themselves forward like tigers.
+
+The ball came to Dave, who started with it. Dan Dalzell, watching his
+chum with cat-like eyes, followed and made the best interference that he
+had offered that day.
+
+Five and a half yards won!
+
+As center bent for the snap back, a "fake" signal was called by the Navy
+quarter-back.
+
+Just as the ball started, the Navy players back of the line started
+toward the right The Hanniston men, tired now, but full of grit as ever,
+moved to block. The Navy gained a second or two, for the pass was really
+to the left, and again Darrin had the pigskin clutched tightly as he
+started to ran and deceive. Again Dan and the others of the interference
+sustained their idol and champion. Dave went soon to earth, but he had
+forced the ball another six yards!
+
+"Darry--oh, Darry!"
+
+"One more play and over the line!"
+
+"You've got the elephants going at last."
+
+"Rush 'em!"
+
+"A touchdown saves us!"
+
+Dan's face was flushed, Dave's white and set as the line again formed for
+the next play.
+
+Quarter-back Joyce held up his head, watching the field like a mouse
+seeking escape.
+
+Then came the emergency signal: "Nine--fourteen--twenty-two--three!"
+
+Back came the pigskin while the middies seemed to throw their
+bodies toward the right. It looked as though they were trying to
+mask this feint.
+
+The ball was in motion. But Dave had it, instead of Farley. Instantly the
+Navy swung its entire line toward the left, for this was the grand rush,
+the die on which everything was cast!
+
+Dave was darting forward, and never had his interference backed
+him better.
+
+Before Midshipman Darrin stood one of the big college men, who looked
+fully equal to stopping the midshipman anywhere and at any time.
+
+Nor did Darrin try to dodge this bulky player. Instead, Dave, as he
+hurled himself at the opponent, sprang high into the air, as though he
+had some desperate plan of leaping over the barrier.
+
+Braced on his legs, his two feet solidly planted, this Hanniston man felt
+ready for any shock that Dave Darrin could bring against him.
+
+But Darrin did not touch him. On the contrary, the Navy's hope fell to
+the ground, just short of the blocking opponent.
+
+Like a flash Dave went between that pair of solidly braced, wide-spread
+legs. In a wriggle that looked flash-like to the breathless beholders,
+Darrin was through. He had taken desperate chances, when he went down, of
+being beset, end forced to hold the pigskin where he had fallen.
+
+But now Dave was up and running, and the player who had sought to block
+him was far in the rear.
+
+The whole Navy force hurled itself around this point, battering down the
+startled opposition. With fast-coming breath Dave's comrades pushed him
+along breaking down all opposition--until Dave, with a sudden, wild
+dash, was over the line for a touchdown.
+
+"Darry did it! Darry did it!"
+
+For fifteen seconds the uproar was deafening. The college players looked
+stunned, while their howlers, over on the visitors' seats, seemed to
+shrink within their coats.
+
+"Seven to six!"
+
+"Make it eight!"
+
+Dave Darrin had borne the brunt of battle. Now his eyes were flashing
+with excitement.
+
+"I'd like you to try the kick for goal, Darry, but I don't know," called
+Hepson in his ear. "You may be about used up."
+
+"Let me have the kick. I'm not afraid," Dave half boasted, for now he
+could think of nothing but victory.
+
+"All right. Take it," agreed Hepson.
+
+Dave Darrin did take the kick. Never had he made a better one. The ball
+went straight and true between the goal-posts.
+
+The band-leader held his baton poised, but the Navy spectators broke into
+such a riot of joy that he let the baton fall inertly.
+
+"What's the use?" he asked the musicians.
+
+Again the players lined up, with the Navy; score eight to six.
+
+Ten seconds later, the whistle blew, announcing the end of the game.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+JOYCE IS BITTEN BY THE TROUBLE BUG
+
+
+The game was over. The giant visitors had departed, and the Naval Academy
+atmosphere appeared to be rarefied.
+
+Most of the members of the brigade were back in Bancroft Hall, and this
+being late Saturday afternoon, study was over save for those who felt the
+need of devoting extra time to their books.
+
+Farley, Page and Joyce had dropped into the room occupied by Dave and
+Dan.
+
+"Hepson was nearly crazy this afternoon," remarked Joyce, laughing.
+
+"Then he had an easy way of concealing the fact," Dave replied. "I call
+him a cool football captain, with plenty of judgment and patience."
+
+"Yes; but I happen to know that he was badly upset," returned Joyce.
+"Twice he sent me the wrong signal about the numbers to call, and he
+admitted it afterward. He was afraid, before the game was twenty minutes'
+old, that we were up against a big walloping."
+
+"Oh, well," Darrin replied, with a shrug of his shoulders, "the Navy is
+just as used as the Army is to being walloped in athletics. The trouble
+with the Army and Navy teams, in athletics, is that we're always pitted
+against college men who are bigger and older than we are. It's just about
+as unfair to us, as it would be unfair to High School teams if we played
+against High Schools instead of colleges. We could wallop High School
+outfits at either baseball or football, and the only wonder is that the
+Army and Navy win as many games as they do against the colleges. College
+teams have more time for training than the Army or Navy teams do."
+
+"What are you going to do to-night, Darry?" Joyce asked presently.
+"The hop?"
+
+"No," Dave answered almost shortly. The truth was that he was no
+"hop-fiend" or "fusser." Except when Belle Meade was at Annapolis to go
+to a hop with him, Darrin had little liking for the ball.
+
+"I don't intend to hop either," Joyce continued. "Now, are you well
+enough up in grease to get town leave for the evening?"
+
+"Grease" means good standing on the conduct report.
+
+"Yes," nodded Dave. "Danny and I could easily get town leave, if we had a
+good excuse. But, of course, it's out of the question to get leave merely
+to roam the streets. We'd have to explain where we were going, and then
+go there."
+
+"There's a show on at the theatre," broke in Dalzell.
+
+"Yes," nodded Dave. "But do you know what kind of show it is?"
+
+"No."
+
+"It's a burlesque show, brought here to win away the half dollars of the
+sailors on the ships here. We'd stand very little chance of getting leave
+to go to that kind of show."
+
+"But I want to go somewhere, away from the Academy grounds, just for a
+couple of hours," sighed Joyce.
+
+"I'd like to go also," agreed Dave. "But where could we go? That is, to
+what place or for what purpose could we go that would be approved by
+the O.C.?"
+
+This proved to be a poser indeed.
+
+"Fact is," Joyce went on, "I'm so desperate for a little change that I
+don't believe I'd funk at taking French over the Academy wall. What do
+you two say?"
+
+"That dog won't bark," Dave retorted.
+
+"Oh, you greaser!" Joyce shied at him.
+
+"Well, I am greasing to the extent that I won't imperil my chances of
+keeping in the service by taking any French leave," Darrin replied
+steadily. "So, Joyce, I'm afraid a trip to town to-night is out of the
+question, unless you can think up some plan to get by the O.C."
+
+"How are you on Frenching the wall, Danny boy?" queried Joyce.
+
+"Just about as big a muff as Darry," Dan returned dryly.
+
+Joyce remained for some moments in deep meditation. He wanted to go into
+Annapolis, and he didn't care about going on a lonesome expedition. The
+more he thought the better Joyce realized how hard it was to frame a
+request that would get past the O.C.
+
+"I have it," spoke up Dalzell at last. "We'll ask leave to run up to
+Baltimore to consult an oculist."
+
+"You idiot!" cried Joyce impatiently. None of us need spectacles."
+
+"Besides, there's no train running to Baltimore as late as this,"
+added Dave.
+
+"No good, then," sighed Dalzell, "and my inventiveness is gone."
+
+"I'm afraid we'll have to French it over the wall," insisted Joyce.
+
+"You'll French it alone, then," Dave declared. "I draw the line at
+leaving the grounds without official permission."
+
+"Prig!" grunted Joyce under his breath. Then he started up, his eyes
+shining with the light of a new resolve.
+
+"Got an idea?" asked Dan.
+
+"Yes," said Joyce. "And you'll call me a fool if I let you in on it now.
+Wait until I see how it works."
+
+With that he hastened from the room. Darrin drew down a book from the
+bookshelf, and from between its pages extracted a letter from Belle,
+which he began to read for the dozenth time.
+
+A few minutes passed. Then Joyce knocked, next entered the room with
+jubilation apparent in his face.
+
+"I've fixed it," he cried. "All you fellows have to do is to go to the
+O.C. and make your request in person."
+
+"Request for what?" Dave asked, looking up as he folded the letter.
+
+"I told the O.C., plumply, that we were so tired of being on this side of
+the wall that we felt desperate for a change. I reminded him that we are
+all three in the top grease grade, and told him that we wanted permission
+to take a short stroll through Annapolis to-night. O.C. hemmed and hawed,
+and said it was a most unusual request for the evening, though proper
+enough for Saturday afternoon. At last he called up the commandant of
+midshipmen, stated the case and asked if he might grant the permission.
+The com. was game and said all right. So all that remains is for you two
+to go to the O.C. and make your request in person. Scat! Get in motion!
+Start! I'll wait here until I hear that you've put it through."
+
+"Of course, Joyce, you're not putting up a joke on us?" demanded Darrin,
+looking keenly at the Navy quarter-back.
+
+"On my word I'm not."
+
+"Come on, Danny boy," called Dave, starting, and Dalzell followed
+readily enough. They entered the office of the O. C., saluted and stated
+their case.
+
+"It is, of course, a somewhat unusual request to grant for the evening,"
+replied Lieutenant-Commander Denham. "However, I can grant it if you will
+both assure me that you will take extreme pains to keep out of trouble of
+any kind, and that you will not enter the theatre or any other resort
+that would be bad judgment for a midshipman to enter."
+
+"As to that, sir," Darrin replied, "I long ago resolved not to take any
+chances whatever of breaking any disciplinary requirements that would
+bring me demerits. I am working hard to get through the academic
+requirements, sir, and I don't intend to pass the mental ordeals here and
+then find that I can't keep on as a midshipman just because I have too
+many demerits against me. I think, sir, you may feel assured I shall not
+allow myself to do anything that would bring me under discipline."
+
+"Your resolution was and is a most excellent one, Mr. Darrin," replied
+the O.C. "Mr. Dalzell, do you share Mr. Darrin's determination as to
+keeping out of trouble in Annapolis this evening?"
+
+"Emphatically, sir."
+
+"Then the desired permission is granted. You will enter proper report as
+to the time of leaving and returning."
+
+Thanking the O.C. and saluting, Dave and Dan hastened back to Joyce.
+
+"Not so difficult, was it?" demanded the Navy quarter-back.
+
+"It was a whole lot better than planning to French the trip," retorted
+Darrin. "Now, we shall leave here to-night feeling perfectly safe as to
+our place on the pap."
+
+"Pap" is the sheet on which the day's report of midshipmen conduct is
+kept.
+
+"I'll admit that caution is sometimes worth while," laughed Joyce.
+
+Soon after the call for supper formation sounded. The meal hour was a
+merry one that evening. The afternoon's game was naturally the main
+subject for conversation.
+
+Dave naturally came in for much praise for the way he had saved the Navy
+game, but this flattery bored him. Darrin did not in the least imagine
+that he was a wonder on the gridiron. In fact, the game being past and
+won, he did not take any further interest in it. Such thought as he now
+gave to football concerned the games still to come.
+
+Immediately after the meal the three midshipmen reported their departure
+into Annapolis. Then they went to the main gate, passed through and
+strolled on up Maryland Avenue into State Circle.
+
+"I'm sorry we promised not to go to the theatre," murmured
+Midshipman Joyce.
+
+"I'm not," retorted Dave. "Without that promise we wouldn't have secured
+the leave."
+
+"But what are we going to do," demanded the dissatisfied one, "now that
+we are outside the grounds?"
+
+"We can't do much, except what we came out to do," Dave reminded Joyce.
+"We can just walk about and stretch our legs, look in at a few store
+windows and make a few trifling purchases that won't exhaust our small
+store of pocket money."
+
+"Exciting prospect!" remarked Joyce.
+
+"Well, what ails you?" demanded Dalzell with unusual quietness. "What do
+you want to do? Something that will get us into big trouble with the O.C.
+and the com.?"
+
+"Joyce can't tell you what he longs for, for he doesn't know himself,"
+explained Dave.
+
+"But I know. He wants to do something irregular; anything that is
+slightly in breach of the regulations--something that will get him hauled
+up before the O.C. and the pap."
+
+"You're a wonderful guesser," laughed Joyce. "Well, I'll admit that I'm
+simply restless, and that anything that will stir my blood and my liver
+will fill the bill. I'm afraid I'm so depraved to-night that even a
+street-fight wouldn't go against the grain."
+
+"You'd better forget it," advised Darrin quietly. "It's a dangerous frame
+of mind for a future officer and gentleman, who must acquire control over
+himself before he can be fit to command men."
+
+"You talk like a padre!" (chaplain) uttered Joyce in disgust "Can't you
+forget, for one evening, that you're a midshipman?"
+
+"No; I don't want to," Dave returned quietly.
+
+"Prig!" uttered Joyce again, and this time he did not take the pains to
+speak under his breath. But Darrin only smiled indulgently.
+
+By way of simple dissipation the three midshipmen went to a drug store,
+enjoying themselves with ice cream sodas. Soon after they found
+themselves in a Main Street bookstore, looking over post cards. They
+could, however, find no new ones, and so left without buying.
+
+"And there's the theatre right over there!" sighed Joyce.
+
+"It would be against our word as midshipmen and gentlemen to visit it,"
+Dave urged. "Come on, Joyce; we'll turn into one of the very quiet side
+streets and stroll along. Then we'll be out of temptation."
+
+Accordingly they went to one of the all but deserted side streets of the
+better sort.
+
+"There's a comrade ahead of us," said Dave in an undertone presently, as
+he made out the uniform half a block away.
+
+Hardly had he spoken when a door opened and a young man in evening
+clothes came lightly down the steps. At once the unknown midshipman
+wheeled and sprang at the young civilian. There was a swift interchange
+of blows, over almost as soon as it started, for the unknown midshipman
+speedily knocked down the man he had assaulted. Nor did the civilian get
+up at once. Instead, he bawled lustily for help.
+
+Joyce made a move to spring forward, but Dave caught him by the arm.
+
+"Don't get forward, Joyce. If you do, you'll probably recognize the
+midshipman. Then you'll have to report his name."
+
+Answering the calls for help five other young men ran out of the same
+house. The midshipman disdained to flee and stood his ground.
+
+"We'll teach you!" snarled one of the newly arrived civilians, raising
+his cane as though to bring it down on the midshipman's shoulders.
+
+The midshipman, like a flash, wrenched the cane from the other's
+hands and began to lay it lustily about him. The whole crowd,
+therefore, including the young man who had first been knocked down,
+joined in the attack.
+
+"That's too much like cowardice, and we're bound to go to the rescue of a
+comrade!" muttered Dave Darrin, his eyes blazing. "Come on, fellows--and
+be sure not to recognize that comrade!"
+
+In a moment the fight was somewhat more equal. Darrin, Dalzell and Joyce
+were all accomplished and disciplined boxers. They closed with the crowd
+around the midshipman.
+
+Crack! thump! bump! Midshipman blows landed heavily and rapidly. The
+civilians were soon worsted and scattered.
+
+"Whoever you are, comrade," muttered Dave in a low tone, wheeling the
+unknown midshipman around, "don't look our way and don't give us any
+chance to recognize you. Scoot!"
+
+"Po-o-o-lice!" lustily yelled one of the crowd of defeated civilians.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+HEPSON IS "SOME WILD"
+
+
+"Police!" bawled others of the civilians, taking up the hue and cry.
+
+That spelled serious trouble if Dave and his friends should tarry there.
+Midshipmen are in no sense free from arrest by the civil authorities, and
+it is likely to fare hard with Uncle Sam's young sailors if they are
+taken in by the civil authorities.
+
+"Come along," muttered Darrin, leading the way. He did not run, but he
+certainly walked fast, and in a direction away from Main Street. His two
+companions followed him. The "unknown midshipman," taking Darrin's shrewd
+hint, had already made himself invisible.
+
+After the prompt drubbing they had received, not one of the young
+civilians felt any desire to follow these husky midshipmen.
+
+The police in Annapolis are few in number, and so do not always hear a
+street summons. In this instance Dave and his friends turned a corner and
+were soon away from the scene of the late affair.
+
+"Now, I hope you've had all the excitement you want, Joyce," Dave
+remarked dryly.
+
+"Like most good things, it didn't last long," complained Joyce.
+
+"Oh, it isn't over yet, by any means. We've the O.C. and the com. to
+face," grumbled Darrin. "But we couldn't stand by and see one of our own
+punched by a whole gang."
+
+"Of course we couldn't, but why fuss about the com, and his satellite,
+the O.C.? They'll never hear of this."
+
+"I think there's a big chance that we shall hear of it," retorted Dave.
+"That's why I advised you not to look at the unknown midshipman closely
+enough to be able to recognize him in the dark."
+
+"I don't know who he was," admitted Dan candidly.
+
+"Nor do I," supplemented Joyce.
+
+"Then, whoever he is, the chap stands little chance of being caught
+unless he voluntarily announces himself."
