“Never mind the ‘sir,’ sir. I’m glad you don’t smoke cigarettes; I report all midshipmen who do that. They’re regular coffin nails, but chewing is healthy; no sensible man ever objects to a person chewing; and a pipe now and then is a good thing for anybody. But no cigarettes, mind you, no cigarettes.” And Chief Master-at-Arms Block glared at Ralph in a way that would have surely intimidated him had he been guilty of the habit Block so heartily despised.
“Now this way,” continued the huge and formidable-appearing, yet kindly chief master-at-arms. “Here’s your locker key, No. 57, and I’ll send that make-believe sailorman down to you with your mattress, hammock and hammock clews, and I’ll tell him to put in the clews for you and show you how to swing the hammock. And, Mr. Osborn, I’m glad to know you; your classmates are a fine lot of young men, the best I’ve known in the thirty years I’ve been aboard the Santee.”
“Thank you, Block, you’re very kind; I’ll get along, I’m sure.”
Bollup took Ralph down to his locker and immediately they were surrounded by a group of Ralph’s new classmates.
“Here, fellows, here is Osborn,” cried Bollup; “he got in after all. Why, when they saw what sort of a man they were losing they just naturally slipped a three in front of that nine-tenths of his. ‘You’ve made a mistake,’ says Osborn to the supe, ‘I made more than nine-tenths; send for my papers and read them over again.’ ‘To be sure I did,’ says the supe, ‘but a mistake that’s easily remedied; here, give me my pen and I’ll make your mark 3.9 instead of .9. I don’t need to read your papers over again; I remember them perfectly.’”
Everybody laughed at Bollup’s remarks, and they crowded about Ralph, giving him a hearty welcome. “Here, Osborn,” continued Bollup, “here’s Himski; you remember him, Osborn; never mind the rest of his name—it’s as long as a main to’ bowline, though what that is I don’t know, but it sounds good. I heard old Block this morning tell an ordinary seaman his face was as long as a main to’ bowline; but I’m sure there never was a face as long as Himski’s name is. And here is Creelton; you know him, don’t you, Os?”
“I never had the pleasure. I’m glad to meet you, Mr. Creelton,” replied Ralph, laughing in great good humor at Bollup’s nonsense.
“There are no misters here, Osborn,” replied Creelton, a pleasant-faced, blue-eyed youth. “I see Bollup has nicknamed you Os, already, and everybody in our class calls me Creel.”
“And William Hamm wants to make your acquaintance, Os,” continued Bollup; “now, William, make your politest bow and tell of the great pleasure you experience in making Mr. Osborn’s acquaintance. Mr. Osborn, Mr. Hamm; Mr. Hamm, Mr. Osborn. Smith M. T. and Smith Y. N., shake with Osborn; Taylor, you and Os are old friends. Herndon, give Os the glad hand. Murphy, you old sinner, don’t be shy about greeting a new classmate.”
Bollup proved to be a regular master of ceremonies and in a short time Ralph found several scores of intimate friends. While yet a candidate Ralph had known Bollup and Taylor fairly well but now he felt he was on terms of great intimacy with them. He had known casually in Annapolis at the preparatory school quite a number of the candidates who were now his classmates; but none well except Bollup and Taylor. But now they all seemed friends of the most intimate nature. And Bollup seemed to be the leader of them all. The spirit of the new class centered in Bollup.