"Not granted, sir."
"But, captain, there is a special reason why I should, a big reason. You see, sir, Drake and I are fighting for the flag; this target practice will decide things; one of us is bound to win it; now he has got up this sight and it would certainly be unfair to him if I were to get the benefit of his good ideas and——"
"Captain Shaw," cried Robert, interrupting Blair, "if you think it's a good sight let's all fire with it, and give the Naval Academy a better record in target practice than last year; and if Blair can beat me out—then all the more credit to him, for I've had a lot of practice in aiming and loading. And, captain, I'd like to have each crew practice as much as they can find time for; I've had hours of it. It's very easy to go from the old sights to this; you just keep the gun pointed with your shoulder and arm so that the line through the peep-hole and intersection of cross wires prolonged will meet the object you want to hit. Here, Sam, you take the gun and get used to it."
"Bob, this is awfully white of you, and it's not fair to you."
"Gentlemen, you'll all fire with this new sight of Mr. Drake's," announced Commander Shaw, decisively.
"Bob, I'm going to do my best, of course, but you ought to win; if I should happen to get credited for the most hits I couldn't feel I deserved to beat you."
"Don't you worry, Sam," chuckled Robert; "I've been practicing with that sight for some months. If you can win you've a right to."
Robert was radiantly happy; this public recognition of his having done something worth while filled him with joy. And at the same time he was completely confident that he would make the best record during the day. He was really desirous of having everybody who fired use the sight he had installed, because he expected to win anyway. He knew in his heart that with all the special drill he had had he was practically certain to make the highest score in target practice, no matter which sight was used, and he felt he would really have more credit if all who fired used the same sights.