Then, of course, every Naval officer must burn the wires
with messages begging for a fighting appointment."
"I'm not afraid of your fighting record, if the need ever comes,"
replied Belle proudly. "And, Dave, though my heart breaks, I'll
never show you a tear in my eyes if you're starting on a fighting
cruise."
Mrs. Meade and Dave's parents now entered the room, and soon after
Danny Grin, who had gone in search of his own father and mother,
returned with them.
"What are we going to do now?" asked Mr. Darrin. "I understand
that we have hours to wait for the next train."
"We can't do much, sir," replied Dave. "Within another hour this
will be the deadest town in the United States."
"I should think you young men would want to spend most of the
intervening time down at the Naval Academy, looking over the familiar
spots once more," suggested Mrs. Dalzell.
"Then I'm afraid, mother, that you don't realize much of the way
that a midshipman feels. The Naval Academy is our alma mater,
and a beloved spot. Yet, after what I've been through there during
the last few years I don't want to see the Naval Academy again.
At least, not until I've won a solid step or two in the way of
promotion."
"That's the feeling of all the graduates, I reckon," nodded Dave
Darrin. "For one, I know I don't want to go back there to-day."
"Some day you will go back there, though," observed Danny Grin.
"Why are you so sure?" Dave asked.
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