"No, no, Benson, I don't consider you boastful. You're talking the way
I heard some youngsters talk when I was a boy. It's refreshing and
encouraging to hear you talk that way. Do you know, boy, when we older
fellows sometimes get to thinking of the country's past glories, we
wonder whether the boys of to-day are going to make such men as have
carried the United States of America forward in the past? The thought
makes us solemn and anxious. I suppose every man who is grown and on
toward middle life has always, in every generation, wondered whether
boys were as serious and dependable, as staunch and loyal as the boys
of the day before yesterday. Look here, lad!"

Major Woodruff rose, stepping to the door aft and throwing it open. The
stern of the tug was visible. From the pole that slanted out over the
stern, hung the Stars and Stripes.

"You don't need to glance at that fine old bit of bunting more than a
second, lad," continued the major, "before you feel all that it can ever
make you feel. In your case, I believe the sight of the Flag is always
an inspiration to you. I pray it is so with every boy who grows up in
this country. But is it?"

Standing there before the Flag, Jack quietly doffed his cap.

"Thank you, Benson," acknowledged the major, also doffing his own cap.
Then, closing the door, Major Woodruff stepped back to the table on
which lay chart and book.

"This chart, Benson, shows what the rascal Millard, has been doing out
on the neck. This book proves that he has been at work at some other
points. The book doesn't tell much of the story, though. Of that I