+
+Presumably the police didn't answer the hail of the young civilians.
+At any rate, Darrin and his friends heard nothing more of the matter
+while in town.
+
+But when they returned to Bancroft Hall the trio were met by this
+announcement:
+
+"The officer in charge wishes to see you in his office."
+
+"It's coming," warned Dave, as he and his companions turned and went in
+to report themselves.
+
+"There has been a disturbance in Annapolis," stated Lieutenant-Commander
+Denham. "Mr. Darrin, were you in it?"
+
+"I was in one kind of disturbance, sir," Darrin answered at once.
+
+"Of what kind?"
+
+"Several civilians attacked a man in a midshipman's uniform. I went
+to his aid."
+
+"And attacked some civilians?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Mr. Dalzell, Mr. Joyce, did you also take part in that affair?"
+inquired the O.C.
+
+"Yes, sir," answered both midshipmen.
+
+"For what reason?"
+
+"Because, sir," answered Joyce, "several civilians pounced upon one man
+who wore a midshipman's uniform."
+
+"And you three rushed in and pounded some civilians?" asked the
+O.C. coolly.
+
+"I'm afraid we did, sir," answered Dave, who found the
+lieutenant-commander's gaze turned on him.
+
+"Who was that other midshipman, Mr. Darrin?"
+
+"I don't know, sir."
+
+"Didn't you recognize him when you went to his aid?"
+
+"I did not, sir."
+
+"Did either of you gentlemen recognize the midshipman to whose rescue
+you rushed?"
+
+Dan and Joyce replied in the negative.
+
+"Tell me the circumstances of the attack, Mr. Darrin. Take pains to make
+your statement so exact that you will not have to amend the statement
+afterwards."
+
+Darrin told the affair as it had happened.
+
+"Hm! And none of you recognized the fourth midshipman?" pursued the O.C.
+"That, in itself, was strange, Mr. Darrin, was there any agreement among
+you three that you would not recognize your comrade?"
+
+"Not exactly an agreement, sir," Dave confessed candidly. "At the
+distance that we were from the scene before we rushed in the darkness
+prevented our seeing the face of the unknown midshipman. As we started
+forward, I will admit that I warned Mr. Dalzell and Mr. Joyce not to look
+at the other midshipman's face."
+
+"So that you might answer truthfully, if asked, that you did not
+know the man?"
+
+"Yes, sir; that was my reason for so advising Mr. Dalzell and Mr. Joyce."
+
+"That was what might be termed extraordinary foresight, Mr. Darrin,"
+remarked Lieutenant-Commander Denham ironically.
+
+"Thank you, sir," answered Dave as innocently as though he did not
+understand that he had just been rebuked. The O.C. frowned.
+
+"Mr. Darrin, since I assume you to have been the ringleader of your trio,
+did you give that wonderful advice to your companions just so that you
+might be able to refuse any aid to the Naval Academy authorities in
+running this matter to the ground?"
+
+"Yes, sir," Dave answered very frankly.
+
+"You wished, then," demanded the O.C. sternly, "to hinder the course of
+justice at the Naval Academy?"
+
+"It, at least, sir, did not strike me at the time quite in that light."
+
+"Yet something was happening on the streets of Annapolis that you knew
+would be very thoroughly investigated if it were reported here, and so
+you took precautions against being able to aid the authorities in the
+investigation?"
+
+"I admit the truth of that, sir."
+
+"Mr. Darrin, why did you feel called upon to try to defeat the
+investigation that you foresaw, and which is now under way?"
+
+"Because, sir, it is contrary to the spirit of the brigade of midshipmen
+to carry tales against each other. I did not care to act contrary to
+that spirit."
+
+"Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that you did not dare,"
+observed the O.C. half sneeringly.
+
+"That way of stating it would be true, sir. I do not care to turn
+informer against my comrades."
+
+"Yet you think you possess the courage to become one of our fighting
+officers in the future, if the need arises?
+
+"Of my courage as a fighting man, sir, I am unable to form any opinion
+until that courage has been properly tested."
+
+"But you are afraid to inform the authorities of the identity of comrades
+who commit serious offenses?"
+
+"As it is contrary to the spirit of the brigade, sir, I would be more
+afraid of my own contempt than of any other punishment."
+
+Lieutenant-Commander Denham appeared to lose some of his patience
+presently.
+
+"I wonder," he remarked brusquely, "why you midshipmen cannot learn to
+accept some of your sense of honor from the officers who have seen so
+much more service than you. I wonder why you will go on formulating your
+own canons of honor, even when such beliefs sometimes result in the
+dismissal of midshipmen from the service."
+
+The three midshipmen, not being questioned, remained silent.
+
+"And so not one of you has the slightest idea of the original nature of
+the quarrel in which you so readily took part? And none of you has any
+idea of the identity of the fourth midshipman concerned in this
+evening's work?"
+
+"I have not, sir," replied Midshipmen Darrin, Dalzell and Joyce in
+one breath.
+
+"Very good, gentlemen. The matter will be investigated further. You will
+go to your quarters and remain there. You will take part in the meal
+formations, but in no drills or recitations until you are further
+advised. And you will not leave Bancroft Hall without direct orders from
+competent authority."
+
+The three midshipmen saluted, turned and left the office, going to their
+own rooms.
+
+"Wow!" muttered Dan as soon as the chums had closed their door on
+themselves.
+
+"We shall surely have enough to think of," smiled Dave wearily.
+
+"Oh, aye!" agreed Dalzell.
+
+"Oh, well, if we're going to skip some recitations we'll need all the
+more study," sighed Dave, seating himself at his study table and drawing
+his books toward him.
+
+But he was not permitted to study long in peace. Word of the affair had
+spread, and Hepson presented himself at Darrin's quarters in great
+consternation.
+
+"Great!" mocked Hepson. "Just when we've discovered that the Navy has a
+dub team without you two, or next door to one, then you two go and get
+ordered to quarters. You'll not turn out with us Monday; you may not
+practice with us through the week or play in our next game. Fine!"
+
+"Perhaps," grinned Dan, "if we two are so important to Navy prestige as
+you appear to imagine, we shall not be kept long from the gridiron."
+
+"Dalzell," retorted Hepson impatiently, "you're a second classman, and
+you've been here long enough to know that no considerations of discipline
+will be made to stand aside in order that the Navy may have a better
+athletic team of any kind. Nothing here is sacrificed to athletics, and
+you surely must know it."
+
+"Then I guess we're dished," confessed Dalzell mournfully.
+
+"A fine way for you two to go and use the football squad! Great!"
+insisted Hepson bitterly.
+
+"Had you been with us, Hepson, you'd have done just as we did. I know
+that," Dave replied.
+
+"Well, you are calling me a bit," agreed Hepson. "After all, I don't know
+just what it was that got you both into this scrape. Some kind of fight,
+or row, in town, was all I heard."
+
+"Then I'll tell you about it," Darrin went on quietly.
+
+"Well, I really don't see how you could have helped it," agreed
+Midshipman Hepson after he had listened. "But that doesn't save us any.
+We're out our two best line players and our quarter-back."
+
+"Oh, we'll be restored to the squad as soon as the sentence has been
+pronounced," predicted Dan Dalzell.
+
+"Even if you're bounced out of the Naval Academy?" demanded Hepson
+savagely.
+
+"It--it won't be as bad as that," faltered Dan.
+
+"Perhaps not," agreed Hepson, "though you must understand that the charge
+of assaulting civilians is not a light matter. You can be dismissed for
+it, you know."
+
+"Yes," nodded Dave Darrin, and then Danny boy went several shades
+less ruddy.
+
+"Here's hoping for the best," grumbled Hepson, holding out his hand to
+each in turn. "And, for the love of Mike, keep out of all further
+trouble! Don't look cross-eyed--once--until after November!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+TWO SIDES OF A STORY
+
+
+One circumstance puzzled all of the midshipmen who first heard of the
+affair. The fourth, and unknown, midshipman, who had waited outside of
+the house and assaulted the first civilian, must have known the latter or
+it was not likely that he would have committed the assault. That being
+the case, it was just likely that the civilian knew and had recognized
+the unknown midshipman who had knocked him down. Such an attack must have
+followed some prior dispute.
+
+Then, since the civilians had undoubtedly made complaint to the Naval
+Academy authorities, how had they been able to get out of supplying the
+name of the midshipman unknown to Dave and his friends?
+
+Right after breakfast the next morning Dave Darrin and his friends of the
+evening before were summoned before the commandant of midshipmen. By that
+officer they were questioned very rigidly, but they had nothing to add to
+their statement of the night before. They were therefore ordered back to
+their quarters, with permission only to attend chapel that forenoon.
+
+Just after chapel, however, the fourth midshipman discovered himself to
+the officer in charge. He was Midshipman Totten, of fourth class.
+
+Totten admitted that it was he who had waited outside of the house in
+question, and who had knocked down the civilian. He further gave the name
+of that civilian, who was the son of one of the prominent officials of
+the state government.
+
+"Why did you strike him, Mr. Totten?" demanded the officer in charge.
+
+"Because, sir, the fellow had grossly insulted a young lady whom I felt
+bound to avenge."
+
+"Who is the young lady?"
+
+"Am I obliged, sir, to give her name in the matter?"
+
+"It will be better, Mr. Totten. You may be sure that your statement will
+be treated with all the consideration and confidence possible."
+
+Totten thereupon explained that the young woman in question was his
+cousin. Totten, who was an orphan, had been brought up by an aunt who had
+but one child of her own, the young woman in question. When Totten had
+won an appointment to the Naval Academy, the aunt and cousin had decided
+to move to Annapolis sooner than have their little family broken up.
+
+"How did you come to be outside the Academy grounds last evening, Mr.
+Totten? You were not on leave to go outside."
+
+"I took the chances and Frenched it, sir," confessed Totten candidly. "I
+knew that I could not get leave, and so did not ask it. But I felt that
+the fellow had to be punished, no matter at what hazard to myself."
+
+"Then you considered the avenging of the insult to your cousin as being a
+matter of greater importance than your future career in the Navy?"
+
+Midshipman Totten paled, but he answered bravely:
+
+"Yes, sir; and at the same time a Naval career means nearly everything in
+the world to me."
+
+Lieutenant-Commander Morrill, the new officer in charge, felt that it was
+difficult to rebuke a future Naval officer for defending from insult a
+woman dear to him.
+
+"I shall have to pass this matter on to the commandant of midshipmen,"
+decided the O.C. "Mr. Totten, you will go to your quarters and remain
+there, until further orders, save only for meal formations."
+
+"Very good, sir," replied the fourth classman saluting.
+
+"That is all, Mr. Totten."
+
+"Very good, sir."
+
+Within half an hour, Dave, Dan and Joyce knew that the unknown midshipman
+had come forward and announced himself, but they did not hear the story
+of the reason back of Totten's attack. They heard, however, that Totten
+had not heard of their predicament until just after chapel call.
+
+The commandant of midshipmen sent for Mr. Totten. That official, however,
+after hearing the story, felt that the matter was one for the
+superintendent. The superintendent did not send for Totten and question
+him, but sent, instead, for the civilians who had lodged the complaint
+the evening before. He sent also for young Crane the man Totten had
+named, and who had not been among the complainants of the evening before.
+
+"Mr. Crane," announced the superintendent, "you know, of course, the name
+of the midshipman who assaulted and knocked you down before the other
+three midshipmen interfered in the matter?"
+
+"Er--er--possibly I do," confessed Crane, reddening.
+
+"Mr. Crane, if you wish us to deal frankly with you, you must accord the
+same treatment to the officials of the Naval Academy," replied the
+superintendent coldly.
+
+"I--I--personally do not desire to press any complaint," continued young
+Crane. "I am sorry that my friends took such a step."
+
+"Then you consider, Mr. Crane," pressed the superintendent, "that the
+knock-down blow you received from a midshipman was in the nature of a
+merited punishment?"
+
+"I--I won't say that," cried Crane quickly. "No, sir! I won't admit it!"
+
+"Then, as we know that Midshipman Totten was your assailant," continued
+the superintendent, "we shall have to place that young man on trial. We
+shall be obliged to summon you as a witness at that trial, Mr. Crane."
+
+"But I have no intention, sir, of appearing as a witness," blustered that
+young man.
+
+"Mr. Crane, you can have no choice in the matter. If we summon you, you
+can be brought here from any part of the United States."
+
+"I--I--can't the matter be dropped, sir?" urged the young man anxiously.
+
+"Not unless you confess yourself in the wrong, and exonerate Mr. Totten.
+In any other event the case will have to come to trial before a
+court-martial, and you, Mr. Crane, since we are certain that you possess
+material evidence, will be forced to appear as a witness."
+
+Mr. Crane looked almost as uncomfortable as he felt.
+
+"Mr. Totten," continued the superintendent, "states that you grossly
+insulted his cousin, a young woman, and that he met you on purpose to
+avenge that insult."
+
+"There--there--was some trouble about a young woman," admitted Crane.
+"But I am a gentleman, sir."
+
+"I am not expected to decide the last question that you have raised,"
+replied the superintendent dryly. "All that concerns me in the matter is
+whether you exonerate Mr. Totten, or whether you do not. If you do not,
+the midshipman must state his case fully before a court-martial, at which
+you will be one of the important witnesses."
+
+"I exonerate Mr. Totten," replied Crane in a very low tone.
+
+"Do you exonerate him completely?" "Ye-es, sir."
+
+"Then Mr. Totten's offense will be reduced to one or two-simple breaches
+of discipline," went on the superintendent.
+
+"But see here, sir," interposed one of the other young men, "are your
+midshipmen to be allowed to go about pounding whom they like? Are they to
+be swashbucklers and bullies?"
+
+"Very decidedly not, sir," replied the superintendent in a voice almost
+thunderous. "The midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy must
+conduct themselves as gentlemen at all times."
+
+"Did they do that," urged the last speaker, "when they sailed into us as
+they did?"
+
+"Why did your friends go to the assistance of Mr. Crane?" asked the
+superintendent.
+
+"Be--because," stammered the spokesman, "your midshipman had knocked
+Crane down and was misusing him."
+
+"Did you, the friends of Mr. Crane, consider it the act of gentlemen for
+several to rush in and attack one man?"
+
+That left the callers rather breathless.
+
+"Now, as to our other three midshipmen," pursued the superintendent, "at
+most they only rushed in to see fair play. They did not make a hostile
+move until they saw a whole crowd of you attacking one midshipman.
+Gentlemen, I am quite ready to leave it to a jury of any intelligent
+citizens as to whether the offending midshipmen or yourselves displayed
+the more gallantry and honor. For you have all admitted doing something
+that is not consistent with the highest standards of a gentleman, while
+our accused midshipmen have no such reproach against them."
+
+"Then your midshipmen are to get off, and to be encouraged to repeat such
+conduct?" demanded the spokesman of the Crane party.
+
+"No. On the contrary, they will be punished for whatever breaches of
+Naval discipline they have committed. Considering what you gentlemen have
+admitted, however, I do not believe you would have any standing as
+witnesses before a court-martial. I therefore advise you all to drop your
+complaint. Yet if you insist on a complaint, then I will see to it that
+Midshipman Totten is brought to trial."
+
+Crane and his associates felt, very quickly and keenly, that they would
+cut but sorry figures in such a trial. They therefore begged to withdraw
+their former complaint. When they had departed the superintendent smiled
+at his reflection in the glass opposite.
+
+Before supper all of the midshipmen involved knew their fate. They were
+restored to full liberty. Darrin, Dalzell and Joyce were again rebuked
+for having taken such elaborate pains to escape recognizing Totten at the
+time of the encounter. Beyond the lecture by the commandant of
+midshipmen, each of the trio was further punished by the imposition of
+ten demerits.
+
+In Frenching and in taking justice into his own hands Midshipman Totten
+was held to have erred. However, the nature of his grievance and the fact
+that he was only a new fourth classman were taken into consideration. For
+Frenching he was punished with twenty-five demerits; for the assault on
+a civilian, considering all the circumstances, he was let off with ten
+additional demerits.
+
+Yet, somehow, all of the midshipmen involved felt their punishment very
+lightly. They could not escape the conviction that the Naval Academy
+authorities did not regard them as especially guilty offenders.
+
+"We've got you back on the gridiron, at any rate," exclaimed Hepson
+exultantly. "We of the football squad wish that we might be permitted to
+divide your demerits up among ourselves."
+
+"You might suggest that little point to the commandant of midshipmen,"
+grinned Dan.
+
+"And get jolly well trounced for our impudence," grimaced Midshipman
+Hepson. "No, thank you; though you criminals have our utmost sympathy, we
+will let matters rest where they are at present. Only a fool tries to
+change well enough into worse."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE NAVY GOAT WEEPS
+
+
+"Did you hear that Ella had a bad tumble down three stories?" asked
+Midshipman Dan.
+
+"Ella who?" questioned Dave, looking up.
+
+"Elevator!" grinned Dalzell.
+
+"Ugh!" grunted Dave disgustedly. "Say, do you know how that would strike
+the com.?"
+
+"No," replied Dan innocently, looking away. "How would it strike him?"
