CHAPTER I
GLASSFELL, DRAKE AND STONEWELL
"Hello, Stone! Hello, Bob! By George, but I'm glad to see you!"
"Hello, Glass, you old sinner, I can just imagine you've led those dearold aunts of yours a lively life the last two weeks."
"You'll win, Stone, but you ought to get them to tell you about it; ha,ha, ha! the dear old ladies never dropped once."
Explosively enthusiastic greetings were exchanged between three stalwartyoung men in the Union Station, Chicago, on the twentieth of September,of the year nineteen hundred and something. Passers-by noticed them andsmiled, and in approving accents said, "College boys!" All three weretall, broad-shouldered, bronzed in face, and possessed a lithesomenessof movement that betokened health and strength.
Glassfell, Drake and Stonewell were midshipmen on leave from the UnitedStates Naval Academy. It was evident that they had met in the UnionStation by appointment. Glassfell had just arrived from Wisconsin, andDrake and Stonewell were to leave in two hours for Annapolis.
"You two chaps are martyrs!" exclaimed Glassfell; "here you are givingup ten days of glorious leave just to go and train for the footballteam. Now here I am, cheer leader, head yeller, or whatever you call me,far more important than either of you, you'll admit, and I'm not due atAnnapolis until October first."
"'Daily News,' last edition," droned a newsboy near by.
"Don't bother me, boy; Chicago news doesn't interest me. Some newsandbagging on Wabash Avenue, I suppose, and nothing else. Get out."
"A fine cruise, wasn't it, Glass?" remarked Robert Drake. "By George!I'd had some troubles on my previous cruises, but this went likeclockwork; not a single thing happened to worry me, and I certainly hadtroubles enough on my plebe and youngster cruises."
"You did indeed, Bob," remarked Stonewell, "but you'll have to admit youwere fortunate in the wind up. Now Glass, here----"
"'Daily News,' last edition," was shouted close to their ears.
"Stuff that boy. Put a corn-cob down his throat," said Glassfell with anamused glance at the persistent newsboy. "Say, fellows, wasn't that agood one I worked on old 'I mean to say'? Ha, ha, ha!"
"Which one, Glass?" asked Robert Drake.
"Oh, the best one, the time I hoisted up two red balls to the mastheadwhen he was on watch in charge of the deck, during drill period. Anddidn't the captain give him the mischief?"
An outburst of wild hilarious laughter greeted this reminiscence, asevidently a very humorous episode was recalled. In seagoing language twored balls means that the ship carrying them is not under control; and atthe time referred to by Glassfell the red balls had no business to behoisted, and their presence brought down upon Lieutenant-CommanderGettem, nicknamed "I mean to say" by the midshipmen, a wrathfulreprimand from his captain.
"That was pretty good, Glass," laughed Stonewell, "but you had to ownup, and got sanded well for it."
"'Daily News,' last edition!" screamed a voice interrupting themidshipmen.
"Look here, boy, how many papers have you to sell?" inquired Glassfell.
"Twenty-five, boss; here's yours, and only one cent."
"All right. I'll buy your twenty-five papers and give you twenty-fivecents besides if you'll make a hundred yard dash for the outside. Giveme your papers; here's fifty cents."
"I'm your man, boss," cried the newsboy, handing over his papers,grabbing the fifty-cent piece and making a tremendous bolt toward theexit.
"He's afraid of a recall," laughed Robert. "Say, Glass, are you going tostart a wholesale newspaper business?"
"Let's see what the news of the day is," replied Glassfell, unfoldingone of the papers and laying the others down on a seat.
"Here's an alderman up for graft; a bank cashier has gone wrong; hello!My heavens, here's a naval war-ship goes to the bottom with all onboard."
"What ship? what ship?" simultaneously cried out Stonewell and Robert,in affrighted tones.
"The submarine boat 'Holland'! Ha, ha, ha, I got you both that time,didn't I? You chaps will nab any bait that comes along."
