David Darrins Second Year at Annapolis | Page 5

"I guess, Darry, you come pretty near being right," assented Hallam,
after thinking for a few moments.
By the time they reached Chow Hop's again they found that Dr.
Lawrence had brought the unfortunate Pennington to. And a very
scared and humiliated midshipman it was who now stood up, a bit
unsteadily, and tried to smooth down his uniform.
"How do you feel now?" asked Dave.

"Awful!" shuddered Pennington. "And now see here, what are you
fellows going to do? Blab, and see me driven out of the Navy?"
"Don't do any talking in here," advised Dave, with a meaning look over
his shoulder at the yellow men in the outer room. "Doctor, is our friend
in shape to walk along with us now?"
"He will be, in two or three minutes, after he drinks something I'm
going to give him," replied the medical man, shaking a few drops from
each of three vials into a glass of water. "Here, young man, drink this
slowly."
Three minutes later the midshipmen left the place, Dave walking beside
Pennington and holding his arm lightly for the purpose of steadying
him.
"How did this happen, Pen?" queried Dave, when the six men of the
third class at last found themselves walking down Maryland Avenue.
"How long have you been at this 'hop' trick?"
"Never before to-day," replied Midshipman Pennington quickly.
"Pen, will you tell me that on your honor?" asked Dave gravely.
The other midshipman flared up.
"Why must I give you my word of honor?" he demanded defiantly.
"Isn't my plain word good enough?"
"Your word of honor that you had never smoked opium before to-day
would help to ease my mind a whole lot," replied Darrin. "Come,
unburden yourself, won't you, Pen?"
"I'll tell you, Darry, just how it happened. To-day was the first time, on
my word of honor, I came out into Annapolis with a raging toothache.
Now, you know how a fellow gets to hate to go before the medical
officers of the Academy with a tale about his teeth."
"Yes, I do," nodded Darrin. "If a fellow is too much on the medical

report for trouble with his teeth, then it makes the surgeons look his
mouth over with all the more caution, and in the end a fellow may get
dropped from the brigade just because he has invited over zeal from the
dentist. But what has all this to do with opium smoking?"
"Just this," replied Pennington, hanging his head. "I went into a drug
store and asked a clerk that I know what was the best thing for
toothache. He told me the best he knew was to smoke a pipe of opium,
and told me where to find Chow Hop, and what to say to the chink.
And it's all a lie about opium helping a sore tooth," cried the wretched
midshipman, clapping a hand to his jaw, "for there goes that fiendish
tooth again! But say! You fellows are not going to leak about my little
mishap?"
"No," replied Darrin with great promptness. "You're going to do that
yourself."
"What?" gasped Midshipman Pennington in intense astonishment.
"What are you talking about?"
"You'll be wise to turn in a report, on what happened," pursued Dave,
"for it's likely to reach official ears, anyway, and you'll be better off if
you make the first report on the subject."
"Why is it likely to reach official ears, if you fellows keep your mouths
shut?"
"You see," Darrin went on very quietly, "I reported the joint at the
police station, and Chow Hop threatened that, if I did, he'd tell all he
knew about everybody. So you'd better be first----"
"You broke the game out to the police!" gasped Pennington, staring
dumfoundedly at his comrade. "What on earth----"
"I did it because I had more than one satisfactory reason for considering
it my duty," interposed Dave, speaking quietly though firmly.
"You--you--bag of wind!" exploded Midshipman Pennington.

"I'll accept your apology when you've had time to think it all over,"
replied Dave, with a smile, though there was a brief flash in his eyes.
"I'll make no apology to you--at any time, you--you--greaser!"
Marks for efficiency or good conduct, which increase a midshipman's
standing, are called "grease-marks" or "grease" in midshipman slang.
Hence a midshipman who is accused of currying favor with his officers
in order to win "grease" is contemptuously termed a "greaser."
"I don't want to talk with you any more, Mr. Darrin," Pennington went
on bitterly, "or walk with you, either. When I get over this toothache I'll
call you out--you greaser!"
Burning with indignation, Midshipman Pennington fell back to walk
with Hallam.
CHAPTER II
DAVE'S PAP-SHEET ADVICE
When our party reached the landing a lively scene lay before them.
Fully a hundred midshipmen, belonging to the