“I congratulate you with all my heart, and as there will be some necessary expenses falling upon you, I send herewith my check for one hundred dollars, which please consider a loan until convenient for you to repay it. I also take the liberty of ordering your kit, containing your outfit complete, for I have no idea of your failing to pass, and the amount I expend you can also return at your convenience. Present my compliments to your good mother, and regard me ever as
“Your friend,
David Lucien.”
“Will you let me sail back in your boat, Miss Virgene, and tow my own?” asked Mark, when he had read the letters; and promptly came the answer:
“Yes, indeed, and I’m glad to have you.”
So the prow of the sailboat was pointed back for B——.
CHAPTER XII.
A PLOT THAT FAILED.
Secrets often leak out of a country post office, just how no one knows, but still they do, and when Mark called upon Judge Miller after arriving in B——, and escorting Virgene home, that gentleman said:
“Well, my young friend, I suppose I am to congratulate you upon receiving an appointment to the naval school, and I am glad of it.”
Mark stood aghast, and the judge continued: