"And now you've gone and met your fate?"

"I'm not so sure about that," Dalzell retorted moodily.

"Do you mean that you don't stand any real show in front of the pair
of bright eyes that have made you strike your colors?"

"I'm afraid I don't."

"Dan, is the game worth the candle," argued Darrin.

"You're mightily interested in Belle Meade, aren't you?"

"Yes; but that's different, Danny boy."

"How is it different, I'd like to know?"

"Well, in the first place, there's no guesswork in my case. Belle
and I are engaged, and we feel perfectly sure each of the other.
I'm so sure of Belle that I dream about her only in my leisure
moments. I don't ever let her face come between myself and the
pages of a textbook. I am here at the Naval Academy working for
a future that Belle is to share with me when the time comes, and
so, in justice to her, I don't let the thought of her get between
myself and the duties that will lead to the career she is to share
with me."

"Humph!" commented Midshipman Dalzell.