"Well," the irrepressible Herc was beginning in the same aggressive tone, when Ned checked him.
"We wish to enlist in the navy. Have we come to the right place, sir?" he asked civilly.
"You have, my boys," was the response in heartier tone; "and if you mean business, I think I can promise, from looking you over casually, that you'll pass with flying colors. Fill out these blanks, and I'll see what you're made of. We have so many fakes we have to be careful."
He pushed toward the boys two large sheets of paper. On them were printed numerous questions about themselves, their parents, their previous condition of life, and so forth.
"Gee! this is like passing an examination at school," whispered Herc, as the boys sat down with pen and ink at a corner table and prepared to fill out the blank spaces left for answers.
"Hush!" cautioned Ned.
"Or the papers you fill out when you enter a prize heifer at the county fair," continued the incorrigible red-headed youth.
Despite Herc's frequent remarks, breathed in a cautious undertone, the questions were all answered in due time and the papers handed over to the bristly mustached man, who eyed them approvingly.
"Good!" he snapped. "Neat and satisfactory. Now," he continued, "go into that room and undergo a physical examination."
He indicated a door, which the boys opened with somewhat of a feeling of awe, and found themselves in the presence of a surgeon, who ordered them to disrobe and conducted a thorough examination of them.