CHAPTER VIII


THE TRAGEDY OF THE GALE

There is altogether too much to the summer practice cruise for it to be
related in detail.

Nor would the telling of it prove interesting to the reader. When at
sea, save on Sundays, the midshipman's day is one of hard toil.

It is no life for the indolent young man. He is routed out early in the
morning and put at hard work.

On a midshipman's first summer cruise what he learns is largely the work
that is done by the seamen, stokers, water tenders, electricians, the
signal men and others.

Yet he must learn every phase of all this work thoroughly, for some day,
before he becomes an officer, he must be examined as to his knowledge of
all this great mass of detail.

It is only when in port that some relaxation comes into the midshipman's
life. He has shore leave, and a large measure of liberty. Yet he must,
at all times, show all possible respect for the uniform that he wears
and the great nation that he represents. If a midshipman permits himself
to be led into scrapes that many college boys regard as merely "larks,"
he is considered a disgrace to the Naval service.