"You're a first classman. When you were in the third class did you have all the studies that we have now?"
"Every one of them, sir," affirmed Midshipman Freeman gravely, though there was a twinkle in his eyes.
"And did you come through the course easily?" asked Page.
"Not easily," admitted the first classman. "There isn't anything at Annapolis that is easy, except the dancing. In fact, during the first two months very few of our class came along like anything at all. After that, we began to do better. By the time that semi-ans came around nearly all of us managed to pull through. But what seems to be the worst grind of all—the real blue paint?"
"Calculus!" cried the four youngsters in unison.
"Why, once you begin to see daylight in calculus it's just as easy as taking a nap," declared the first classman.
"At present it seems more like suffering from delirium," sighed Dave.
"What's the hard one for to-morrow?" asked Freeman.
"Here it is, right here," continued Dave, opening his text-book. "Here's the very proposition."
The others crowded about, nodding.