FOOTNOTE:
[1] Before the making of the term six years at the Naval Academy. The Author.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE FIRST CRUISE.
At last the active days of preparation had passed, the stormy scenes of hope and despair for the graduates and those striving to stand at the head of their classes had gone, and a calm had fallen upon the Naval School.
A restful lull was upon all.
The graduates, those who had become full-fledged officers, had gone off on their short leave to their homes, to receive the congratulations of kindred and friends, to enjoy a rest before returning to report for stern duty afloat.
They had stepped from light-hearted boyhood with all its joys, across the threshold of manhood with all its cares and ambitions.
The first class and the third were busy preparing for the annual cruise, the remainder of the cadets were to stay behind and while the time away as best they could between duty and the freedom allowed them.
Not as toy sailors were the cadets to go to sea, but in the capacity of ordinary seamen.