"You'll have plenty of time for that," teased Dave. "A Naval officer's time is spent largely at sea, and he can't take his wife with him."
"Don't remind me of that too often," begged Belle, a plaintive note in her voice. "Your being at sea so much is the only flaw that I see in the future. And, as neither of us will be rich, I can't follow you around the world much of the time."
When Midshipman Dave Darrin reentered his quarters late that afternoon be found Dan Dalzell sitting back in a chair, his hands thrust deep into his pockets. His whole attitude was one of most unmilitary dejection.
"Dave, I've run the ship aground again," Dan confessed ruefully.
"I know you have, Danny," Darrin replied sympathetically.
Dan Dalzell bounded to his feet.
"What?" he gasped. "Is the story going the rounds?"
"It can't be."
"Then did you hear what we were saying this afternoon in Wiegard's?"
"No; we were too far away for that. But I judged that you had succeeded in making Mrs. Henshaw feel very uncomfortable for a few moments."