A crowd gathered about him, expressing their congratulations.
"Thank you all," laughed Dave, "but don't make so much over a middy getting a bath outside of the schedule."
To the rear hung Pennington, waiting his chance. At last, as the crowd thinned, Pennington made his way up to Dave.
"Mr. Darrin, I have to apologize for my nonsense, which was the means of pushing you overboard. It was purely accidental, on my honor. I did not even know it was you at the stern, nor did I realize that my antics would result in pushing any one overboard. I trust you will do me the honor of believing my statement."
"Of course I believe it, Mr. Pennington," answered Darrin, opening his eyes.
"There are some," continued Pennington, "who have intimated to me their belief that I did it on purpose. There may be others who half believe or suspect that I might, or would, do such a thing."
"Nonsense!" retorted Dave promptly. "There may be differences, sometimes, between classmates, but there isn't a midshipman in the Navy who would deliberately try to drown a comrade. It's a preposterous insult against midshipman honor. If I hear any one make a charge like that, I'll call him out promptly."
"Some of your friends—I won't name them—insisted, or at least let me feel the force of their suspicions."
"If any of my friends hinted at such a thing, it was done in the heat of the moment," replied Dave heartily. "Why, Mr. Pennington, such an act of dishonor is impossible to a man bred at Annapolis."
Darrin fully believed what he said. On the spur of the moment he held out his hand to his enemy.