+
+"Hard!" Dave responded. Slam! The somewhat heavy book that Darrin, aimed
+went straight to the mark, landing against Dan's nearer ear with all the
+force of a sound boxing.
+
+"I see you appreciate a good joke," muttered Dalzell grimly.
+
+"Yes," Dave admitted. "Do you?"
+
+"When I tell you another," growled Dan, "I'll be holding an axe hidden
+behind my back."
+
+"Say, did I show you that letter of Dick's?" Dave asked, looking up
+presently.
+
+"Appendix?" inquired Dan suspiciously.
+
+"Oh, stow all that, little boy!" retorted Dave. "No; did I tell you that
+I had a letter from Dick Prescott?"
+
+"I think you mentioned something of the sort, last winter," Dalzell
+admitted still suspicious.
+
+"No; I got one this morning from good old Dick," Darrin went on.
+
+"All right," Dan agreed. "What's the answer?"
+
+"I haven't had time to read it yet," Darrin responded. "But here's the
+letter. Maybe you'd like to look it over."
+
+Across the study table Dan Dalzell received the envelope and its
+enclosure rather gingerly. Dan didn't like to be caught "biting" at a
+"sell," and he still expected some trick from his roommate.
+
+It was, however, a letter written in Dick Prescott's well-remembered
+handwriting.
+
+"I understand that you are both on the Navy team, and that you made good
+in the first game," wrote the West Point cadet. "I hope you'll both stay
+in to the finish, and improve with every game. Greg and I are plugging
+hard at the game in the little time that the West Point routine allows
+us for practice. From what I have heard of your game, I think it likely
+that you and good, but impish old Dan, are playing against the very
+position that Greg and I hope to hold in the annual Army-Navy game.
+Won't it be great?"
+
+"Yes, it will be great, all right, if the Navy contrives to win," Dan
+muttered, looking up at his chum.
+
+"Either the Army or Navy must lose," replied Dave quietly.
+
+"And just think!" Cadet Dick Prescott's letter ran on. "When we meet,
+lined up for battle on Franklin Field, Philadelphia, it will be the first
+time we four have met since we wound up the good old High School days at
+Gridley. It seems an age to Greg and me. I wonder if the time seems as
+long to you two?"
+
+"It seems to me," remarked Dan, glancing across at his chum, "that you
+and I, David, little giant, have been here at Annapolis almost ever since
+we first donned trousers to please the family."
+
+"It is a long time back to Gridley days," assented Darrin.
+
+Then Dan went on reading.
+
+"Of course you and Dan are bound that the Navy shall win this year," Dick
+had written. "As for Greg and me, we are equally determined that the Army
+shall win. As if the resolutions on either side had much of anything to
+do with it! It will seem strange for us four, divided between the two
+sides, to be fighting frantically for the victory. However, if Greg and I
+go up against you two on the gridiron we won't show you any mercy, and
+we know that we shall receive none from you. Each man must do all that's
+possibly in him for the glory of his own side of the United Service!
+Here's to the better eleven--Army or Navy!"
+
+"I'll bet Dick and Greg will give us all the tussle they know how, if
+they get near us in the fight," nodded Dan, passing the letter back.
+
+"Well, they're bound to, aren't they?" demanded Darrin. "And now, Danny
+boy, we simply must stow all gab and get busy with our lessons. We've a
+recitation between now and the afternoon practice."
+
+"And the game, to-morrow!" breathed Midshipman Dalzell fervently.
+
+The morrow's game was to be against the University of Pennsylvania
+eleven. The opposition team being an unusually good one that year, the
+Navy's gridiron pets were preparing to strain every nerve in the hope
+of victory.
+
+In that afternoon's practice Dave and Dan showed up better than ever.
+Farley and Page, too, were coming along splendidly, while Midshipman
+Joyce was proving himself all but a joy to exacting Hepson.
+
+But when the morrow came U.P. carried away the game to the tune of five
+to nothing, and the Navy goat wept. Dave and Dan made several brilliant
+plays, but the Navy average both of size and skill was somewhat below
+that of the older, bigger college men.
+
+Other games followed fast now, and the Navy eleven and its subs. had
+plenty of work cut out for them. Up to the time of the Army-Navy game,
+the middies had a bright slate of eighty per cent. of victories. Dave and
+Dan had the pleasure of reading, in the "Army and Navy Journal," that
+they were considered the strongest men on the left flank that the Navy
+had been, able to show in ten years.
+
+"When we go up against the Army," Hepson informed Dave and Dan, "I don't
+know whether you'll play at left or right. It will all depend on where
+the Army puts Prescott and Holmes. Friends of ours who have watched the
+play at West Point tell me that Prescott and Holmes are armored terrors
+on the gridiron."
+
+"They are, if they've gone forward in the game, instead of backward,"
+Darrin replied honestly.
+
+"But you and Dalzell can hold 'em, can't you?" demanded Hepson anxiously.
+
+"I don't dare brag," Dave answered. "The truth, if anything, is that
+Danny boy and I can hardly hope to hold the Army pair back. You see, Hep,
+I know Prescott and Holmes pretty well, from the fact that we played
+together on the same High School eleven for two years. Prescott, in
+fact, was the boy who trained us all."
+
+"Well, don't let the Navy fellows get the idea that you're afraid of that
+Army pair," begged Hepson. "It might get our men discouraged. Darry, we
+simply must wipe up the field with the Army! There isn't--there can't be
+any such word as 'defeat' for us."
+
+As the time drew near for the greatest of all annual games the
+instructors at the Naval Academy began to record lower marks for nearly
+all of the men in the daily recitations. The midshipmen simply couldn't
+keep their minds from wandering to the gridiron. It meant so much--to
+beat the Army!
+
+Then quickly enough the feverish day came. Early in the forenoon the
+entire brigade of midshipmen, in uniform, was marched into town behind
+the Naval Academy band. Scores of Navy officers, with their ladies, went
+along. A lot of the townspeople followed in the big rush to Odenton and
+Baltimore. From there two sections of a special train conveyed the
+Annapolis host to Philadelphia.
+
+Franklin Field was reached, and one of the most brilliant athletic and
+social events of the year was on.
+
+We shall not attempt to follow the course of the game here. The Navy
+eleven hurled itself into the fray with undying heroism, but the Army
+won the great game. It is all told in the third volume of "THE WEST
+POINT SERIES," entitled "DICK PRESSCOTT'S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT." In
+that volume, too, is described the meeting of the old-time High School
+chums, their first meeting since the old-time days back in the tome town
+of Gridley.
+
+The game was over at last. The Navy was crestfallen, though not a sign of
+sorrow or humiliation showed in the jaunty step of the men of the brigade
+as they marched back to the railway station and took the train for the
+first stage of the journey home--the run between Philadelphia and
+Baltimore.
+
+On the train Hepson hunted up Dave and Dan.
+
+"You did your best, fellows, I know, that," murmured the defeated
+football captain. "And you gave me, in advance, a fair estimate of that
+Army pair, Prescott and Holmes. Say, but they're a pair of terrors! If we
+had that pair on the Navy eleven, along with you two, no team that the
+Army ever yet sent out could beat us. But we made a strong fight, at any
+rate. All of our friends say that."
+
+"I'm glad I didn't do any bragging in advance," Darrin smiled wistfully.
+"We were fairly eaten up, Hep."
+
+"Oh, well, we'll hope for better luck next year, with the Navy under
+some other captain. Maybe you'll be captain next year, Darry."
+
+"I don't want to be," Dave answered, with a shake of his head. "If you
+couldn't carry our team to victory I don't dare try."
+
+"Then I'll be captain--if I'm asked," promised Dan, with the grin that
+always lurked close to the surface of his face. While hundreds of
+midshipmen felt desperately blue on the homeward journey, Dalzell had
+already nearly forgotten his disappointment.
+
+"You'll never be asked," predicted Hepson good-humoredly. "Danny boy, the
+trouble with you would be that the fellows would never know when you were
+in earnest. As captain of the eleven, you might start to give an order,
+and then nothing but a pun would come forth. You're too full of mischief
+to win victories."
+
+"I hope that won't be true if I ever have the luck to command a
+battleship in war time," sighed Dalzell, becoming serious for four or
+five seconds. Then he bent forward and dropped a cold nickel inside of
+Joyce's collar. The cold coin coursed down Joyce's spine? causing that
+tired and discouraged midshipman to jump up with a yell.
+
+"Why does the com. ever allow that five-year-old imp to travel with men?"
+grunted Joyce disgustedly, as he sat down again and now realized that
+the nickel was under him next to the skin.
+
+"Danny boy," groaned Dave, "will you ever grow up? Why do you go on
+making a pest of yourself?"
+
+"Why, the fellows need some cheering up, don't they?" Dan inquired.
+
+"If you don't look out, Danny boy, you'll rouse them to such a pitch of
+cheerfulness that they'll raise one of the car windows and drop you
+outside for sheer joy."
+
+The joy that had been manifest in Annapolis that morning was utterly
+stilled when the brigade reached the home town once more. True, the band
+played as a matter of duty, but as the midshipmen marched down Maryland
+Avenue in brigade formation they passed many a heap of faggots and many a
+tar-barrel that had been placed there by the boys of the town to kindle
+into bonfires with which to welcome the returning victors. But to-night
+the faggot-piles and the tar-barrels lay unlighted. In the dark this
+material for bonfires that never were lighted looked like so many
+spectral reminders of their recent defeat.
+
+It hurt! It always hurts--either the cadets or the midshipmen--to lose
+the Army-Navy game.
+
+Once back at quarters in Bancroft Hall, it seemed to many of the
+midshipmen as though it would have been a relief to have to go to study
+tables to work. Yet, since no work was actually required on this night,
+none was done.
+
+Midshipmen wandered about in their own rooms and visited. The more they
+realized the defeat, the bluer they became. From some rooms came sounds
+of laughter, but it was hollow.
+
+Farley got out a banjo, breaking into a lively darky reel. Yet, somehow,
+the sound was mournful.
+
+"Please stop that dirge and play something cheerful!" begged the voice of
+a passing midshipman.
+
+"Put the lyre away, Farl," advised Page. "Nothing sounds happy to-night."
+
+"We love to sing and dance. We're happy all the day--ha, ha!" wailed Dan
+Dalzell. He wasn't so very blue himself, but he was trying to keep in
+sympathy with the general tone of feeling.
+
+"Well, Hep, you made as good a showing, after all, as could be expected
+with a dub team," spoke Joyce consolingly, when they met in a corridor.
+
+"It wasn't a dub team," retorted Hepson dismally. "The eleven was all
+right. The only trouble lay in having a dub for a captain."
+
+It was a relief to hundreds that night when taps sounded at last, and
+the master switch turned off the lights in midshipmen quarters. At least
+the young men were healthy and did not waste hours in wooing sleep and
+forgetfulness.
+
+Then Sunday morning came, and the football season was over until the
+next year.
+
+"From now on it's going to be like starting life all over again, after a
+fire," was the way Dan put it that Sunday morning, in an effort to make
+some of his comrades feel that all was not lost.
+
+Had Dan been able to foresee events which he and Dave must soon
+encounter, even that grinning midshipman wouldn't have been happy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE MAN WITH A SCOWL ON TAP
+
+
+"I wish we lived in Annapolis, that we might be here at every hop!"
+sighed Belle Meade, as the waltz finished and she and Dave, flushed and
+happy, sought seats at the side of the ballroom.
+
+They had hardly seated themselves when they were joined by Dan and
+Laura Bentley.
+
+"I was just saying, Laura," Belle went on, "that it would be splendid if
+we lived here all through the winter. Then we'd have a chance to come to
+every hop."
+
+"Wouldn't we want to put in a part of the winter near West Point?" asked
+Miss Bentley, smiling, though with a wistful look in her eyes.
+
+"Perhaps that would be fairer, to you," Belle agreed.
+
+"You'd soon get tired of the hops," ventured Dave.
+
+"Can one ever weary of dancing?" Belle demanded. "Well, perhaps one
+might, though never on the small amount that has come to me so far in
+life. And this Navy orchestra plays so divinely!"
+
+"Our number's next, I believe, ladies," called Midshipman Farley, as he
+and Page came up, eager for their chances with these two very charming
+belles of the hop.
+
+"Hang you, Farl!" muttered Dave.
+
+"That's just like Darrin, Miss Meade," laughed Farley. "He's always a
+monopolist at heart. Though in this instance I am far from wondering at
+his desire to be."
+
+It was the first hop after the semi-annual exams. A host of fourth
+classmen and some from the upper classes had been dropped immediately
+after the examinations, but Dave and Dan and all their more intimate
+friends in the brigade had pulled through. Darrin and Dalzell had come
+out of the ordeal with the highest markings they had yet achieved at the
+Naval Academy.
+
+Mrs. Meade had come down to Annapolis to chaperon Belle and Laura, but
+this evening Mrs. Meade was chatting with a middle-aged Naval officer and
+so did not see much of the young people.
+
+As the music struck up, Farley and Page claimed consideration, Dave and
+Dan were left without partners.
+
+"Nothing more doing for two dances, David, little giant," murmured
+Midshipman Dalzell. "Suppose we slip into our overcoats and walk
+around outside."
+
+"I'd rather," assented Darrin. "It's dull in here when a fellow
+isn't dancing."
+
+It was a night of unusually light attendance on the part of the fair sex,
+with a rather larger attendance than usual of midshipmen, for which
+reason Dave found many other midshipmen outside, strolling up and down.
+
+"What we need, fellows," called Joyce, coming up to the chums, "is a new
+regulation that no midshipman may attend a hop unless he drags a femme."
+
+"That would have shut you out of every hop so far this year,"
+laughed Dave.
+
+"I know it," Joyce admitted. "But I'm going to cut all hops after this,
+unless some real queen will favor me as her escort and agree to dance at
+least half the numbers with me. I've had only two dances this evening.
+It's too tame. I'm going back to Bancroft Hall and stand ready to turn in
+at the first signal. What's the use of hanging around at a hop when
+there's only one girl to every five fellows?"
+
+"You have suffered the just fate of the free lance," remarked Dan Dalzell
+virtuously. "As for me, I never think of attending a hop unless I squire
+some femme thither."
+
+"There used to be girls enough last year," complained Joyce. "Well, I'm
+off for home and bed."
+
+"We'll stroll along up with you," proposed Darrin.
+
+"No girls for you, either?"
+
+"Not for two numbers. Then we return to the young ladies that we
+escorted here."
+
+"Just to think," grunted Joyce, sniffing in the salt air that reached
+them from the waterfront, "a good deal more than a year more here before
+we get regularly at sea."
+
+"It seems as though we'd been here a long time," sighed Dave. "But I
+don't suppose there was ever a midshipman yet who didn't long to get away
+from Annapolis and into the real, permanent life on the wave. A West
+Point man must feel some of the same longing."
+
+"But he's on the land at West Point," objected Joyce, "and he's still on
+land after he graduates and goes to some post. The Army cadet has no such
+glorious future to look forward to as has a midshipman."
+
+"Hello, here's Jet," called Dave as a midshipman enveloped in his
+overcoat approached them. "Going to the hop, Jet?"
+
+"Will you do me a great favor?" asked Midshipman Jetson.
+
+"Certainly, if possible," agreed Dave cordially.
+
+"Then mind your own business," snapped the other midshipman.
+
+Darrin, who had made it a point to forget the brief unpleasantness of
+the football season, received this rebuke with about the same feelings
+that a slap in the face would have given him.
+
+The sulky midshipman had stepped past the trio, but Dave, after
+swallowing hard, wheeled about and hailed:
+
+"Hold on, there, Mr. Jetson!"
+
+"Well?" demanded Jetson, halting and looking back.
+
+"I don't like your tone, sir."
+
+"And I don't like your face, sir," retorted Jetson. "Nor your cheek,
+either, for that matter."
+
+"I tried to treat you pleasantly," Dave went on, hurt and offended.
+
+"Oh! It required an effort, did it?" sneered Jetson.
+
+"Something may have happened that I don't know anything about," Darrin
+continued. "It may be that you have some real reason for treating me as
+you have just done. If you have any good reason I wish you'd tell me, for
+in that case I must have done something that put me in wrong. If that's
+the case, I want to make amends."
+
+"Oh--bosh!" grumbled the other midshipman.
+
+"Come on, now!" urged Dave. "Be a man!"
+
+"Then you imply that I am not?" demanded Jetson aggressively.
+
+"Not necessarily," Dave contended. "I just want to make sure, in my own
+mind, and I should think you'd be similarly interested."
+
+"If you want to insult me, Mr. Darrin," flared back Jetson, "I'll remain
+here long enough to hear you and to arrange for resenting the insult.
+Otherwise--"
+
+"Well?" insisted Dave quietly, though his anger was rising. "Otherwise?"
+
+"Otherwise," retorted Midshipman Jetson, "I'll pursue my way and seek
+company that pleases me better."
+
+"Look out, Jet, old hot-plate!" laughed Joyce. "You'll soon be insulting
+all three of us."
+
+"I don't intend to," Jetson rejoined quickly. "My quarrel concerns only
+Mr. Darrin."
+
+"Oho!" murmured Dave. "There is a quarrel, then?"
+
+"If you choose to pick one."