All three laughed heartily. "You're an incorrigible wretch," smiledRobert; "I shudder at the idea of spending another year with you at theAcademy." But the friendly hug that accompanied these words left nodoubt of the affection Robert bore to the jovial Glassfell.
"By George, fellows, here is an interesting item, 'New cadet officers atthe Naval----'"
"You don't sell me again to-day, Glass," grinned Robert. "You'll begiving yourself five stripes and Stone a second class buzzard."
"Pick up a paper and read for yourself," cried out Glassfell excitedly."Farnum gets five stripes!" Glassfell read no further, but with anexpression of intense disgust threw the paper down and stamped on it.
Stonewell and Robert were now eagerly reading the paper. "CadetCommander, commanding the Brigade of Midshipmen, Farnum," read Robert."Cadet Lieutenant-Commanders, commanding first and second battalions,respectively, Stonewell and Sewall; Cadet Lieutenant and BrigadeAdjutant, Ryerson. Cadet Lieutenant, commanding first company,Blair----"
A look of blank astonishment mingled with disdain was to be seen onRobert's face. "Well, Stone," he said, "the officers have done it again,and I guess they can be relied upon to make chumps of themselves asregularly as they assign the brigade officers. You should be our cadetcommander, Stone, our five striper; you know it, every midshipman in thebrigade knows it, the officers ought to know it! You are number one manin the class, the leader in Academy athletics, head and shoulders aboveus all. And here they've picked out a regular 'snide,' a sneak, and havegiven him the place that belongs to you." Robert spoke passionately; hewas intensely disappointed.
"You are entirely wrong about Farnum, Bob," remarked Stonewell quietly;"he's a far better man than you give him credit for. You don'tunderstand Farnum; he'll do credit to his five stripes. I'm entirelysatisfied with my four stripes; to be cadet lieutenant-commander is asmuch as I have any right to expect."
"You know why you don't get five stripes, don't you?" asked Robertvehemently; "it's because you took French leave a year ago, and reportedyourself for it! And didn't Farnum jump ship at the same time? Only hedidn't get spotted for it. You reported yourself for the purpose ofexplaining my deliberate neglect of duty last year. You were reduced toranks as a result and Farnum was then given your position as actingsenior cadet officer of the summer detail. If he'd had any sense offitness he would have reported himself rather than have accepted it;that was only a temporary affair, however, and didn't amount to much;but because of that same report it's outrageous that you should beshoved out of the five stripes you've earned by a man who was equallyguilty, but didn't have the manhood to report himself when you did."
"It's rotten," remarked Glassfell. "Well, Stone, old chap," hecontinued, "I'm sorry; everybody will be; we all thought you had a cinchon five stripes. But I wouldn't be in Farnum's shoes; everybody willknow he is a fake. But as long as they didn't make Stonewell cadetcommander I'm rather surprised they didn't give the job to me."
"Look here, Bob," said Stonewell, "I have been hoping you would getthree stripes--but I'm sorry not to see you down for anything."
"That's too bad; isn't Bob down for anything?" inquired Glassfell.
"Not even for a second class buzzard, the lowest thing in cadet rank atthe Naval Academy," replied Stonewell.
"I'm sorry to hear that," remarked Glassfell, much concerned. "Bob oughtto have three stripes, anyway."
"Don't you worry, fellows," said Robert, cheerily, "I haven't expected athing and am not a bit disappointed. A midshipman cannot live down a'deliberate neglect of duty' report in one year."
"Yes, Bob, I know, but I had hoped that your conduct at the fire a yearago and that remarkable trip of yours last June would----"
"Now, Stone, please don't; you know that is not to be talked about."
"Of course, but at the same time in spite of that report you ought toget three stripes."
