"Just as if we were a pair of fat porkers," commented Herc afterward.
"They are magnificent physical specimens," reported the surgeon to the bristly mustached man, who, though the boys did not then know it, was a quartermaster detailed to recruiting duty.
"Good!" snapped the quartermaster once more. "They have already given me the written consent of their guardian, so nothing remains to be done but to administer the oath."
The solemn oath of allegiance to duty and country was then administered to the boys, who stood bolt upright, with round eyes, while the impressive little ceremony was gone through. Even the volatile Herc seemed impressed by the seriousness of what they were undertaking.
"And now we are blue jackets," said Ned, as they concluded and subscribed their names to the oath.
"Not yet," laughed the quartermaster. "You will now have to go to the Naval Training School at Newport as apprentice seamen."
"Only apprentices," sighed Herc. "I thought we were out of that class."
"As apprentice seamen," went on the officer, not noticing the interruption, "you will receive pay during your four months of instruction, and will be furnished uniforms and equipment free, as well as board."
He reached into a drawer.
"Here is your transportation to Newport. The boat leaves to-night at six o'clock," he went on, handing the boys some tickets. "I hope you boys, who look to be the stuff of which real seamen are made, will work hard and succeed."