+
+"But I don't, Mr. Jetson. Quarreling is out of my line. If I've done you
+any harm or any injustice I'm ready to make good by apologies and
+otherwise. And, if I haven't wronged you in any way, you should be
+equally manly and apologize for your treatment of me just now."
+
+"Oh, bosh!" snapped Mr. Jetson once more.
+
+"This is none of my quarrel," interposed Midshipman Joyce, "and I'm not
+intentionally a promoter of hard feeling. But it seems to me, Jet, that
+Darry has spoken as fairly as any fellow could. Now, it seems to me that
+it's up to you to be equally manly."
+
+"So you, too, are asserting that I'm not manly," bristled Mr. Jetson
+haughtily. "You all seem bound to force trouble on me to-night."
+
+"Not I, then," retorted Joyce, his spirit rising. "I'm finding myself
+forced to the belief that you're hardly worth having trouble with."
+
+Jetson clenched his fists, taking a step forward, his dark eyes flashing.
+Then he halted, as though implying that he was not thus easily to be
+driven into forgetting himself.
+
+"Come along, fellows," urged Dan Dalzell in a low voice. "Mr. Jetson
+seems to have no intention either of explaining or of affording other
+satisfaction."
+
+"Hold on, Mr. Jetson, you needn't answer him," interposed Darrin quickly,
+as Jetson opened his mouth. "First of all this affair seems to concern
+me. You've intimated that I'm no friend of yours and not worthy to be
+ranked as such. Now, I ask you, fairly and flatly, what has brought your
+mind to this pitch? What have I done, or what haven't I done?"
+
+"Search your conscience," jeered Jetson.
+
+"I've been doing so ever since this foolish conversation started, and I
+haven't found the answer yet. All I recall, Jetson, is that, at the
+outset of my football practice, there was some little unpleasantness
+between us. You injured me, twice, in practice play, and I admit that I
+was somewhat angry about it at the time. But you gave your word that you
+hadn't intended any tricks against me. I believed you to be a man of
+honor, and I accepted your word that you were innocent of evil intention
+against me. Having accepted your word, I held no further grudge in the
+matter, and I have as nearly forgotten the whole business as a man with a
+memory can."
+
+"Then tell me why I didn't play on the football eleven?" flamed up
+Midshipman Jetson.
+
+"Principally, I imagine, because Captain Hepson, after consultation with
+the coaches, didn't call you to the Navy eleven."
+
+"And why didn't Hepson call me?" followed up Jetson, all his pent-up
+sulkiness boiling over now.
+
+"I don't know, particularly. Probably, I imagine, for the same reason
+that he didn't call a lot of other men to the eleven--because he believed
+he could make a better choice."
+
+"Darrin, you know well enough that you so influenced Hepson to keep me
+off the team!"
+
+"Jetson, are you mad?"
+
+"No; but I'm naturally angry."
+
+"I give you my word that I didn't do anything to prevent your making
+the team."
+
+"And you expect me, Mr. Darrin, to believe that?"
+
+"If you decline to do so, it amounts to passing the lie. But I'll
+overlook that for a moment. Joyce, I think Hepson is not dancing at
+present. Will you return to the hop, and, if he is not dancing, will you
+bring him out here?"
+
+"I don't want to see Hepson," cried Midshipman Jetson. "You're the only
+one I'm interested in in this matter, Mr. Darrin."
+
+"You've virtually refused to accept my word."
+
+"I do so refuse."
+
+"Then you call me--"
+
+"A liar, if you like!" snapped back Midshipman Jetson.
+
+"Sir, do you realize--"
+
+"I realize that you're still talking!" sneered Jetson.
+
+"Then I won't talk any longer," replied Dave Darrin in a quiet but
+dangerous voice. "Since you refuse to listen even to Hepson--"
+
+"Who's taking my name in vain?" demanded a laughing voice as a burly
+figure moved in between Dave and his enemy.
+
+The new comer was Hepson, who had come upon the group unnoticed.
+
+"Perhaps you're just in time, Hep," murmured Dave, fighting to cool down
+his temper. "I wanted you to prove--"
+
+"Stop!" ejaculated Jetson angrily. In his extreme passion he threw all
+restraint and courtesy to the winds. "I wouldn't take the word of
+Hepson, or of any man in the entire brigade in this matter. Darrin has
+lied, and--"
+
+"Step aside, Hep, please," urged Dave, giving the late football captain a
+gentle shove. "This matter can't go any further in words. Mr. Jetson, you
+have insulted me, and grossly. Are you capable of cooling down? Do you
+wish to retract?--to apologize?"
+
+"Apologize to you--you--"
+
+Whatever the word was, it didn't get out, for in the same instant Darrin
+cried warningly:
+
+"Guard yourself!"
+
+Midshipman Jetson threw up his hands, but Darrin's right fist landed
+across his offending mouth with such force as to fell the sulky
+midshipman flat to the earth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+AN AFFAIR OF SULKS
+
+
+Having struck the blow, Midshipman Darrin stepped back, to give his
+opponent an unobstructed chance to rise to his feet.
+
+"What's this all about?" demanded Midshipman Hepson wonderingly.
+
+"It's gone too far for talk, now," replied Dan Dalzell. "Wait until Darry
+has put a new head on this idiot."
+
+Jetson took his time about getting to his feet When he did rise he didn't
+assume his guard at once.
+
+"Well," asked Darrin coolly, but mockingly, "have you had all you can
+stand, or are you going to back up your wild, crazy statements?"
+
+Suddenly Jetson raised one of his feet quickly, as though to kick Dave in
+the belt line.
+
+"Here, stop that!" cried Hepson and Joyce in the same breath, as they
+sprang forward. Darrin, seeing others interfere, didn't attempt to strike
+back, but merely stepped aside.
+
+That was the chance for which Jetson had been watching. His kick didn't
+land; he hadn't intended that it should, but Dave's surprised recoil
+gave the other the chance that he really wanted. Both of Jetson's fists
+struck on Dave's nose, drawing a flood of the crimson.
+
+"You coward! You cur!" gasped amazed Dalzell.
+
+"Silence, all!" ordered Hepson, speaking by virtue of being a first
+classman. "Jet is crazy, but he can't be expected to take up more than
+one affair at a time. Darry, take your time to stop the flow of blood.
+Then you can demand an accounting of Jetson."
+
+"I've nothing more to say," remarked Jetson. "I was struck and I've
+returned the blow with interest. That ends my concern in the affair. Good
+night, all."
+
+"Hold on!" ordered Hepson, bounding forward and laying a strong,
+detaining hand on Jetson's shoulder. "You can't slip away like that.
+Matters have gone so far that they'll simply have to go further. You'd
+put yourself wholly in the wrong by withdrawing now--especially after the
+slimy trick that you've played a fair opponent."
+
+"Slimy, eh?" cried Jetson angrily. "Mr. Hepson, you and I will have to
+have an accounting, too!"
+
+"Oh, just as you like," responded the first classman, shrugging his
+shoulders. "You'll find it a better rule, however, to stick to one affair
+at a time. Darry, are you in shape, now, to attend to this matter from
+your point of view?"
+
+"Quite," nodded Dave, who had about succeeded in stanching the flow of
+blood from his injured nose. "Does Mr. Jetson desire to take his coat
+off or not?"
+
+"Yes!" cried Jetson tempestuously, unbuttoning his own overcoat and
+tossing it to the ground. "Now, take yours off, Mr. Darrin!"
+
+"It's off," responded Dave, tossing the garment aside. "Now, look to
+yourself, sir!"
+
+The two second classmen closed in furiously. It was give and take, for a
+few moments. In the clinches, however, Jetson succeeded in tearing
+Darrin's dress coat, and also in starting the blood again so that the
+crimson dripped down on Dave's white shirt front.
+
+At the end of a full minute, however, Darrin had sent his enemy to the
+ground, stopped in a knock-out. Both of Jetson's eyes were also closed
+and badly swollen.
+
+"Joyce," asked Hepson, "will you kindly remain with Jetson and see that
+he is assisted to the hospital, if he needs it? It won't do for too
+many of us, especially Darry, to be found here by any officer who may
+be passing."
+
+"I'll attend to it," nodded Midshipman Joyce, "though I'd rather perform
+the service for any other fellow in the brigade."
+
+Now that the affair was over, and Dave, after inspecting the damage to
+his dress coat, was pulling on his overcoat, he was suddenly recalled to
+other responsibilities.
+
+"Danny boy," he said ruefully, as Hepson walked away with them, "I can't
+very well get back to the hop soon--perhaps not at all tonight. I can't
+go back in this torn coat, and I may not be able to borrow another that
+will fit me well. Will you be good enough to hurry back and explain to
+Belle why I am delayed--perhaps prevented from seeing her again tonight?"
+
+"Certainly," nodded Dalzell, turning and hastening back.
+
+"Now, what was it all about, Darry?" asked Hepson, as he walked along
+with Dave.
+
+Midshipman Darrin explained the trouble as well as he could.
+
+"So the idiot accused you of keeping him off the football eleven!"
+demanded Hepson in astonishment.
+
+"Yes; and I offered to prove, by you, that I had nothing to do with his
+exclusion from the team."
+
+"Why the sole and whole reason why Jetson wasn't called to the Navy
+team," declared Hepson, "was because he was believed to be too awkward
+and too dangerous to other players. Whew, but I'm certainly sorry this
+thing has happened!"
+
+"So am I," Dave confessed candidly.
+
+"And Jet made the further fool mistake of declaring that he wouldn't
+accept the word of any midshipman in the brigade."
+
+"Something of the sort."
+
+"Why, that's a wholesale, blanket insult to the whole brigade. Darry,
+your class will have to take action over such a remark as that."
+
+"Oh, Jetson uttered the remark in the heat of an exceptional temper."
+
+"That won't save him," predicted Hepson sagely. "The insult is there and
+it will stick. Your class, Darry, would lose caste with the fellows here
+if it allowed such an insult to go."
+
+"Well, if it gets around, I suppose some sort of action will have to
+be taken."
+
+"The second class, under the circumstances, can't do much less than send
+Jetson to Coventry."
+
+"Oh, that would be too much!" Dave protested generously. "Jetson has
+always been an honorable, square fellow in the past."
+
+"He has always been infernally sulky and high-handed," growled
+Midshipman Hepson.
+
+"A bad temper is not such an uncommon failing," smiled Dave.
+
+"No; but there are limits to the amount of temper that a gentleman may
+display and still be worthy to associate with gentlemen," contended
+Hepson stubbornly. "It's the insult to the whole brigade that I'm
+thinking of. Darry, I'll wager that your class won't and can't do less
+than give Jetson a trip to Coventry."
+
+[Illustration: "Take Off Your Overcoat, Mr. Darrin."]
+
+"Oh, that would be too much--unjust!" protested Dave.
+
+"The class will do it just the same."
+
+"If the class mixes up in my affair, and carries it so far as to send
+Jetson to Coventry, I'll be hanged if I don't go there with him!" cried
+Darrin impulsively.
+
+The words were out. A man of Darrin's honest nature would feel bound to
+stand by even that heated utterance.
+
+"Oh, come, now, Darry, don't be so foolish over a fellow who has treated
+you in such fashion."
+
+"I've said it, haven't I?" asked Dave grimly. "It would be an utter
+injustice, and I'm not going to see something that is my own affair
+distorted into an injustice that would be altogether out of proportion to
+Jetson's offense."
+
+By this time the strolling pair of midshipmen had reached the entrance to
+Bancroft Hall.
+
+"What are you going to try to do about your dress coat, Darry?" asked
+Hepson in an undertone. "Borrow one?"
+
+"If I can find one that fits."
+
+"Take my advice, then. Don't just borrow, and thereby run a chance of
+getting both yourself and the lender in trouble. For of course you know
+that one can never tell when an inspection may be made, and the man whose
+dress coat was gone would have to account for it. So go to the O. C.,
+state that your coat was accidentally torn, and ask permission to borrow
+one in order that you may return and escort your ladies back to the
+hotel. Your O. C. won't raise any objection to that."
+
+"But he might want to see the coat that I have on," grimaced Dave. "Then
+the O. C. would be sure to see the blood-drips on my shirt front, or the
+collar, at least. Then talk of a mere accident might lead to questions as
+to the nature of the accident."
+
+"True," nodded Hepson. "Then get back to your room. Get out clean linen
+and get into it. While you're doing that I'll negotiate the loan of a
+dress coat that will fit. Then you can go to the O. C., after you've
+changed the telltale linen."
+
+This course, accordingly, was followed. Dave changed his linen as quickly
+as he could, while Hepson appeared with three borrowed dress coats for a
+try-on. One was found to fill the bill. Resting it over a chair, Darrin
+slipped on his service blouse and reported to the O.C. Permission was
+granted to borrow a dress coat. If the officer in charge felt any
+suspicion or curiosity as to the nature of the accident he cleverly
+concealed the fact.
+
+A good deal of time, however, had been consumed. By the time that
+Midshipman Dave Darrin returned to the hop the orchestra was just
+breaking into the strains of "Home, Sweet Home."
+
+Dave's quick glance roved the floor and the seats. He beheld Belle Meade,
+seated at the side, while Farley bent over her in an inviting attitude.
+Darrin quickly reached the scene. Belle saw him coming, just in time to
+refrain from taking Farley's arm.
+
+"You won't mind this time, will you, Farl?" Dave asked, smiling.
+
+"I had given you up," said Belle, as they moved away together in
+the dance.
+
+"Of course Dan told you what had delayed me."
+
+"He told me you would return as soon as you could," replied Miss Meade,
+"but he was provokingly mysterious as to the cause of your absence."
+
+"There was a little trouble," Dave whispered.
+
+"Are you in trouble?" asked Belle quickly, her cheeks paling.
+
+"No; I think not. By trouble I mean that I just took part in a fight."
+
+"So you took the time when I am here as the most suitable occasion for a
+fight?" asked Belle, her color coming back and heightening.
+
+"It isn't wise for me to explain it now, Belle," Dave told her quickly.
+"You won't blame me when you know. But I'd rather save it for telling
+when we are out of the Academy grounds."
+
+"Oh, just as you like. Dave, we mustn't let anything spoil what's left of
+this last short dance of the night."
+
+"Thank you, Belle. These dances together don't happen any too
+frequently."
+
+It was when the young people were walking back to the Maryland Hotel, and
+Mrs. Meade had joined Dan and Laura, that Belle again asked the nature of
+the trouble that had deprived Darrin of three of his dances with her.
+
+Dave told the story, briefly, adding:
+
+"Under the midshipmen's code, the blow had to be struck when the lie
+was passed."
+
+"I don't blame you for knocking the fellow down," Belle agreed
+indignantly. "What a worthless fellow that Mr. Jetson must be!"
+
+"Do you know, Belle, I can't quite bring myself to believe that he is
+worthless?"
+
+"His conduct shows it," argued the girl.
+
+"At first thought it would appear so but Jetson, I believe, is only the
+victim of an unhappy temper that makes him suspicious and resentful. He's
+brave enough, and he's never been caught in a dishonorable trick."
+
+"Except the tricks he played on you at the football practice."
+
+"He passed his word that he intended no trick, and I have been wholly
+inclined to take his word in the matter."
+
+"Dave, you must look out for this man Jetson! He's going to get you into
+some trouble before you're through with him," exclaimed Belle earnestly.
+All her instinct was aroused in the matter, for Dave Darrin's success was
+dearer to Belle Meade than was anything else in the world.
+
+"There are two things that I regret very much to-night," Dave went on.
+"One was that Jetson should provoke such a senseless dispute, and the
+other that I should be obliged to miss so much of your company here at
+Annapolis."
+
+"I wouldn't mind anything," Belle answered, "if I could feel sure that no
+more trouble would come out of this affair with Jetson."
+
+"I don't believe there will be any disturbing outcome," Dave assured her;
+"unless, possibly, another fight."
+
+"A fight is nothing," declared Belle with spirit. "You're in training to
+become a fighting man, and a bout or two at fistcuffs is nothing more or
+less than so much valuable experience. Dave, promise me something?"
+
+"Of course, if it's anything promisable."
+
+"You'll write me--"
+
+"Can you doubt that, Belle?"
+
+"And let me know exactly and truthfully if anything further comes of
+this," she finished.
+
+"I'll write and tell you anything that a midshipman is at liberty to make
+known concerning the conduct of the brigade."
+
+"Just what does that cover?" asked Belle.
+
+"I can't easily answer until the something or other happens to turn up."
+
+"At any rate, Dave, if I get a suspicion that you're withholding from me
+anything that I ought to know, I shall be dreadfully worried. You can't
+have any idea how worried I have been about you sometimes in the past."
+
+Not much time was there for the two midshipmen to remain at the foot of
+the steps of the hotel Then, after hearty good nights, Dave and Dan left
+the ladies, whom they would not see again until the next visit.
+
+"From one or two things that I couldn't help overhearing, I judge that
+Belle is greatly worried over the possibility of trouble arising from
+the Jetson affair," remarked Dan on the way back to the Naval Academy
+and quarters.
+
+"Yes," Dave admitted.
+
+"Pooh! How can any trouble come to you out of the matter? With Jetson
+it's different He declared that he wouldn't take the word of any
+midshipman in the brigade."
