"Your teeth just about pass," remarked the senior officer. "You
may dress, Mr. Dalzell."

It was not long before Dave and Dan both had their clothing on.
As Dan was finishing, Dave turned to the senior surgeon.

"Is it improper, sir, for me to ask whether we have passed?" asked
Darrin quietly.

"You have both passed," nodded the surgeon. "Mr. Dalzell, however,
will do well to take the most wholesome care of his teeth hereafter."

Just then the door opened and two more candidates were shown in.

"Come with me," directed the same midshipman master of ceremonies.

Dan was indiscreet enough to range up alongside their conductor,
just missing a vigorous nudge that Dave tried to give him.

"Well, we slipped by the drug-store sign all right," Dan confided
to the white-gloved midshipman. "Now, how soon do we get our
messenger-boy uniforms?

"Never, I hope," replied their conductor frigidly, "unless you
can learn to speak of the uniform of the service with more respect."

Dan fell back abashed. His style of humor, he was fast discovering,
did not seem to make a hit at Annapolis.