"I—-I don't know what it is," muttered Dan, after he had backed his friends some feet from the entrance.
"What does it look like?" asked Farley.
"Something like a messenger boy," returned Dan.
"Surely, you're not afraid of a messenger boy with a telegram," laughed Darrin. "Little chance that the message is for you, at any rate."
"But—-it's got a Naval uniform on, I tell you," warned Dan.
"No; you hadn't told us. What is it—-another midshipman?"
"Not by a jugful!" Dan sputtered. "It's wearing an officer's uniform."
"Then undoubtedly you chanced to glance at an officer of the
Navy," Darrin replied, sarcastically soothing. "Brace up, Dan."
"But he's only a kid!" remonstrated Dan. "And he wear a lieutenant's insignia!"
"Bosh! Some officers are quite boyish-looking," remarked Farley. "Come on out, fellows; I haven't forgotten how to salute an officer when I see one."