+
+"That was spoken in the heat of temper. Jetson didn't mean it."
+
+"Just the same, some of the fellows have heard of it already, and I
+shan't be surprised if our class holds a meeting and sends Jetson to
+Coventry--where the fellow belongs."
+
+"If they send Jetson to Coventry," spoke Dave quietly though bluntly, "I
+shall go along to Coventry with him."
+
+Dalzell halted, staring at his chum in open-mouthed wonder.
+
+"You idiot!" blazed Dan in wrathful disgust.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE CLASS MEETING SITS AS JURY
+
+
+Three days later the class meeting was held.
+
+Jetson was especially impressed with the notion that he must attend,
+since he must appear as the accused. With one of his disposition it was
+quite natural that the young man should go before the class in a highly
+resentful mood.
+
+After a few introductory remarks, Jetson was summoned by the class
+president to rise.
+
+"Mr. Jetson," asked the class president, "do you intend to deny having
+made the remark imputed to you--that you would not take the word of any
+midshipman in the brigade!"
+
+"I made the remark, after a measure, sir," Jetson replied. "What I said
+was that in a certain matter I would not take the word of any midshipman
+in the brigade if it went counter to my fixed belief."
+
+"Mr. Jetson, don't you consider that, under the circumstances, that
+amounted to a statement of your unwillingness to accept the word of
+members of the brigade?"
+
+"I should be sorry to have that construction placed on my remark, Mr.
+President, for I know that nearly all the men of the brigade are men with
+a fine sense of honor."
+
+"Then how do you reconcile this statement with your other one?"
+
+"Mr. President, I meant, and I still mean, that I am so certain of the
+truth of the charge that I made to one Darrin, that, if members of the
+brigade spoke differently, I would then know that they were not telling
+the truth."
+
+A storm of protests went up, while one hoarse voice bellowed:
+
+"Throw him out!"
+
+And another called:
+
+"Coventry!"
+
+"Order!" commanded the class president, rapping hard with his gavel.
+"Mr. Jetson, it is a most serious matter to impugn the good faith and
+honor of the brigade. It is hardly mitigated by the fact that the words
+were uttered in the heat of passion, especially when, in your cooler
+moment, you are not inclined to retract your statement or to render it
+harmless. I believe, therefore, that I am in accord with the sense of
+this meeting of the class when I ask you if you have any retraction or
+apology to offer."
+
+"For the statement, in the form in which I offered it, Mr. President, I
+have no retraction or apology to offer, and only such explanation as I
+have lately given."
+
+"Coventry! Coventry!" came the insistent call.
+
+"Well, then, you can send me to Coventry, you friends of Darrin, if you
+feel yourselves justified in doing it!" quivered Midshipman Jetson,
+tossing his head and glaring defiantly around the room.
+
+"Mr. President!"
+
+"Mr. Wentworth."
+
+"In view of the charge, and the subsequent statements of Mr. Jetson, I
+feel that we have an unpleasant duty to perform. The brigade is founded
+and based on honor. We, the members, cannot allow that honor to be
+impugned by one who would otherwise be fitted to be a member of the
+brigade. As Mr. Jetson refuses to retract his words, and as some one must
+take the initiative, it is my disagreeable duty to move you, sir, that
+the second class decide that Mr. Jetson is no longer worthy to be of our
+number, and that he accordingly be sent to Coventry."
+
+"Mr. President!"
+
+"Mr. Page."
+
+"Mr. President, I desire to second the motion, and this I do as
+regretfully as it was moved."
+
+"Oh, go ahead and send me to Coventry, then!" Jetson blazed forth
+angrily. "This class appears to have been hypnotized by Darrin. But, even
+if you do send me to Coventry, we shall see whether your action will be
+potent enough to drive me from the Naval Academy!"
+
+Waving his arms wildly in the heat of his anger, Midshipman Jetson
+hurried from the room, midshipmen moving aside to favor his swift exit.
+
+Hardly had the door banged when from all parts of the room the cry went
+up:
+
+"Question! question! Put the motion."
+
+"Mr. President!"
+
+"Mr. Darrin."
+
+"I arise, sir, to discuss the motion. I ask the gentlemen of the class to
+bear with me patiently while I set forth some of the aspects of this
+matter as I see them.
+
+"At the very outset, sir, I wish to make it as plain as possible that I
+do not seek to stand here as the apologist for Mr. Jetson. I feel very
+certain that he would not authorize me to take that position. What I
+state I am stating on my own authority purely, and therein I am only
+exercising my right as a member of the second class.
+
+"I would remind you, sir, that you all know, as well as I do, that Mr.
+Jetson has always borne an honorable reputation in this class and in the
+brigade. You all know his leading traits as well as I do. Mr. Jetson is
+a man of quick temper and rather lasting resentments. There is a good
+deal of sullenness in his nature--"
+
+"And they're not the best qualities in a man who is being trained to
+command!" broke in a midshipman at the rear of the room.
+
+"As to whether Mr. Jetson will be, by graduation time, well fitted to
+command men," Dave answered, "is not a question that this class is called
+upon to pass on. That question rests with the faculty of the Naval
+Academy. I am trying to get you to look at this matter only from the
+personal and the class point of view. Doubtless you all feel that Mr.
+Jetson is the victim of an unhappy temper. You would punish this frame of
+mind. Yet I ask you, bluntly, who among you have ever tried to aid Mr.
+Jetson in overcoming his own peculiar style of temper? If there is one
+among you who has made such attempt at aid, I ask that gentleman to stand
+until he can be recognized."
+
+Dave made a pause, glancing around him, but no midshipman rose.
+
+"Now, sir," continued Dave Darrin, "if we, as a class, take hasty and
+unwise action, it is quite possible that we may be depriving the United
+States Navy of a future officer who would be most valuable to his country
+in time of need. Have we the right to punish when we are forced to admit
+that none of us has ever attempted to help Mr. Jetson to escape from the
+fruits of his temperament? Mr. President, how would you attempt to
+extinguish a fire? By fanning it? Yet, when a member of this class is
+smouldering in his own wrath, it is proposed to meet his sullenness by
+casting him out of our friendship. Do we not owe some duty to our country
+in this matter? Mr. Jetson is one of our capable students in this
+brigade, and if he be given a fair chance to graduate, he is likely to
+become a Naval officer of merit. Do we desire to take upon ourselves the
+probable smothering of such a Naval career? Mr. President, and you,
+gentlemen of the second class, I trust sincerely that the motion of
+Coventry in this case will not prevail. I feel, as I believe many of you
+now present feel, that we should be taking too much upon ourselves, and
+that we should be making a grave mistake. If the motion now before the
+class should be defeated, I shall then be delighted to second any other
+motion that has for its object the finding of some way to make Mr. Jetson
+feel more fully that he is one of us, that he has our full sympathy, and
+that we hope to see him mould his character into a form that will enable
+him to become a credit to the United States Navy."
+
+As Darrin sat down there was a ripple of applause. There were many
+present, however, who took a sterner view of the affair. These wanted to
+see Jetson, and all others who might similarly offend the brigade, forced
+to quit the Naval service.
+
+"Question! question!" called a score of voices at once.
+
+"Any further remarks?" inquired the class president, glancing about.
+
+"Mr. President!"
+
+"Mr. Jerould."
+
+"Mr. President," said Midshipman Jerould, "I am certain that we all
+appreciate the remarks of Mr. Darrin. The remarks were prompted by a
+generous heart, and we respect Mr. Darrin and his motives alike. But I
+am certain, sir, that the majority of us feel that this is an ugly
+business and that only stern treatment can meet the situation. I
+therefore trust that the motion will be at once put and passed." (Loud
+cries of "hear! hear!")
+
+"Any further--"
+
+"Mr. President!"
+
+"Mr. Darrin."
+
+"Mr. President, I wish I could throw my whole being and soul into this
+problem, in order to make it clearer, as I see it. I would even appeal,
+as a favor, to the class to quash this Coventry resolution, and perhaps
+I might be considered to have some right to ask the favor, since the
+whole trouble grew out of an affair between Mr. Jetson and myself. I beg
+of you all, classmates, to quash the motion now before the class."
+
+"No, no, no!" came the hearty response.
+
+"Then, Mr. President and gentlemen," went on Dave Darrin in a voice slow
+and grave, "speaking for myself, as an individual member, I beg to state
+that I cannot respect a Coventry ordered under such circumstances. In
+this matter I would find myself unable to respect the mandates of the
+class. Therefore. I beg you to send me to Coventry with Mr. Jetson!"
+
+Blank astonishment fell over the second class. Utter indignation seized
+some of the midshipmen. In another moment the feeling boiled up so that a
+few hisses rose.
+
+Dave Darrin was pallid, but he had no desire to recede. He had acted
+according to the dictates of his conscience and he had kept his word.
+
+In that pained instant Midshipman Farley sought to save the situation. He
+leaped to his feet, shouting:
+
+"Mr. President, I move that this meeting adjourn!"
+
+"Second the motion," called Page promptly, and now there was uproar on
+all sides.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+DAVE STANDS ON PRINCIPLE
+
+
+A motion to adjourn being always "in order," the class president put it.
+
+"Aye!" came a thundering response.
+
+"Contrary minded?"
+
+"No."
+
+The ayes appeared to have it, but the chair called for a showing of
+hands. Then the chair declared the class meeting adjourned.
+
+"Hustle along with us, Darry. I want to talk with you!" sputtered Farley.
+He thrust an arm inside of Dave's and carried him along, Dalzell and Page
+following. Straight to Darrin's quarters they went.
+
+"Now, then," demanded Farley, almost savagely, "what's the meaning of the
+very remarkable exhibition that you gave the class?"
+
+"How was it remarkable?" questioned Dave.
+
+"In your asking the class to send you to Coventry along with Jetson."
+
+"It wasn't just to Jetson, just because he made a slip, that he should be
+shunned by the whole class."
+
+"Couldn't the class decide that better than one man?" insisted Farley,
+his eyes gleaming.
+
+"Without a doubt," Dave admitted. "I didn't attempt to do the
+deciding for the class. All I did was to try to throw my personal
+weight against it."
+
+"And you compelled the class to adjourn without attending to
+Jetson's case."
+
+"You're wrong, there, Farl"
+
+"Didn't you?"
+
+"I certainly didn't."
+
+"Darry, you knew the class wouldn't vote to send you to Coventry just
+because you had ventured to give your opinion. Now, the only way the
+class could escape from the consequences of your action was to adjourn
+without action on Jetson."
+
+"It was you, Farl, who moved to adjourn."
+
+"Just to save a lot of hot-bloods from jumping on you, Darry. They'd have
+done it in another minute. The motion to adjourn was the only thing we
+could do."
+
+"That's just it," nodded Midshipman Page.
+
+"But there'll have to be another meeting called right away," Farley went
+on. "The brigade will expect it--will have a right to demand it. A member
+of our class has insulted the whole brigade, and under our old traditions
+only the second class can administer discipline."
+
+"Well, then," pursued Darrin calmly, "when the new meeting is held Jetson
+and myself can be punished, if that be the wish of the entire class."
+
+"Darry," stormed Farley, "you've simply got to withdraw your fool remarks
+when the class comes together again."
+
+"Do you expect that I'll do that?" Dave inquired.
+
+"If you don't," retorted Farley warmly, "you won't be worth the further
+concern of your friends. What do you say, Danny boy?"
+
+"From what I know of Dave Darrin," replied Dalzell, "the class will be
+wasting its time if it expects Darry to retract."
+
+"But what do you want to be sent to Coventry for?" demanded Farley.
+
+"I don't," Dave answered. "I know how it hurts. I wouldn't see any
+midshipman here sent to Coventry for anything except positive and
+undeniable dishonor. Jetson hasn't been guilty of anything worse than a
+mean, quick temper and a fit of sulks afterwards. That's why, with my
+experience here at Annapolis, if Jetson is to be sent to Coventry, I
+decline to be bound by the class action."
+
+"But you can't refuse to be bound by class action," retorted
+Farley aghast.
+
+"Try me and see," smiled Dave stubbornly.
+
+"Don't be an idiot, Darry!"
+
+"It would be a contemptible thing," Dave went on, as calmly as before.
+"Coventry would mean the chasing of Jetson out of the brigade. You would
+ruin a man for a defect of temper that some of you others don't possess
+in quite the same degree. Is it fair to ruin any man because he has the
+misfortune to have a fit of sulks? That's why I won't heed the class
+action if it cuts Jetson. I'll bow to him whenever I meet him. I'll talk
+to him if he'll let me."
+
+"But he won't," insisted Farley triumphantly. "No such sulky fellow as
+Jetson will let you make up to him."
+
+"If he refuses," Dave contended, "then I can't help it. But I won't be a
+party to ruining the man. It would be far more to the purpose if the
+fellows would help the fellow to see that his sulkiness is his worst
+barrier here. Then a good student and naturally honorable fellow would
+develop into a capable Naval officer.
+
+"That's the kind of talk for the padre" (chaplain), sniffed Farley.
+
+"Glad you mentioned the padre," Dave retorted. "He's just the man to
+settle the case. Farley, I'll go with you to the padre at any time. You
+state one side of the case, and I'll state the other. If the padre
+doesn't back me, then I'll retract all I've said in open class meeting,
+and abide by whatever action the class may take."
+
+"Oh, bother the padre!" snorted Farley angrily.
+
+"All right, then," answered Dave good-humoredly. "If the class has a
+matter of ethics and morals that it doesn't dare submit to an expert in
+morals, then the class action is weak and wrong."
+
+"There's no use talking to you, I'm afraid," sighed Farley ruefully.
+"But if you--"
+
+Here the call to study interrupted further discussion. Farley, shaking
+his head gravely, left the room, followed by Page, who was shaking his
+head with equal force.
+
+"If you think you're all right, David, little giant, go ahead," remarked
+Dalzell as he passed to his study desk.
+
+"I think I'm right," Dave answered. "If not, I can be made to see the
+light. I don't claim to know everything, but what I've done I did in an
+effort to see and do the right thing."
+
+When release from study came Dalzell expected to see several members of
+the class drop in. To his astonishment the minutes sped by without any
+knock at the door.
+
+"You've gotten yourself in badly, Dave," Dan remarked at last. "The
+fellows don't even think it worth while to come here and remonstrate
+with you."
+
+"For which I'm thankful," Darrin smiled. "Danny boy, I'm going to bed
+without waiting for taps."
+
+By morning the news of Dave's action at the class meeting was known
+throughout the brigade. As he strolled about for a few minutes, after
+breakfast, while Dan went back to his room to do some hurried study,
+Darrin noted that many once friendly faces were turned away from him.
+
+"Good morning, Hepson," was Dave's greeting as his friend went by.
+
+"Good morning," muttered Hepson, and was gone.
+
+"Good morning, Watson," said Dave to one of his own classmates.
+
+"'Morning,' replied that midshipman briefly, and turned away. Joyce, Page
+and several other second classmen were standing in a group when Dave
+strolled in their direction.
+
+"Good morning, fellows," from Dave. Joyce and Page answered; some of the
+others merely nodded coldly. Presently all had strolled away except
+Joyce and Page.
+
+"You see how it is, Darry," murmured Joyce. "You've hurt the fellows."
+
+"Are they going to cut me after this?" Dave asked. His smile was
+friendly, though the look in his eyes was cool.
+
+"No-o-o," hesitated Midshipman Joyce. "I don't believe the fellows will
+exactly cut you; at least, not unless the situation grows more acute. But
+many of the fellows are sore on you for your words last night."
+
+"My words were only my words. My opinion doesn't have to govern anyone
+else, Joyce."
+
+"But, hang it, Darry, the class doesn't want to cut you out! Can't you
+get that through your head?"
+
+"The class doesn't have to cut me."
+
+"But it will, if it puts Jetson in Coventry and you break the Coventry.
+That's what the fellows hate to do to you, and that's why they're all so
+sore at you."
+
+"I see," nodded Dave.
+
+"Come, now, Darry, you're going to be reasonable, aren't you?" begged
+Joyce. "Don't break your friends all up with your stubbornness."
+
+"I note that two of the fellows are talking with Jetson," continued Dave,
+letting his glance wander to another group.
+
+"They have a right to," contended Joyce. "The class hasn't yet committed
+itself as to Jetson."
+
+"Darry, if you don't look out," warned Page, "you'll precipitate matters.
+You may bring the storm down on Jetson if you test the temper and
+stubbornness of an offended class."
+
+"I see that I was wrong in at least one particular," nodded Dave
+thoughtfully. "I shouldn't have made any remark about my intentions. I
+should have confined myself to a plea for Jetson. Then, if the class had
+gone against my view I could have ignored the class action and have taken
+the consequences just the same."
+
+"Oh, hang you!" cried Page impulsively.
+
+"Barry," begged Midshipman Joyce, resting a hand on his friend's arm,
+"don't do any more talking about this. Just let things quiet down."
+
+"I'm perfectly willing to stop talking about it," agreed Dave. "In fact,
+since the class adjourned its meeting I haven't said a word on the
+subject except in answer to some other fellow's remarks."
