CHAPTER XVIII
“Professor Moehler is a Liar and a Fool”
The chief event that concerned the Naval Academy at this time was its defeat in football by West Point; if one were to judge the importance of this defeat by the effect produced at Annapolis he would say it was a national calamity. All at Annapolis, officers, midshipmen and even citizens in the old town, were filled with consternation and dismay. During the game, on the bleachers, Ralph saw his eleven heroes, despite incredible effort, relentlessly pushed back, overwhelmed and crushed by the unconquerable West Point team. From the beginning, defeat for the midshipmen was seen to be inevitable, and for two hours many hearts throbbed in painful anguish. The return from Philadelphia was a bitter one for the midshipmen, for West Point had been victorious the previous year; but grim determination was in the heart of every midshipman, and “we’ll beat them next year” was the dogged resolve everywhere heard.
Ralph was now one of the marked men of his class. He maintained his lead in mathematics and was improving in his French and English studies. He took naturally to the study of the laws of chemistry, and of sound, light and heat, and though he had never studied these subjects before, he immediately took high rank in them, standing number five in his class for the first term.
Ralph took formation, drills and studies easily; inspections no longer worried him. Sometimes he was late at a formation and occasionally his room was reported for “out of order at morning inspection” and like all midshipmen he sometimes received demerits, but never enough in any one month to put him off the first conduct grade.
Three officers took turns in doing duty as officer-in-charge, spending twenty-four hours with the midshipmen. During his tour the officer-in-charge was kept busy carrying out the routine, making inspections, answering questions by midshipmen, and receiving reports. One of these officers, Lieutenant Fellows, afforded the midshipmen great fun by a peculiarity he had of frequently calling things by their wrong names, and mixing up the syllables of a word. It was probably a slight form of aphasia. One time during March, in evening study hours while Ralph and Creelton were having an animated conversation in their room, a sudden rap was heard on their door and in strode Lieutenant Fellows, his sword and white gloves proclaiming he was making an evening inspection.
Ralph and Creelton jumped to their feet, and stood at respectful attention.
“Have this stopping talked,” he ordered. “Who’s doing this stopping?”
Ralph wanted to laugh, but managed to say, “I was conversing with my roommate, sir.”
“You are reported for loud stopping during study hours, sir; what is your name?”