"Surest thing!" murmured Dalzell without excitement.
"But this is March. Isn't it a rather late time in the year to be still hounding the poor new men?"
"I don't know," mused Dalzell. "It may be that Mr. Flint and Mr. Austin are unusually touge."
"Touge" is Annapolis slang for "fresh." It corresponds closely to the "b j" of West Point.
A sound as of protest came from behind a closed door at the further end of the deck.
"I hope our youngsters aren't going too far," Dave remarked, "youngster" being the accepted term for the third classmen, and the same as "yearling" at West Point.
"Well, it's none of our business," replied Dan, with a shrug of his shoulders. "Study call will be along in fifteen minutes. Going to get an early start with the books to-night?"
"I guess that will be wise," Darrin nodded.
"It surely will."
The rest of the winter had gone along rather uneventfully, save for the inevitable, overpowering amount of grind through which a midshipman must pass. It was now spring, and midshipmen thoughts were divided between two topics—annual exams, and summer cruise.