+
+Page and Joyce strolled away, leaving Dave by himself to think matters
+over. As it happened, the two second classmen with whom Jetson had been
+talking had now left the sulky midshipman, who, at this moment, was
+coming down the walk in Dave's direction.
+
+"Good morning, Jetson," nodded Dave pleasantly, though not too cordially.
+
+Midshipman Jetson paused a moment, looked Darrin full in the eyes, and
+then passed on.
+
+"Not promising material to work with, at first," Dave told himself,
+laughingly.
+
+There was no time for further thought, for it was within two or three
+minutes for the first formation for morning recitations. Dave ran back to
+his room, picked up a book and a writing pad.
+
+"How have the fellows been treating you, chum?" asked Dalzell, looking up
+anxiously.
+
+"To a most liberal dose of advice," laughed Darrin.
+
+Dan sighed.
+
+"Do you wish I'd take some of the advice, old fellow?"
+
+"I don't know that I do," Dan answered slowly and with unwonted
+gravity for him. "I'm not one of the padre's star young men, and I
+don't often discourse on morality. Yet I'm inclined to believe that,
+when a fellow goes contrary to the spirit of the crowd, and is
+satisfied that he is doing so from generous and manly motives, he is
+pretty likely to be pursuing the right course. After a fellow has made
+a real effort to listen to his conscience, I don't believe he is ever
+wrong in following it."
+
+"Thank you, Danny boy. That's always been the way it has struck me. I
+don't want to do any injustice to Jetson--or to the class, either."
+
+"If you have to go to Coventry," announced Dalzell, giving a final
+brushing to his hair and fitting on his cap, "I'm going with you."
+
+"But you don't have to, Dan! A fellow's roommate doesn't have to observe
+a Coventry."
+
+"If it comes to Coventry," muttered Dalzell, "I shall invite it by
+speaking to Jetson, too."
+
+Dave Darrin was aghast. He hadn't contemplated dragging Dan into
+such a scrape.
+
+"There's formation now," announced Dan.
+
+Out in front of the entrance, and along the terrace the many sections
+were falling in. Dan had occasion to pass the now very unpopular Jetson.
+
+"Good morning, Jetson," was Dan's greeting.
+
+Jetson started slightly, then replied, with a sulky frown:
+
+"Good morning, Dalzell."
+
+"Glad he'll speak to me," thought Dan with an inward grimace, "for I'm
+afraid that, before long, I'll be in the way of feeling mighty lonely a
+good deal of the time."
+
+In another moment or two the sections were marching away, with the
+steady, rhythmic, tread peculiar to bodies of military in motion.
+
+"I wonder how it is all going to come out?" sighed Dan, as he seated
+himself at his desk in the section room in the Academic Building.
+
+"I wonder what sort of crazy or calculating grandstand play Darrin is
+trying to make just now?" pondered Midshipman Jetson, when informed of
+Dave's action at the meeting.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+"DON'T BE A FOOL, DARRY!"
+
+
+A week went by without another class meeting.
+
+For that reason Midshipman Jetson was still nominally in good fellowship.
+
+The delay in action was by no means due to lack of class interest. The
+class seethed with interest in the affair, but with many of the
+midshipmen there was a belief that here was a case where slow and
+thoughtful consideration would be best for all concerned.
+
+Darry was too good a fellow, and far too popular to be forced out of
+fellowship if it didn't have to be done to preserve the present feeling
+of ruffled class dignity.
+
+Knowing that the matter hadn't been dropped, the first and third classes
+waited--in curiosity. The fourth class really had no standing in such
+weighty matters of the internal discipline of the brigade.
+
+Every time that Dave Darrin passed Jetson he spoke pleasantly to the
+latter. The sulky one, however, did not respond.
+
+"Some day, Darry, you'll tumble that you've been played for a fool,"
+grumbled Farley.
+
+"Then I'll have the satisfaction, won't I, of knowing that it's all my
+own fault?" smiled Dave Darrin.
+
+"Yes; but I hate to see you go to pieces for a fellow like Jetson."
+
+The following Saturday afternoon Darrin came in from a brisk walk, to
+find Dan poring over his books at the study desk.
+
+"Letter there for you," said Dan, without looking up, as Dave, after
+glancing into the room, had turned with the intention of calling on
+Farley and Page.
+
+"Thank you." Darrin crossed the room, picking up the letter. "From
+Belle," he remarked. "The second from her this week, and I haven't
+written her. Answering letters should be part of a man's honor, so
+instead of cruising about on the deck, I reckon I'd better sit down and
+write Belle."
+
+"What are you going to tell her?" asked Dan quietly, without looking up.
+
+"Hang it all!" grumbled Dave. "This is where the situation begins to be
+tough. Of course you understand how things are, Danny boy, and you are
+aware that I have asked Belle to take upon herself the right to be
+equally interested with me in my career."
+
+"It is tough," assented Dan, with ready sympathy, and laying aside his
+book for the moment. "If my memory serves, Belle asked particularly,
+when she was here, that you let her know how the Jetson row turned out."
+
+"Yes; she did."
+
+"And now you've got to tell her--what?"
+
+"Have I got to tell her?" wondered Darrin aloud. "Yes; any other course
+would be unfair. But another question is, have I a right to tell her just
+what took place in a class meeting?"
+
+"I think so," spoke up Dalzell. "Of course, you needn't attempt to report
+the speeches, or anything like that, but it's rather clear to me that you
+have a right to tell Belle the exact news so far as it affects you--and
+therefore her."
+
+"Thank you." Dave drew out stationery, picked up a pen and began to
+write. Dalzell returned to his text-book. When Dave had written the
+letter, he read to Dan the portion that related to a description of the
+Jetson matter before the class.
+
+"I think it's all right to send that much of a statement," nodded Dan.
+
+"Then I'm going to mail the letter at once, and it will go out to-night.
+Belle tells me that she is extremely anxious to know the outcome of the
+matter. Poor girl, I'm afraid my letter may be even worse than no news."
+
+"Belle didn't betroth herself to the uniform or the Navy, if I know
+her," returned Dan quietly.
+
+Dave went out and mailed the letter. It would not reach Belle until
+Monday morning. Wednesday afternoon, on returning from the last
+recitation, Dave found her answer on his study table.
+
+"Want to hear a part of it, Dan?" questioned Midshipman Darrin.
+
+"Of course I do," admitted that young man.
+
+"Listen, then," and Dave read from Belle's letter as follows:
+
+"'I won't attempt to say that I am not in the least worried or bothered
+over the turn the Jetson matter has taken,'" ran Belle's letter. "'I
+can't help feeling vitally interested in anything that concerns you. But
+you tell me that you have followed your own sense of honor and your own
+conscience in the matter. The best man that ever lived couldn't do better
+than that. I hope--oh, I _do_ hope--that the whole affair will turn out
+in some way that will not be disagreeable to you. But remember, Dave,
+that the lightheaded little High School girl who plighted her faith to
+you is interested in you--not particularly in a future Naval officer,
+necessarily. If the affair should go to the worst ending, and you find it
+advisable to resign from the Naval Academy on account of any class
+feeling, there are plenty of bright prospects in life for an honorable
+and capable man. Don't ever imagine that I shall be disappointed over
+anything that you do, as long as you remain true to yourself and your
+manhood. And I will add, if you care to know it, that I approve of what
+you have done and am proud of you for your grit to do the right thing,'"
+
+"A great girl!" cried Dan admiringly. "Just the kind of girl, too, that I
+was sure she is."
+
+"Just the same," commented Dave musingly, "I know quite well that Belle
+has set her heart on seeing me serve in the Navy with credit."
+
+"She wanted that because she knew you wanted it," Dan assured him.
+
+Darrin was in the middle of his week's studies, where every minute's work
+counted, but he took the time to write an intense, if short, answer to
+Belle's letter. That finished, and dropped in the mail-box, he went back
+to his room and began to study.
+
+Rap-tap! Farley slipped into the room.
+
+"Thought I'd better come right away, Darry," explained the caller. "The
+news won't keep. A class meeting is called for Friday night right after
+supper. You know what that means, don't you?"
+
+"Yes," Dave answered steadily.
+
+"Old fellow, we all hope to see you come back to yourself at the
+meeting," went on Farley earnestly, resting a hand on Dave's blue sleeve.
+
+"Meaning that I should desert my convictions and bow to the class?"
+
+"Yes; if you put it that way. Darry, old friend, don't feel that you know
+more than the entire brigade."
+
+"I don't," Dave answered.
+
+"Then you'll drop the line of talk you started the other night?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Darry, old friend!"
+
+"I haven't changed my mind. Then, if I changed my attitude, wouldn't I be
+acting a false part?"
+
+"Don't be, a prig, Darry!"
+
+"Be a knave instead, eh?"
+
+"Darry, you ought to have been born a Puritan!"
+
+"I'm glad I wasn't," Dave smiled.
+
+"And are you enjoying yourself?"
+
+"No," Dave answered seriously. "I'm not. Neither is Jetson. It is likely
+that the class may do a great injustice to us both."
+
+"Why are you so struck on a fellow like Jetson?" pursued the other
+midshipman.
+
+"I'm not," Dave rejoined. "But I think, if he could be awakened, he has
+qualities that would make us all like him."
+
+"And you're going to throw yourself away on such thankless missionary
+work, Darry?"
+
+"Not at all. I'm acting on my best lights, as I see them for myself."
+
+"I'm sorry," sighed Farley honestly.
+
+"And so am I. Don't believe that I enjoy the situation that has
+been created."
+
+"That you've created for yourself, you mean!"
+
+"I see that you can't or you won't, understand it, Farley."
+
+"I wish I could understand it!" quivered Farley, who felt far more
+unhappy than he was willing that Dave should see. In the end, Farley
+returned to his own room, pondering deeply and trying to think out some
+plan of speech or of action that would save Midshipman Dave Darrin from
+the class anger that seemed certain to come.
+
+After supper and just before study time was due, Dave went to Jetson's
+door and knocked. As he entered he found Warner, the other midshipman
+quartered there, as well as Jetson.
+
+"Good evening, gentlemen," began Dave, after he had stepped into the room
+and closed the door.
+
+"Good evening, Darrin," responded Warner, while Jetson merely scowled and
+picked up a book.
+
+"Warner," went on Dave, "I came here to have a brief talk with Mr.
+Jetson. Would it be asking too much to ask you to step outside--unless
+Mr. Jetson feels that he would prefer that you remain?"
+
+"Mr. Jetson prefers that Mr. Warner remain, and that Mr. Darrin take
+himself away with great expedition," broke in Jetson decisively.
+
+But Warner thought differently, and, with a murmured "certainly, Darrin,"
+he left the room.
+
+"I won't ask you to take a seat, Mr. Darrin," said Jetson, "because I'll
+be candid enough to say that I hope you won't remain long."
+
+"I don't need a seat," laughed Dave easily, "for I've heard that the best
+Americans transact their business on their feet. Mr. Jetson, I've come on
+a somewhat embarrassing mission."
+
+"Yes?"--sneeringly.
+
+"You know quite well the snarl that is to be untied before the class
+meeting Friday evening."
+
+"Quite well," replied Jetson sulkily. "It is a situation that I owe to
+the fact of having been acquainted with yourself, Mr. Darrin."
+
+"Jetson," resumed Dave, dropping the formal "Mr.", "the situation is one
+that menaces you and your standing here. It menaces me equally. I could
+get myself out of the scrape quite easily by withdrawing from the stand
+that I took the other night."
+
+"I either fail or refuse to understand why you went to the risk that you
+did the other night, Mr. Darrin."
+
+"If I were to retract what I said," Darrin added, "it would cause me to
+violate whatever respect I may have for right and justice. On the other
+hand, Jetson, surely you do not consider yourself right in refusing an
+apology for a remark in which you thoughtlessly cast an unjust reflection
+upon the whole body of midshipmen."
+
+"To what is this leading, Mr. Darrin?"
+
+"Jetson, your own sense of honor and justice surely tells you that you
+owe it to yourself to go before the meeting Friday evening--"
+
+"I shall not attend, Mr. Darrin. The class may take whatever action it
+chooses in my absence."
+
+"Jetson, you owe it to yourself, as well as to the class, to offer your
+apology for a remark that reflected upon the whole brigade. You can
+violate no feeling of honor or proper pride by such an apology. In fact,
+I do not see how you can justify yourself in withholding such apology for
+having expressed a sentiment which you know you did not mean in the way
+that the brigade has taken it."
+
+"My feelings on questions of honor cannot possibly concern you,
+Mr. Darrin."
+
+"On the contrary, your conduct does vitally concern me, Jetson. If
+you do not make your apology the class will--well, you know what
+will happen."
+
+"Yes, I know," Jetson assented, his brow darkening.
+
+"And possibly you know what it means to me. By my own statement--and I
+cannot, in honor retract it, I shall be compelled to share Coventry
+with you."
+
+"No, you won't sir!" retorted Jetson, rising, his face ablaze with sulky
+anger. "You may go to Coventry, Mr. Darrin, and welcome, but you shall
+not share mine with me. You shall not share anything whatever with
+me--not even the air of this room if I can prevail upon you to take
+yourself out of a room where you are not wanted. Mr. Darrin, I indulge
+myself in the honor of wishing you--good evening!"
+
+Jetson crossed the room, threw open the door and bowed low. Flushing,
+breathing quickly, Dave Darrin stepped out into the corridor and the door
+closed smartly behind him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+MIDSHIPMAN JETSON HAS THE FLOOR
+
+
+It was Friday afternoon, and the last sections had been dismissed
+in front of Bancroft Hall. The balance of the afternoon belonged to
+the midshipmen, though most of them found it necessary to give the
+time to study.
+
+Jetson was not one of the latter. Always well up in his studies, he had
+no occasion to worry about daily markings or semi-annual examinations.
+
+He had not grown less sulky, but he found himself a victim of unusual
+restlessness. So he decided upon remaining out in the open air for
+the present.
+
+Though actuated by a very different class of feelings, Darrin, also, felt
+disinclined for books. He tried to study, for a few minutes, but gave it
+up and caught up his cap. The winter day being mild, he did not trouble
+himself to don his uniform overcoat.
+
+"Going to slip your cable?" inquired Dan, who was moored fast to a
+text-book.
+
+"Yes; I feel the need of fresh air."
+
+"Shove off, then!"
+
+Dave went out quietly, Dan gazing curiously after his friend until the
+door had closed behind him.
+
+"Poor chap," muttered Dan. "I reckon he has need enough of something to
+stop that restless feeling. The class meets to-night!"
+
+Jetson, after some fifteen minutes of aimless wandering, felt himself
+attracted to the gymnasium. Going inside, he went to his locker, where,
+with feverish energy, he changed to gym costume.
+
+For a few minutes the sulky one performed on the flying rings. He was an
+adept at this work, and something in the rapid motion soothed his
+troubled mind.
+
+Tiring of the rings at last, Jetson stood with folded arms, looking about
+him, until his eyes lighted with interest on the trapezes. One was up
+higher than the rest. Drawn toward this one, Jetson took hold of the
+climbing rope and drew himself up, hand over hand. Seating himself on the
+bar, he sat looking about at the few other midshipmen who were exercising
+at that hour.
+
+"There comes that Darrin fellow," thought Jetson, with a sudden burst of
+rage. "Wonder if he's going to work this afternoon? If he does, I'll put
+it all over him, even if I break my neck in the trying."
+
+Back and forth swung Jetson, getting up speed on the trapeze. Then,
+suddenly, he threw his head downward, hanging on by his knees. An
+intentional slip, and he hung fully downward his ankles holding at the
+ends of the crossbar.
+
+Folding his arms, Jetson again began to swing as he hung head downward.
+Among the midshipmen there were not so very many who were skillful at
+this form of exercise. Jetson was, and he was secretly proud of it.
+
+"This will put the fellow Darrin to the bad if he came in with any notion
+of showing off," thought the sulky one exultantly.
+
+Now the other midshipmen turned to leave the gym. In a moment more the
+only two left were Darrin and the man on the trapeze. In addition to the
+midshipmen there were two gym. attendants at some little distance.
+
+"Who's doing that fine work?" wondered Dave, stepping closer. "Why, it's
+Jetson! Well, he has one accomplishment that I really envy him!"
+
+Midshipman Jetson was now going through some rapid evolutions, first
+hanging head downward, and then, after developing speed, raising himself
+and turning over the crossbar. It was really work of which any athlete
+might have been proud.
+
+"Say, Jim," muttered one attendant to the other, "that middie has me
+nervous for fair."
+
+"Forget it," advised the other attendant, "It's the middie's neck,
+not yours."
+
+"But we took the net down that goes with that bar. Suppose the young
+man should fall. He'd break his neck, and what could we say with the
+net gone?"
+
+"He's no business up there at this late hour in the afternoon," grumbled
+the other man.
+
+"That talk won't save us, either, if anything happens."
+
+Jetson, filled with the desire to show off before the comrade he hated,
+had increased the speed of his brilliant flying movements.
+
+But suddenly he slipped. There was no regaining his grip. With a howl of
+fright he felt himself plunging head downward more than thirty feet to
+the hard floor of the gym. He was in a fair way of landing on his head,
+cracking his skull and breaking his neck. Worse, in his sudden dread, he
+seemed to have lost control of his muscles.
