“Oh, choke him off; sit down; give us a rest——” and all manner of cries good-humoredly assailed Creelton, who was entirely discomfited and sat down without further remark.
Ralph jumped to his feet. “Mr. President,” he called out.
“Mr. Osborn has the floor,” announced Himski.
“Classmates, there isn’t any need of Creelton’s motion. A matter of how duty should be done can hardly be settled by a class. It must come to be done as a matter of education. A third classman does not do his duty ordinarily as well as a first classman, because the latter is better educated as to what duty in the Navy means. We’ll progress in this and other things as we get higher up. This matter of being a crank on duty and making a lot of reports generally ends in bad feeling. If I were to make a motion on this subject I would move that the third class will do the best it can and that it hopes constantly to do better. I’ve no fear of our class; it will do just as well as its predecessors. But I have the following motion to propose:
“Resolved, should any member of our class know of any midshipman in the Academy lying or doing any dishonorable thing whatsoever, such an offense will be immediately reported to the class or to the authorities.”
“I second Osborn’s resolution,” rang Bollup’s clear voice. “The honor system has always held at our Academy and our class should put itself on record just as each preceding third class has done.” This resolution was unanimously carried.
Warren then got up and said: “Fellows, I’m sorry to tell you that between three and six o’clock this afternoon my diamond ring was stolen from the drawer of my table where I had left it. I can’t imagine who the thief could be, and I don’t know, and hate to believe a midshipman could be a thief. I haven’t been able to discover any evidence whatever, and——”
“Sir,” shouted Ralph passionately, “the thief, whoever he may be, has got busy again. That ring will probably be found in my wardrobe, or in my drawer. Repeated efforts have been made to injure me, to fasten some dishonorable act on me. You all know that. And now that we have a new superintendent and new commandant the thing is started up again. Now I insist you appoint a committee to search my room. I must have protection by my classmates.”
Himski utterly refused to entertain this motion, and then walked over to Ralph and said: “Os, we’ll do this for you quietly, but not as a class matter.”
A few more class affairs were discussed and the meeting then adjourned. Himski, Bollup, Creelton and Ralph then went directly to the latter’s room and a most complete search was made, but no ring was found. This relieved Ralph somewhat, but he was still very uneasy in mind as he felt that his hidden mysterious enemy had once more become active.