"That's right," commented Glassfell. "The offi
cers only see one side ofa midshipman's character; here I am, another martyr to their ignorance;I'm one of the best men in the class, the band master thinks so, andhe's the grandest thing I've ever seen at Annapolis; and I'm a privatein ranks for another year. But perhaps this report isn't authentic;let's see, the paper says that it is likely that these recommendationswill be made to the superintendent by the commandant; the former isaway, will not arrive at Annapolis for two days yet--hurrah, I may stillget five stripes."
"Stone, I still hope you may command the brigade of midshipmen our lastyear," said Robert thoughtfully. "This newspaper account does notpretend to be official; it says 'it has leaked out' that the commandantof midshipmen's recommendation of the assignment of cadet officers ofthe brigade will be so and so. Now the superintendent evidently has notseen these recommendations, so they are not as yet finally decided upon.Probably this newspaper list is correct in the main, but it is notfinal; the superintendent is away on leave and has not yet acted; he hasnot even seen the commandant's recommendations. If either thesuperintendent or the commandant were to know that Farnum had beenguilty of the same offense which is now to deprive you of the fivestripes you otherwise, by every count, had earned, you would never beset aside in favor of a man equally guilty but not so square. It'sshameful, that's what it is."
Robert boiled over with angry thoughts. Strong feelings dominated hisexpressive features, and it was with difficulty that he controlledhimself. His classmate Stonewell was at once his joy and pride, and heloved him with brotherly affection. Stonewell in his studies toweredabove all of his classmates; he was the leader in athletics, captain ofthe football team, and captain of the Academy crew. He was classpresident and his own class and all midshipmen confidently expected hewould be cadet commander in his last year at the Naval Academy.
But Robert Drake more than wished for it. Until this moment he had notrealized how he longed for it. In the preceding three years at AnnapolisRobert had had perhaps more than his own share of troubles, and in themall Stonewell had been to him a mountain of strength and a deep well ofaffectionate wisdom.
"Farnum for our five striper! Faugh! The thought of it makes me sick!I'll not stand for it," cried Robert.
"How can you help it, Bob?" queried Glassfell, himself muchdisappointed, though not nearly so vehement as Robert.
"I'll tell you what I'm going to do," almost shouted the latter; "Stoneand I will be in Annapolis the day after to-morrow, and I'm goingstraight to the commandant and convince him that he's made a big bust.That's what I'm going to do!"
"No, you're not, Bob," said Stonewell, quietly, yet determinedly;"you'll do nothing of the kind. The commandant isn't going to give mefive stripes just because you want me to have them. You've had sometroubles at the Academy, partly due perhaps to a sort of unrestrainedimpetuosity. Sometimes you are apt to mix up in matters that otherpeople don't admit concern you. You'll do me more harm than good ifyou're not careful; and as a friend of mine I demand you do nothingwhatever about this matter."
Robert knew that Stonewell meant exactly what he said, yet he could notgive in at once. "Look here, Stone," he doggedly maintained, "some oneought to do this, and I'm the man. Why don't you wish me to?"
"I've given you one good reason, Bob, and I'll give you another. Itwouldn't be fair to Farnum."
"It wouldn't be fair to Farnum!" ejaculated Robert. "It wouldn't be fairto Farnum," he again repeated, in astonished accents. "Will you pleasetell me why it would be unfair to that sneak? How could it be unfair tohim for me to make a plain statement of facts to the commandant, astatement that would prevent Farnum from being put into a high positionwhich is utterly undeserved?"
"I'll tell you, Bob; to begin with you've made a mistake about Farnum;he's not at all the poor character, the sneak, you think him to be. Youdon't know him. You've good reason to know how unfair it is to bemisunderstood. Your action would be particularly unfair to Farnumbecause the first thing he will do when he gets to Annapolis will be togo to the commandant and tell him just what you have said you intendeddoing."
"You've a better opinion of Farnum than I have, Stone," rejoined Robert,shortly. "If he does that I'll apologize to him. But if hedoesn't--well, he'll have a mighty uncomfortable year, in spite of hisfive stripes, that's all I've got to say."