“‘Distance lends enchantment to the view,’” quoted Nanny, sagely. “You are right there. These houses that seemed so pretty with their different colors are not so much after all. The most of them are simply baked mud whitewashed or bluewashed or greenwashed, as the case may be. And look at the streets. Humph! they aren’t as wide as an alley at home.”
“I am sorry you boys are not pleased with the state of affairs,” said Clif, gayly. “I’ll see the king and have things attended to. There is one thing you must acknowledge though—the girls are handsome.”
“You noticed that quick enough,” sniffed Nanny, who had rather a contempt for the opposite sex. “You got a girl in Annapolis before you’d been there two days, and you picked up another here before the anchor chain had finished rattling through the hawse pipes. It’s a wonder you didn’t run across a couple of durned mermaids on the way over.”
Clif laughed.
“How can I help it, kidlets?” he replied, with a wink at Joy. “Don’t I try to keep the girls off? But they will fly to me like—like——”
“Niggers to a watermelon patch,” suggested Joy, gravely.
By this time the cadets had reached one of the main thoroughfares. As usual in such cases, they paired off and went in different directions.
Clif and his two chums remained together.
“We will take a look at the town and then I’ll leave you for a while,” announced the former.
“Going to call on Miss Juanita Windom, I suppose?” said Joy.