Dave Darrins First Year at Annapolis | Page 3

"My! I wonder who else is expected," muttered Dalzell, as the two
young travelers found themselves in their room after the boy had left
them.
It was an enormous room, and the three beds in it did not crowd the
apartment in the least. All the furniture was of a massive and
old-fashioned pattern.
A few minutes later, with face and hands washed--clean collars, clothes
neatly brushed, the two clear-eyed, manly-looking young fellows
returned to the first floor.
"I suppose this hotel is full of young men like ourselves, wondering
what tomorrow will bring them, when they get before the sawbones,"
muttered Dan.
"Candidates, like ourselves, you mean?" suggested Darrin. "We'll
inquire." With that, he approached the clerk and made the inquiry.
"Oh, no," replied the clerk, in answer to Dave's question. "There are
only two other candidates besides yourselves stopping here. There are a
good many young men in town, of course, but most of them have been
here for some weeks, and are in lodging houses. A good many young
men come here, you know, to attend the Naval preparatory schools
before they go up for their examinations."
"We've had our academic examinations, and have passed," announced
Dan.
"What about supper, sir?" asked Dave, who, in his short trip through
the South, had noticed that in this part of the country the "sir" is
generally employed.

"You'll find supper ready, gentlemen," replied the clerk, pointing the
way to the dining room.
So the two young men passed in and enjoyed their first sample of
southern cookery.
At this hour there were only a half dozen other people in the dining
room--none of them interesting, Darrin decided, after hastily surveying
the other diners.
The meal over, the two young candidates sauntered again out into the
hotel office.
"Any midshipmen out around the town, sir?" Darrin asked.
"Hardly, sir," replied the clerk, with a smile. "At this hour the young
gentlemen are in their rooms at Bancroft Hall."
"What does a midshipman look like?" ventured Dalzell.
"Like a human being, of course," Dave laughed.
"You mean the uniform?" inquired the clerk. "A midshipman, sir,
wears a dark blue uniform, like an officer's, and a visored cap, Naval
pattern. He also wears the anchor insignia on each side of his coat
collar."
Dave and Dan soon walked over to the open doorway and stood
looking out upon the street, in which, at this time, few people were
passing. Hearing a step in the office, Dan quickly turned. He saw a
young man coming through the office, holding himself very erect. This
young man was in dark blue uniform, with visored cap, and on each
side of his collar was the anchor insignia. Past the anchor were two bars,
but Dalzell didn't notice that at the moment.
"There's a real midshipman," whispered Dan, plucking at Dave's sleeve.
"I'm going to speak to him."
"Don't you do it," warned Dave, in an undertone. "You may make a

mistake."
"Mistake?" echoed Dan. "With that anchor on his collar?"
Hastily Dan Dalzell slipped back into the office, going up to the young
man in uniform, who had stopped before the desk.
"Good evening," began Dan politely. "I'd like to introduce myself.
'Tomorrow I expect to be one of the crowd. You're a midshipman,
aren't you?"
"I'm an officer of the Navy," replied the uniformed stranger coldly, as
he half turned to glance briefly at Dalzell. "You are a candidate, I
suppose? Then I fancy you will report at the superintendent's office in
the morning."
With that the Naval officer turned away, leaving poor Dalzell feeling
decidedly dumfounded.
"Wasn't that a midshipman?" gasped Dan, in a whisper.
"That gentleman is a lieutenant in the Navy," replied the clerk, with a
slight smile.
Crestfallen Dan hurried back to Darrin, brushing off his sleeves with
his hands as he walked.
"Served you right; you must get over being fresh," Dave Darrin
rebuked his chum. "But what is the matter with your sleeves?"
"I'm brushing the frost off of them," murmured Dan dejectedly. "Did
you notice the ice-bath that fellow threw over me?"
"Come out for a walk," urged Dave. "But be careful where you step and
what you say to others."
The two young men strolled down the street.
"Well," smiled Darrin, "I must say, Dan, that you appear to be getting

all over your nervousness."
"No; I'm still nervous," protested Dan. "Before, I was afraid I wouldn't
get into the Naval Academy. Now, I'm only afraid that I shall."
"What nonsense are you talking now?" demanded Darrin, giving his
chum a sharp look.
"Why, if they're all going to be as chesty as that near-officer I spoke to
in the hotel," blinked Dan, "I'm not so sure that I want to go in with the
bunch."
"That officer wasn't either