David Darrins Second Year at Annapolis | Page 3

disarming the yellow man, but Dave swiftly threw the Chinaman around out of Farley's reach. Then, with a lightning-like move, Dave knocked the knife from Chow Hop's hand.
"Pick that up and keep it for a curio, Farley," directed Dave coolly.
In another twinkling Darrin had run the Chinaman up against the wall.
Smack! biff! thump!
With increasing force Dave's hard fist struck the heathen in the face.
"Now stand there and behave yourself," admonished Midshipman Dave, dropping his hold on the yellow man's collar, "or we'll stop playing with you and hurt you some."
The scowl on Chow Hop's face was ominous, but he stood still, glaring at Dave.
"Chow, what can we do to bring this man out of his sleep!" asked Dave coolly, and almost in a friendly tone.
"Me no sabby," sulked the Chinaman.
"Yes, you do," retorted Dave warningly. "Now, what can we do to get our friend out of this!"
"You allee same cally (carry) him out," retorted Chow, with a suspicion of a sulky grin.
"None of that, now, you yellow-face!" glared Dave. "How shall we get our comrade out of this opium sleep!"
"Me no sabby no way," insisted Chow.
"Oh, yes, you do!" snapped Dave. "But you won't tell. All right; we'll find the way, and we'll punish you into the bargain. Dan, get a piece of paper from the other room."
Dalzell was quickly back with the desired item. On the paper Dave wrote a name and a telephone number.
"It's near the end of the doctor's office hours," murmured Dave. "Go to a telephone and ask the doctor to meet you at the corner above. Tell him it's vastly important, and ask him to meet you on the jump."
"Shall I tell him what's up!" asked Dan cautiously.
"Yes; you'd better. Then he'll be sure to bring the necessary remedies with him."
Dan Dalzell was off like a shot.
Chow tried to edge around toward the door.
"Here, you get back there," cried Dave, seizing the Chinaman and slamming him back against the wall. "Don't you move again, until we tell you that you may--or it will be the worse for you."
Ten minutes passed ere Dan returned with Dr. Lawrence.
"You see the job that's cut out for you," said Darrin, pointing to the unconscious figure in the bunk. "Can you do it, Doctor?"
The medical man made a hasty examination of the unconscious midshipman before he answered briefly:
"Yes."
"Will it be a long job, Doctor?"
"Fifteen minutes, probably."
"Oh, good, if you can do it in that time!"
"Me go now?" asked Chow, with sullen curiosity, as the medical man opened his medicine-case.
"Yes; if you don't try to leave the joint," agreed Dave. "And I'm going outside with you."
Chow looked very much as though he did not care for company, but Midshipman Darrin kept at his side.
"Now, see here, Chow," warned Dave, "this is the last day you sell opium for white men to smoke!"
"You heap too flesh (fresh)" growled the Chinaman.
"It's the last day you'll sell opium to white men," insisted Dave, "for, as soon as I'm through here I'm going to the police station to inform against you. They'll go through here like a twelve-inch shot."
"You alle same tell cop?" grinned Chow, green hatred showing through his skin. "Then I tell evelybody about you fliend in there."
"Do just as you please about that," retorted Dave with pretended carelessness. "For one thing, you don't know his name."
"Oh, yes, I do," swaggered Chow impudently. "Know heap 'bout him. His name alle same Pen'ton."
Seizing a marking brush and a piece of paper, Chow Hop quickly wrote out Pennington's name, correctly spelled. His ability to write English with a good hand was one of Chow's great vanities, anyway.
"You go back to your ironing board, yellow-face," warned Darrin, and something in the young third classman's face showed Chow that it would be wise to obey.
Then Hallam drew Darrin to one side, to whisper earnestly in his ear:
"Look out, old man, or you will get Pen into an awful scrape!"
"I shan't do it," maintained Darrin. "If it happens it will have been Pen's own work."
"You'd better let the chink go, just to save one of our class."
"Is a fellow who has turned opium fiend worth saving to the class!" demanded Dave, looking straight into Hallam's eyes.
"Well, er--er--" stammered the other man.
"You see," smiled Dave, "the doubt hits you just as hard as it does me!"
"Oh, of course, a fellow who has turned opium fiend is no fellow ever to be allowed to reach the bridge and the quarter-deck," admitted Hallam. "But see here, are you going to report this affair to the commandant of midshipmen, or to anyone else in authority?"
"I've no occasion to report," replied Dave dryly. "I am not in any way in command over Pennington. But I mean to persuade him to report himself for what he has done!"
"But that would ruin him!" protested Hallam,