Then, suddenly, there came a sound that chilled the blood of every young cadet midshipman hazer present.
“Halt! Where you are!”
Under the shadow of the barracks building a naval officer had appeared. He now came forward, a frown on his face, eyeing the culprits.
It is no merry jest for cadet midshipmen to be caught at hazing! And here were some thirty of them—red-handed!
CHAPTER XII: JACK BENSON, EXPERT EXPLAINER
At the first word of command from the officer several of the cadet midshipmen who were near enough to an open doorway vanished through it.
As the officer strode through the group of startled young men a few more, left behind his back, made a silent disappearance.
There were left, however, as the officer looked about him, sixteen of the young men, all too plainly headed and led by Cadet Midshipman Merriam.
“Young gentlemen,” said the officer, severely, “I regret to find so many of you engaged in hazing. It is doubly bad when your victims are men outside the corps. And, if I mistake not, these young gentlemen are here as temporary civilian instructors in submarine work.”