“Really?” cried Ned.
“Well, I should say so! I read it all up. But your proposition sort of took me—er—”
“Call it amidships, if we are to enlist,” suggested Ned, with a laugh.
“All right—it sort of took me amidships,” agreed Frank. “I was figuring on looking about New York a bit, trying to get work, perhaps, and then enlisting.”
“And you never told me. Though you did speak something about a chance to get near Atlanta, where Uncle Phil is imprisoned.”
“Yes, that was part of the game. You know when a fellow used to enlist in the navy he was sent to a training ship. Well, that’s all done away with, and now the government has a number of naval training stations on shore, near the water, of course. There’s one at Norfolk, Virginia, and we might ask to be sent there. If we were, we could get leave and go to Atlanta, perhaps.”
“Say, you have it all thought out, haven’t you?” exclaimed Ned, admiringly.
“Not all,” Frank admitted. “And perhaps we couldn’t get to Atlanta after all. But it’s worth trying. So now I’m with you, old man, and we’ll enlist—or try to. Maybe they won’t take us.”
“Oh, I think they will,” Ned said, confidently.
A recruiting officer, in a natty uniform, looked at them closely as they entered the hallway.