+
+"Turn! Land on your feet!" called Dave.
+
+It all happened in a second. Dave, brief as the instant was, realized
+that the other midshipman was not going to land on his feet. In the same
+fleeting moment that Darrin called he hurled himself into position.
+
+Straight down shot Jetson. Dave waited, with outstretched arms, ready to
+risk his own neck in the effort to save his sulky comrade.
+
+From their end of the gym. the two startled attendants had watched the
+impending disaster, but there was no time for them to do anything.
+
+From the way that Jetson fell it looked as though he had made a straight
+dive for Dave Darrin's head. At all events, their heads met in sharp
+collision.
+
+Down went Dave, as though shot, and Jetson went with him, but Darrin's
+outstretched arms had grasped the other's body, and Jetson was saved the
+worst of his fall.
+
+Now the two midshipmen lay where they had fallen, Jetson lying somewhat
+across Dave's motionless body.
+
+"They're killed!" yelled the attendant Jim hoarsely.
+
+"We'll look 'em over first, before we give up," retorted the other
+attendant, stooping and gently rolling Jetson over on his back.
+
+"Sure they're killed, Bob," protested Jim huskily. "They met head on.
+You'll find that both middies have their skulls broken."
+
+"Bring two pails of water, you chump," ordered Bob. "I tell you, we won't
+raise a row until we've done the best we can for 'em."
+
+[Illustration: Straight Down Shot Jetson.]
+
+The water was brought. Under liberal dashes of it over his face and neck
+Jetson soon opened his eyes.
+
+"I--I had a bad fall, didn't I?" he asked of the man nearest him.
+
+"You'd have broken your neck, sir, if Mr. Darrin hadn't jumped forward
+and broken the force of your fall."
+
+"I'd rather any other man had saved me," muttered the sullen one, slowly
+aiding himself to sit up. "How did Mr. Darrin do it?"
+
+"Well, sir," responded Bob, "he stopped you partly with his head, and it
+would have been broken, only he had his hands out and gripped you at the
+shoulders or trunk. It may be that his head was split as it was, but I
+hardly think so."
+
+Two more liberal douses of water, and Dave, too, opened his eyes.
+
+"Is Jetson all right?" was Darrin's first question.
+
+"Yes," muttered Midshipman Jetson, "and thanks to you, as I
+understand it."
+
+"Oh, if you're all right, then I'm glad," responded Dave. "Bob, have you
+time to help me to stand up?"
+
+"How do you feel, sir?" asked Bob, after he had complied and stood
+supporting Midshipman Darrin on his feet.
+
+"Just a bit dizzy, Bob; but that'll pass off in a moment. Jetson, I'm
+glad to see you alive. Not badly jolted, I hope?"
+
+Jim was now aiding Jetson to his feet.
+
+"Do you want a surgeon, either of you?" asked Bob.
+
+Both midshipmen shook their heads.
+
+"I think I'll go over to one of the side seats," remarked Darrin, and
+Bob piloted him there, while Jim aided Jetson out to the shower room
+and locker.
+
+Dave Darrin soon conquered the dizzy feeling enough to stand up and walk
+without assistance.
+
+"I think I'll go, now," he told Bob. "I don't believe there is anything
+that I can do for Mr. Jetson."
+
+"There is, sir, if you don't mind," interposed Jim, striding up. "Mr.
+Jetson has just asked if you mind waiting for him."
+
+"My compliments to Mr. Jetson, and I shall be glad to wait for him."
+
+The sulky midshipman soon hove in sight, having donned his uniform. He
+came up to Dave looking decidedly embarrassed.
+
+"Mr. Darrin, I fear I must thank you for having stopped my course to the
+floor," admitted Jetson, with a sheepish grin.
+
+"I won't make it too hard to thank me," replied Dave, with a smile.
+"I'll just say that you're wholly welcome."
+
+"But if you hadn't caught me in just the way that you did, your skull
+would have been smashed by the impact with my head. You risked your life
+for me, Mr. Darrin."
+
+"I didn't stop to think of that, at the time. At any rate, risking one's
+life goes with the Naval service, doesn't it?"
+
+"It was a splendid thing for you to do, Mr. Darrin! May I walk along
+with you?"
+
+Dave nodded. It was dark, now, and that portion of the yard appeared
+clear of any moving beings but themselves.
+
+"Darrin," continued Jetson, "when you risked Coventry in the effort to
+save me from it, I thought you were posing, though for the life of me I
+couldn't fathom your motive. But the risk that you took this afternoon
+wasn't in the line of posing. Do you mind telling me why you did it?"
+
+"I'd have done as much for any man in the brigade," Dave answered
+frankly.
+
+"Just the same it has touched me--touched me deeply."
+
+"I'm glad of that, Jetson," Dave answered heartily. "And now I hope that
+we can bury the hatchet and be friends, as men in the brigade should
+always be."
+
+"But why do you want to be friends with a fellow like me?"
+
+"Because I want to know the real Jetson--not the one that you
+present outside of a sulky exterior. Jetson, I know there's gold in
+you, and I want to see it brought to the surface. I want your
+friendship because--well, it may be a selfish reason, but I think
+it's worth having."
+
+"That's a funny notion to take," laughed Midshipman Jetson uneasily.
+"I have never been conceited enough to fancy that my friendship was
+worth having."
+
+"Let yourself out and be natural, man!"
+
+"How?"
+
+Then indeed did Dave Darrin plunge into his subject. There was a lot
+to be said, but Dave said it briefly, tersely, candidly. Jetson
+listened with a flushing face, it is true, but at last he stopped and
+held out his hand.
+
+"Will you take it, Darrin?"
+
+"With all my heart!"
+
+There was chance for but little more talk, as now the slowly moving
+midshipmen were close to the entrance to Bancroft Hall.
+
+"You'll be at the class meeting this evening, won't you?" asked
+Dave Darrin.
+
+"You may be very sure that I shall!"
+
+Then they entered the lobby of Bancroft Hall, parting and going their
+different ways.
+
+In Darrin's eyes there was a strange flash as he turned down the "deck"
+on which he lived. But Dan, still absorbed in study, did not pay especial
+heed to his roommate.
+
+Immediately after supper in the mess-hall, Dalzell caught his chum's arm.
+
+"Let's get in early at the meeting, David, little giant. I'm afraid
+there's big trouble brewing, and we must both be on hand early. We may
+have some chance to talk a bit before the meeting is called to order."
+
+"I don't believe I shall care to talk any, Danny boy, before the
+president raps."
+
+"Don't be too stubborn, Davy! Your future will very likely be at stake
+to-night. Your most dependable friends will be on hand and under arms for
+you. Back 'em up!"
+
+At least half of the class was gathered when the chums entered. Darrin
+looked about him, then took a seat. He watched the door until he saw
+Midshipman Jetson enter.
+
+Rap, rap, rap! went the gavel at last.
+
+"Gentlemen," announced the president, "there is some unfinished business
+before the meeting. At the last class meeting a motion was made and
+seconded that Midshipman Jetson be sent to Coventry. Any remarks that may
+be offered on that resolution will be in order now."
+
+Dave Darrin was on his feet in an instant. Three or four men hissed, but
+Dave appeared not to notice.
+
+"Mr. President," Dave began in a slow, steady voice, "this motion more
+closely affects Mr. Jetson than it does any other member of the class. I
+understand that Mr. Jetson has a few remarks to make."
+
+There was a murmur that ran around the room as Jetson rose to his feet,
+claiming the chair's recognition.
+
+"Mr. President and gentlemen," began Jetson, his face pale and his words
+coming with effort, "I am not going to discuss the question of whether
+the class will or will not be justified in sending me to Coventry. I have
+a duty to perform to-night, and I assure you that it comes hard, for my
+temper and pride have been beyond my control for a long time. I wish to
+make a most earnest apology for remarks of mine that were construed as
+being insulting to the members of the brigade. I further desire to make
+any statement, or any admission that will most quickly banish any sense
+of wrong coming from me. In doing so, I am moved to this proper course by
+my friend, Mr. Darrin!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+THE BIRTH OF A GENTLEMAN
+
+
+It wasn't a real bombshell that hit the class, of course, but the effect
+was almost as startling. First, there were murmurs, then a hubbub of
+voices, last of all a rousing cheer.
+
+In the midst of the excitement Midshipman Farley leaped to his feet.
+
+"Mr. President!" he bellowed.
+
+But his voice did not carry ten feet from where he stood.
+
+"Mr. President!" he yelled, louder than ever before.
+
+Still the hubbub continued. Farley leaped to the seat of his chair,
+turning and waving both arms frantically. Any midshipman who had glanced
+toward the chair would have discovered that the occupant of the class
+chair was rapping hard with his gavel, though no sound of it was heard
+above the tumult.
+
+Presently, however, Farley's antics produced their effect. The noise
+gradually lessened.
+
+"Mr. President!" essayed Farley once more.
+
+"Mr. Farley has the floor!" shouted the class president hoarsely.
+
+"Mr. President," went on Farley, at the top of his voice, "class honor
+and that of the brigade have been satisfied by the direct, manly
+statement of Mr. Jetson. I move you, sir, that the motion now before this
+body be tabled, all further action dropped and the class meeting
+adjourned subject to call."
+
+"Second the motion!" yelled Page.
+
+"The motion to adjourn must follow the disposal of the first part of the
+motion," ruled the chair.
+
+"I accept the amendment," called Farley.
+
+"I, also," assented Page.
+
+"Question! question!"
+
+"Before putting the motion," continued the chair, "I desire to ask Mr.
+Jetson if he has fully considered his statement and the revised position
+that he has taken? Since the matter affects the entire brigade, and not
+this single class, I feel that there should be no doubt, or any question
+to be raised later."
+
+"Mr. President," announced Jetson, when he had secured recognition,
+"I have retracted any offensive words that I may have uttered. I
+have attempted no justification of any of my words, but have made
+flat apology."
+
+"Three cheers for Jet!" shouted one impulsive midshipman.
+
+"Any remarks?" questioned the chair.
+
+"Mr. President!"
+
+"Mr. Darrin."
+
+"I do not see how Mr. Jetson's retraction or apology could be made any
+more explicit. I trust to see Mr. Farley's motion, seconded by Mr. Page,
+put to the vote and carried at once. I am wholly aware that I have
+incurred the class's displeasure (cries of 'no! no!') but I urge that
+whatever action may be taken regarding myself be deferred until after Mr.
+Jetson has been restored to the fullest measure of class and brigade
+fellowship."
+
+"Any further remarks?" questioned the class president, when Darrin had
+seated himself. "If not, I will state the motion."
+
+A few "nays" succeeded the great chorus of "ayes," and the motion of
+Coventry for Jetson was declared tabled.
+
+"Any further action?" demanded the chair.
+
+"Move we adjourn!" called Farley.
+
+"Second the motion!" seconded Page.
+
+The motion was put and carried without dissent Then, amid the greatest
+jollity, the meeting was declared adjourned.
+
+There was a rush of at least twenty men to shake hands with Jetson, who,
+with flushed but pleased face, bore his honors as modestly as he could.
+
+"What on earth came over you, Jet?" demanded Joyce bluntly.
+
+"It would be a long story about Darrin," replied Midshipman Jetson. "He
+had the grace to show me that I was a constitutional ass, with perhaps
+some slight chance of being reborn. To make it short, Darrin persuaded me
+to come before the class, eat humble pie and set myself right with
+myself, even if I couldn't with the class."
+
+"It was beautifully done, Jet," murmured Page, who was tremendously
+grateful at seeing Dave Darrin rescued from sacrificing himself to a
+principle.
+
+"If any of you fellows catch me in the sulks hereafter," spoke up Jetson,
+though he winced as he said it, "I hope the man who catches me will do me
+the very great favor of passing me a few sound kicks before others have a
+chance to catch me to the bad."
+
+"Bully for you--you're all right, Jet!" called several warmly.
+
+Fully half of the class members had left the room by this time. Dan
+Dalzell, who had been thunderstruck, and who was now full of questions,
+was being urged out of the room by Dave.
+
+"So Darry converted you, did he?" laughed Joyce. "Bully for Darry. Why,
+that great and good fellow dared the class to send him to Coventry after
+it got through with you. He accused the class of kicking a man without
+giving that man a chance to get up on his feet."
+
+"It's a good deal like Darrin," remarked Jetson, his eyes a trifle
+misty, "though it took me a thundering long time to realize that Darrin
+was really of that kind."
+
+"How did it happen, any way?" insisted Farley.
+
+"You've heard nothing about it?"
+
+"Not a word--not a hint," protested Page eagerly.
+
+There were less than twenty of the midshipmen now remaining in the
+room, so Jetson did not feel as embarrassed as he might have done had
+he been called upon to give the recital before a class meeting. He
+told his listeners the story of Dave's splendid conduct in the gym.
+that afternoon, and of the talk that had followed the reconciliation
+of the enemies.
+
+"That was like good old Darry again," remarked Farley proudly. "No fellow
+has a warmer temper than Darry when he's aroused to righteous anger, but
+no fellow has a more generous temper at all times."
+
+"Let's go down and jump in on Darry, all hands!" proposed Joyce.
+
+"Listen!" warned Farley.
+
+Study call! That took the young men hastily to their regular
+academic duties.
+
+"One thing this business has done," remarked Midshipman Farley, looking
+up from his books.
+
+"I'll be the goat," murmured Page.
+
+"Darry has always been somewhat the leader of the class, ever since the
+fellows began to find him out, back in the first year here. But this last
+business has boosted Dave Darrin unmistakably and solidly now into the
+post of leader of the class."
+
+"We're safe, then!" retorted Page. "Darry won't lead us into any
+trouble!"
+
+The realization that Midshipman Dave Darrin was assured leader of
+the second class was not long in coming to most of the other men of
+the class.
+
+Yet Dave did not seek the post, nor did he attempt to do any actual
+leading. He still considered himself as possessing one voice, and one
+only, in the class councils.
+
+If Dave was leader, Dan Dalzell, both by reflected glory and by virtue of
+his own sterling merits as well, shared the leadership with Dave to a
+great extent. Dan's power might have gone further than it did had it not
+been for the fact that he was so full of mischief as to leave his
+comrades often in doubt as to whether he were really serious in what he
+said and did.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+"BAGGED," AND NO MISTAKE
+
+
+"Plebes Flint and Austin are having a good many callers," remarked Dave
+Darrin, halting by the door of quarters before he and Dan entered.
+
+"Sure! Aren't you wise?" inquired Dan, with a wink.
+
+"I think so," murmured Dave. "The callers all seem to be third classmen."
+
+"Of course; they're putting the rookies through their paces."
+
+"Surest thing!" murmured Dalzell without excitement.
+
+"But this is March. Isn't it a rather late time in the year to be still
+hounding the poor new men?"
+
+"I don't know," mused Dalzell. "It may be that Mr. Flint and Mr. Austin
+are unusually touge."
+
+"Touge" is Annapolis slang for "fresh." It corresponds closely to the "b
+j" of West Point.
+
+A sound as of protest came from behind a closed door at the further end
+of the deck.
+
+"I hope our youngsters aren't going too far," Dave remarked, "youngster"
+being the accepted term for the third classmen, and the same as
+"yearling" at West Point.
+
+"Well, it's none of our business," replied Dan, with a shrug of his
+shoulders. "Study call will be along in fifteen minutes. Going to get an
+early start with the books to-night?"
+
+"I guess that will be wise," Darrin nodded.
+
+"It surely will."
+
+The rest of the winter had gone along rather uneventfully, save for the
+inevitable, overpowering amount of grind through which a midshipman must
+pass. It was now spring, and midshipmen thoughts were divided between two
+topics--annual exams, and summer cruise.
+
+Dan had started into the room, and Dave was about to follow, when he
+heard an unusually loud thud at the further end of the deck.
+
+"Danny boy, the plebes must be getting it hard to-night."
+
+"I'd like to see the fun," muttered Dalzell, his eyes snapping with
+mischief. "But it doesn't seem to be any of our business. Hazing work is
+left in charge of the youngster crowd."
+
+"Yes; a second classman shouldn't interfere," assented Dave. "Well, study
+for ours."
+
+"I'm afraid I'm not as studious as I was a minute ago," contended Dan,
+with a grin.
+
+Dave looked almost startled as he seized his chum by the arm.
+
+"Inside with you, Danny boy!"
+
+"Not under compulsion," laughed Midshipman Dalzell.
+
+"I'll condescend to coaxing, then. But don't anger the youngsters by
+butting in."
+
+"And why not? An upper classman has a right to step in, if he wishes."
+
+"It is, at least, against the rules of good taste to interfere,"
+argued Darrin.
+
+"Well, hang you, I don't want to interfere. All I want to do is to look
+on. Can't an upper classman do that?"
+
+"I won't," returned Dave.
+
+Yet almost immediately he changed his mind, for two hard bumps and a gust
+of laughter swept up the deck.
+
+"They're making so much racket," murmured Dave, lingering by his own
+door, "that, the first thing we know, a duty officer will swoop down and
+rag the bunch."
+
+"Let's go in, then, as grave and dignified second classmen, and warn the
+youngsters like daddies," proposed Dan, but his eyes were twinkling with
+the spirit of mischief.
