"Now, at the outset, take your strokes from my count," directed Mr. Trotter. "One, two three, four, five, six, seven--"
And so on. It was all ludicrously absurd, to see Dave and Dan bending to their tasks as seriously as though they were rowing real craft with actual oars.
One of the visiting plebes was stupid enough to giggle.
"Go over and stand by the window in arrest, mister," ordered Midshipman Hayes. "You shall be tried later!"
Then the "boat race" continued. It soon proved to be more than absurd; it was decidedly fatiguing. Both Dave and Dan found that their strained positions, and the motions required of them, made backs and shoulders ache. Their legs, too, began to suffer from cramp.
It was not until both showed signs of decided weariness that the race was brought to an end.
Then the cadet who had giggled was called forward, ordered to half fill one of the washbowls and to stand on his head in it.
While this was going on there was not a smile from anyone. From the serious faces of all this might have been one of the most important bits of drill in the whole course at the Academy.
Dave, however, made the best impression upon the youngsters.
All the other new men came sooner or later, to the ordeal of standing on their heads in the wet bowl, but Dave seemed destined to escape.
The rowing was carried on until all of the youngsters had tired of this sport.
"Fall in, in platoon front," directed Midshipman Trotter.
The six plebes, solemn as owls, stood up in line, "dressing" their line carefully.
"Now, attend me carefully," cautioned Mr. Trotter, sweeping a stern glance down the line of plebes. "I am about to tell you a bit of the day"s news from over in Sleepy Hollow, which place is known to Maryland geographers as the village of Annapolis.
You must attend me with extreme care, for, after I have narrated the news, I shall question you concerning it. Do you follow me, misters?"
"Yes, sir," came in a chorus.
"You need not answer quite as loudly," warned Midshipman Trotter, sending a backward look over his shoulder at the door. "Now, then, the police over in Sleepy Hol--Annapolis--today learned the details of a yellow tragedy. Some weeks ago three Chinamen came to town and opened a clean--I mean, a new--laundry. During the last week, however, the public noted that the door leading from the office to the rear room was always closed. You follow me?"
"Yes, sir," came in an almost whispered chorus.
"Finally," continued Mr. Trotter, "one customer, more curious than the others, reported his observations to the police. Today the Johnny Tinplates made a raid on the place. A most curious state of affairs came to light. So--but is this tangled tale clear to you all as far as I have gone?"
"Yes, sir," came the whispered chorus.
"What the police learned," went on Mr. Trotter, in a voice that now sounded slightly awestruck, "was this: a week ago the three Chinese partners had a serious row. They quarreled, then fought.
Two of the yellow partners killed the third! And now, a serious problem confronted the two survivors of that misunderstanding.
What was to be done with the remains of the unsuccessful disputant?"
Midshipman Trotter looked at each of the wondering plebes in turn.
It looked as though he were asking the question of them.
"I don"t know, sir," admitted Dan Dalzell, at the left of the line.
"I don"t know, sir," admitted the man next to Dan. So it went down the line, until Dave Darrin, at the further end, had admitted himself to be as much in the dark as were the others.
"Then, listen," resumed Mr. Trotter impressively. "The Chinese, being descended from a very ancient civilization, are not only very ingenious but also very thrifty. They were burdened with two hundred pounds of evidence on the premises. In their extremity the two survivors cut up their late partner, cooked him, and disposed of the flesh at meal times."
From the gravity of the narrator"s expression he appeared to be reciting a wholly true story.
"Now, then," rasped out Midshipman Trotter, "that being the state of affairs at the laundry--_what was the telephone number_?"
Trotter"s gaze was fixed on Dan Dalzell"s face almost accusingly.
"How the--" began startled Dan gruffly. Then, instantly realizing that he was making a mistake, he broke in hastily:
"Beg your pardon, sir, but I don"t understand how to get at the telephone number."
"You try, mister," ordered Midshipman Trotter, turning to the plebe next to Dalzell.
"I can"t solve the problem, sir."
So it ran, straight down the line, each confessing his ignorance, until finally Mr. Trotter glared at Dave Darrin.
"Come, come, mister, from the very exact narrative that I have given, can"t you deduce the telephone number of that laundry?"
"Yes, sir; I think so," answered Darrin, with a slight smile.
"Ah! Then there"s a man in the squad who is more than a mere saphead. Let us have the telephone number, mister!
"Two-ate-one-John," replied Dave promptly.
This was the correct answer. Dave had heard that "gag" before.
"Mister," beamed Mr. Trotter, "I congratulate you. You are no mollycoddle. Your head is not over-fat, but somewhat stocked with ideas. As soon as you have soaked in a few more ideas you will be fit to a.s.sociate with the young gentlemen at this sailor-factory. You may, therefore, take the washbowl, fill it half full of ideas, and stand on your head in them until they have soaked well in!"
Poor Dave, his face flushed crimson, could have dropped in his humiliation at having thus fallen into the trap. But he started manfully for the washbowl, which he half filled with water. Meanwhile the other five plebes were choking. They could have screamed in their glee--had they dared!
Placing the bowl where ordered, Dave bent down to his knees, immersing the top of his head in the water.
With hands on opposite sides of the bowl he balanced his feet, preparatory to hoisting them into place against the wall.
"Up oars!" commanded Mr. Hayes dryly.
From one of the visiting plebes came an incautious giggle. Mr.
Hayes turned and marked his man with a significant stare that made the unfortunate giggler turn red and white in turn with alarm.
At the order, "up oars," Dave Darrin sent his feet aloft. By rare good luck he succeeded the first time trying.
There he remained, his head in the bowl of water, his feet resting against the wall.
Just at this moment, though, the sound of trouble was in the air, even if it reached interested ears but faintly.
A step was heard in the corridor outside. There was a faint knock.
The upper cla.s.s midshipmen knew on the instant what the knock meant--and so indeed did Dave Darrin.