+
+A good deal against his own inclination Darrin allowed himself to be
+coaxed into the thing.
+
+Nine youngsters were found in Midshipmen Flint and Austin's room when
+Dave and Dan entered after rapping.
+
+"We're not intruding, I hope?" inquired Dalzell, with his most
+inviting grin.
+
+"Not at all, gentlemen," responded Midshipman Eaton, of the third class.
+
+"These fourth classmen seemed unwontedly popular to-night,"
+insinuated Dan.
+
+"They've been most uncommonly touge all through the year, sir," replied
+Eaton, tacking on the "sir" in order to impress Midshipmen Flint and
+Austin with the tremendous dignity or all upper classmen.
+
+"What form does their tougeness take?" Dan wanted to know.
+
+"They have not yet learned the respect that is due to upper
+classmen, sir."
+
+"And especially to third classmen?" inquired Dan, now without the flicker
+of a smile.
+
+"They are especially touge, sir, with third classmen."
+
+"And you are showing them the error of their ways?"
+
+"We are trying to do so, sir."
+
+"I thought so, from the noise we heard," pursued Dalzell.
+
+"If you have any better ways, Mr. Dalzell, we shall be glad to profit
+from your riper experience, sir," suggested Midshipman Eaton.
+
+"No; I've forgotten almost everything that I ever knew in that line,"
+remarked Dan.
+
+"Mr. Darrin, sir?" suggested Eaton, turning to the other second
+classman present.
+
+"I have nothing to suggest," replied Dave slowly, "unless--" Then
+he paused.
+
+"Unless--sir?" followed up Midshipman Eaton.
+
+"No; I won't say it. It might give offense," Darrin responded.
+
+"Have no fear of that, Mr. Darrin," urged Eaton.
+
+"All I was going to suggest, Eaton, was that this is the month of March."
+
+"Yes, sir?" inquired Eaton wonderingly.
+
+"When Dalzell and I were fourth classmen we weren't troubled at all by
+the youngsters after Christmas. Last year, Eaton, our class didn't bother
+yours at any later date, either."
+
+Some of the youngsters present began to look embarrassed, though Dave's
+tone had been quiet and free from rebuke.
+
+"But, sir, don't imagine that we're doing anything to the plebes for our
+own amusement," protested Eaton. "This is the only pair of the fourth
+class left that need any attention from our class. These two young
+misters are the tougest lot we've had to deal with. In fact, sir,
+they're ratey!"
+
+"Still," rejoined Dan Dalzell, "I think you are keeping it up pretty
+late in the year, even if they are ratey."
+
+A midshipman who is "ratey," as has been explained in an earlier volume,
+is a much greater offender than a midshipman who is merely touge. For a
+ratey fourth classman makes the foolish blunder of considering himself as
+good as an upper classman.
+
+"Of course," suggested Dan, making haste to smooth over any astonishment
+that his own and his chum's remarks might have caused, "we don't propose
+to instruct the members of the third class in the way they shall perform
+their duties toward the members of the fourth. Don't let us interfere
+with you, Mr. Eaton."
+
+"By no means," murmured Dave Darrin, smiling. "We don't wish to intrude."
+
+"But wait just one moment gentlemen," begged Eaton. "We want you to see
+for yourselves how effectively we are smoothing the touge creases out of
+these baby midshipmen."
+
+During the discussion Flint and Austin had been standing at one side of
+the room, looking decidedly sheepish. Both had their blouses off, though
+neither had been required to take off his collar. The trousers of the two
+fourth classmen were rather liberally overlaid with dust, showing that
+they must have been performing some rough stunts on the floor.
+
+"Step over to that, basin, mister," ordered Youngster Eaton, eyeing
+Flint, who promptly obeyed.
+
+"Now, mister, stand on your head in that bowl," commanded
+Midshipman Eaton.
+
+Looking doubly red and uncomfortable, with these two grave-looking second
+classmen present, Flint bent down, attempting to stand on his head in the
+bowl of water, while he tried, at the same time to push his feet up the
+wall, thus standing on his head. Twice Flint essayed the feat and failed,
+splashing a good deal of water over the floor. Then, for the third time,
+Flint tried the performance. This time he succeeded, but his two previous
+failures had provoked such a storm of laughter that no man present heard
+a cautious rap on the door. The next instant that door was flung open and
+Lieutenant Preston stepped into the room.
+
+With the entrance of that discipline officer half of the midshipmen
+present wheeled about, then, startled as they were, did not forget to
+come to attention.
+
+"Hm!" said Lieutenant Preston, at which the other half heard and
+came to attention. Flint, whether too scared, or perhaps enjoying
+the discomfiture of his tormentors, made no effort to return to
+normal position.
+
+"What's your name, sir?" thundered the discipline officer, glaring
+fiercely at Midshipman Flint.
+
+"Flint, sir," replied the fourth classman in a gasp.
+
+"Bring your feet down and come to attention, sir!"
+
+Flint obeyed.
+
+During this time Lieutenant Preston had stood so that no midshipman in
+the room could slip by him into the corridor.
+
+"I will now take the names of the gentlemen present," went on the
+discipline officer, drawing a notebook and pencil from an inner pocket
+and commencing to write.
+
+"All except the fourth classmen present will at once fall in by twos
+outside," commanded Lieutenant Preston, closing the notebook and slipping
+it away. "Midshipmen Flint and Austin will mend their appearances as
+speedily as possible and then form the last file outside."
+
+"Wow!" whispered Dan in his chum's ear outside. "Talk about the
+fifty-seven varieties! We're in all the pickles!"
+
+"Yes," murmured Dave.
+
+"What are you going to do about it, Davy?"
+
+"Take my medicine," Dave replied.
+
+"But we weren't really in the thing."
+
+"Danny boy, never get out of a thing, or try to, by playing cry baby!"
+
+"No danger," retorted Dalzell. "David, little giant, we'll just console
+ourselves with the realization that we're in the worst scrape we ever
+struck yet."
+
+"Yes," nodded Dave.
+
+Fourth classmen Flint and Austin were not long in making themselves
+presentable. Then they fell in at the rear of the line.
+
+"Squad, forward march!" commanded the discipline officer dryly.
+
+Through the corridor and off that deck the little squad of thirteen
+midshipmen marched. Never had thirteen been more unlucky, for the present
+superintendent was known to be a man determined to stamp out hazing.
+
+Nor did the affair remain a secret for more than a moment Midshipmen
+returning to their own decks stepped to the wall to let the squad pass.
+Nor was more than a look at the two rear fourth classmen needed to enable
+any wondering midshipmen to guess the nature of the offense with which
+the remaining eleven upper classmen were to be charged.
+
+"Our Darry in that!" gasped Farley, as the squad went by. "Did you see
+him?"
+
+"Yes," Page mournfully admitted.
+
+"Then my eyes didn't play me any trick, as I had hoped. Darry and
+Dalzell! What evil spirit tempted them to be in that scrape?"
+
+In the meantime Lieutenant Preston was arraigning the captured
+delinquents before the officer in charge, and the commandant of
+midshipmen had already been telephoned for and was on the way.
+
+Study call cut short a good deal of excited discussion on the different
+decks. The commandant of midshipmen arrived, heard the evidence of the
+discipline officer, looked over the offenders, entered their names on his
+own record, and then spoke briefly, but in the voice of fate itself:
+
+"The accused midshipmen will go to their rooms. They will, until further
+orders, remain in their quarters, except for recitations and meal
+formation. They will forego all privileges until the superintendent or
+higher authority has acted finally in this matter. That is all, young
+gentlemen. Go to your rooms, except Midshipmen Flint and Austin, who
+will remain."
+
+As soon as the upper classmen had departed, the commandant took Flint and
+Austin in hand, questioning them keenly and making notes of the more
+important answers.
+
+Back in their own rooms, Midshipman Dan Dalzell was at first overwhelmed
+with horror.
+
+"We're dished, Davy! We walk the plank! The super won't forgive a single
+man who is caught at the royal pastime of hazing! I'm going to write,
+now, for the money to get home with. You know, in the last two affairs,
+the hazers have been dismissed from the Naval Academy."
+
+"Yes," Dave nodded. "It looks black for us. But keep a stiff tipper lip,
+Danny boy."
+
+"It's all my own miserable fault!" uttered Dalzell, clenching his fists,
+while tears tried to get into his eyes. "You've got me to blame for this,
+Davy! It was all my doing. I insisted on dragging you down to that room,
+and now you've got to walk the plank, all because of my foolishness! Oh,
+I'm a hoodoo!"
+
+"Stop that, Danny!" warned Dave, resting a hand on his chum's arm. "I
+didn't have to go, and you couldn't have made me do it. I wouldn't have
+gone if I hadn't wanted to. I'm not going to let even you rest the blame
+for my conduct on your shoulders."
+
+Finally the chums went to study table.
+
+"What's the use!" demanded Dan, closing a book after he had opened it.
+"We don't need to study. We've got to walk the plank, at any rate, and
+all the study we do here for the next day or two is so much time wasted!"
+
+"We may walk the plank," retorted Dave. "In fact, I feel rather certain
+that we shall. But it hasn't happened yet Danny boy, open that book
+again, and open it at the right page. Study until recall, and work
+harder than you ever did before. You know all about that old-time Navy
+man who said, 'Don't give up the ship!'"
+
+They studied, or manfully pretended to, until release sounded. How
+much they learned from their books that night may have been a
+different matter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+
+By the next day it was generally conceded among the midshipmen that the
+ranks of the brigade were about to be thinned as a result of the last
+hazing episode. Nor did the third class generally uphold Eaton and his
+youngster associates in the affair of the night before.
+
+"They were out for trouble, and they got it," declared one third
+classman. "The rest of us let up on all hazing before Christmas."
+
+In some underground way Farley and Page heard the straight story
+concerning Dave and Dan; how the two upper classmen had gone to the room
+and Darrin had entered a mild protest against the hazing.
+
+Though it was against regulations to visit them confined to their
+quarters, Farley took the chance and got a few words with Dave.
+
+"Darry, don't let anyone trim you for what you didn't do," begged
+Midshipman Farley. "Go straight to the com.; tell him that you and Dan
+had just entered the room to see what was going on, and that you had just
+made a protest against the hazing."
+
+"Nothing doing there, Farl," Dave gently assured his friend. "We were
+present and we really had no business to be. We wouldn't make ourselves
+look any more manly by crying when the medicine is held out to us."
+
+"But you did protest," urged Farley anxiously. "Stand up for your own
+rights, Darry. Remember, I'm not counseling you to lie, or to make any
+stretched claims. That would be unworthy of you. But tell the full truth
+in your own defense."
+
+"Dan and I will truthfully answer all questions put to us by competent
+officers," Dave replied gravely. "Farl, that is about all we can do and
+keep our self-respect. For, you understand, we were there, and we knew
+just about what we were going to look in on before we crossed the
+threshold of that room."
+
+"But we can't lose you from the brigade, Darry," pleaded Farley hoarsely.
+"Nor can the people of this country spare you from the Navy of the
+future. Stick up for all your rights. That's all your friends ask of you.
+Remember, man, you're nearly three fourths of the way through to
+graduation! Don't let your fine chances be sacrificed."
+
+Dave, however, still maintained that he was not going to play baby. In
+dismay some forty members of the second class held an unofficial outdoor
+meeting at which ways and means were suggested. In the end Joyce, Farley
+and Page were appointed a committee of three to think the matter over
+solemnly, and then to go to the commandant of midshipmen with whatever
+statement they felt justified in making.
+
+At the earliest possible moment the three waited outside the door of the
+commandant's office, after having sent in their cards and a message as to
+why they desired to see the commandant.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," began the commandant briskly, "I understand that
+you want to see me in reference to the last hazing outrage. What have
+you to say?"
+
+"We come in behalf of two members of our own class, sir," spoke up
+Farley.
+
+"Hm! What do you expect to be able to say for Midshipmen Darrin and
+Dalzell? They do not attempt to deny the fact that they were present at
+the hazing, and that they were at least looking on when Lieutenant
+Preston entered the room."
+
+"May I inquire, sir," replied Farley very respectfully, "whether either
+Mr. Darrin or Mr. Dalzell have stated that Mr. Darrin had just entered a
+protest against the hazing, and that they had made the protest just
+before Lieutenant Preston went into the room?"
+
+"No; such a statement has not been made by either Mr. Darrin or
+Mr. Dalzell," admitted the commandant. "Are you sure that Mr.
+Darrin did protest?"
+
+"I can only say, sir," replied Farley, "that I have been so informed. I
+also know, from Mr. Darrin's own lips, that he has refused to inform you
+that he made such a protest."
+
+"Why?" shot out the commandant, eyeing Mr. Farley keenly.
+
+"Because, sir, Mr. Darrin feels that he would be doing the baby act to
+enter such a defense."
+
+"And so has commissioned you to appear for him?"
+
+"No, sir," returned Farley almost hotly. "In fact, sir, I believe Mr.
+Darrin would be very angry if he knew what I am doing and saying at this
+moment. This committee, sir, was appointed by some forty members of the
+second class, sir, who are familiar with the facts. We have been sent to
+you, sir, by our classmates, who are frantic at the thought of losing the
+finest fellow in the class."
+
+"I thank you, gentlemen," said the commandant, in a tone which signified
+the polite dismissal of the committee. "I will keep in mind what you
+have told me."
+
+The investigation was being carried on daily. All of the third class
+offenders were put on carpet more than once. At the next session with
+the youngsters the commandant questioned them as to the truth of the
+statement that Darrin had tried to protest against the hazing.
+
+"Why, yes, sir," Eaton admitted, "Mr. Darrin did say something against
+what we were doing."
+
+"As an upper classman, did Mr. Darrin order you to stop?"
+
+"No, sir," Eaton admitted; "he didn't command us to stop."
+
+"What did Mr. Darrin say?"
+
+"I can't state with accuracy, now, sir, just what Mr. Darrin did
+say to us."
+
+"Did he disapprove of your acts?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I am very certain that he made every third classman present
+feel uncomfortable."
+
+"Then whatever Mr. Darrin's words were, they had the effect, if not the
+exact form, of a rebuke against your conduct?" pressed the commandant.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Midshipman Eaton with great positiveness.
+
+Eaton's companions in the hazing all bore him out in the statement. The
+commandant of midshipmen then took up the matter of their testimony with
+the superintendent of the Naval Academy.
+
+After six days of confinement to quarters, Darrin and Dalzell were
+ordered to report before the commandant. With that officer they found the
+superintendent also. It was the latter officer who spoke.
+
+"Mr. Darrin and Mr. Dalzell, on the testimony of others, not of
+yourselves, we have learned that Mr. Darrin had just entered a rebuke
+against the hazing before Lieutenant Preston entered the room in which
+the hazing was taking place. We have this on such general assurance that
+both the commandant and myself feel warranted in restoring you to full
+duty and privileges. At the same time, Mr. Darrin, I desire to thank you
+for your manliness and attention to duty in entering a protest against
+the hazing."
+
+"I thank you very much, sir," Dave Darrin answered. "However, much as I
+long to remain in the Navy, I do not want to hide behind a
+misunderstanding. While I spoke against the hazing, candor compels me to
+admit that I did not protest so vigorously but that more hazing went on
+immediately."
+
+"That I can quite understand," nodded the superintendent. "I am aware of
+the disinclination of the members of one upper class to interfere with
+the members of another upper class. The fact that you made a protest at
+all is what has convinced me that yourself and Mr. Dalzell were in the
+room at the time with a worthy instead of an unworthy motive. Worthy
+motives are not punished at the Naval Academy, Mr. Darrin. For that
+reason yourself and Mr. Dalzell are restored to full duty and privileges.
+That is all, gentlemen."
+
+Thus dismissed, Dave and Dan could not, without impertinence, remain
+longer in the room.
+
+There was wild joy in the second class when it was found that the class
+leaders, Darrin and Dalzell, had escaped from the worst scrape they had
+been in at Annapolis.
+
+Eaton, Hough and Paulson, of the third class, proved to have been the
+ringleaders in the hazing. They were summarily dismissed from the Naval
+Academy, while the other six youngsters implicated in the affair all came
+in for severe punishments that fell short of dismissal.
+
+After that matters went on smoothly enough for the balance of the term.
+Dave, Dan, Joyce, Farley, Page, Jetson and all their closest intimates in
+the class succeeded in passing their annual examinations. Jetson, in
+addition, had made good in his new role of amiable fellow.
+
+As these young men, now new first classmen, stood on the deck of a
+battleship, watching the Naval Academy fade astern, at the beginning of
+the summer cruise, Dave Darrin turned to his friends, remarking
+wistfully:
+
+"Fellows, if we get through one more year of it without falling down, we
+shall then be putting to sea once more, and then as graduated midshipmen,
+afloat in our effort to win our ensign's commissions!"
+
+How did they come out?
+
+The answer must be deferred to the next and last volume of this series,
+which is published under the title, "DAVE DARRIN'S FOURTH YEAR AT
+ANNAPOLIS; Or, Headed for Graduation and the Big Cruise."
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dave Darrin's Third Year at Annapolis
+by H. Irving Hancock
+
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