An Annapolis First Classman

"What luck," he said to himself, with great satisfaction. "I got out in the first place, got back again, was in my bed at taps inspection, and now I'm back here and have missed only a little of the play. And nobody saw me or knows anything about it."

The play proceeded. At a little before eleven, near the end, while some scenery was being changed, the manager of the theatre stepped out on the stage and called:

"Is Midshipman Stonewell present?"

"I am he," replied Stonewell, rising in his seat.

"I'm sorry, but the superintendent of the Naval Academy has just telephoned me to have Midshipman Stonewell send in all midshipmen on the run." Before Stonewell had a chance to reply or give an order, and before the look of dismay and disappointment had disappeared from his classmates' faces, everybody in the theatre was startled by a loud cry in harsh, strident tones of:

"Midshipmen and everybody else, attention!"

An intense breathless stillness followed. Everybody looked to the direction from where the cry had come. There, in the front of the right hand box, stood a tall athletic looking man. Now a brown slouch hat was pulled down on his forehead; his face was covered with a dark beard. He wore a sack coat buttoned tightly over his chest.

By this penetrating voice everybody's attention was attracted. An expectant hush fell upon the audience. Every eye was upon the bearded stranger.

From the lips of the interrupter came a defiant call of:

"Three groans for the superintendent of the Naval Academy and the commandant. Oh – oh – oh."

Without a moment's hesitation came ringing orders from Stonewell:

"First classmen, rise! March out on the double. Form in two ranks outside."

There was no hesitation or delay in obeying Stonewell's order. Swiftly they ran out of the theatre and halted on the walk outside. And almost immediately they were put in motion by Stonewell's order of "First classmen, forward, double time-march," and away they sped. Soon fire-bells were heard ringing and the siren in the Academy grounds was emitting long, terrifying blasts.

"Something's afire in the Naval Academy, Bob," cried Stonewell; "hurry." The first classmen dashed to the Maryland Avenue gate and here were met by streams of lower class midshipmen, starting to drag out the different hose reels. The first classmen immediately assumed charge of their various commands. The fire proved to be in the carpen-ter's shop, and in a very few minutes it was put out.

After the midshipmen were back in their quarters the one topic of conversation was the startling event in the theatre.

The next morning was Sunday. Shortly after ten o'clock, when the commandant had finished his inspection of rooms, Cadet Lieutenant Drake appeared at the door of Midshipman Blunt's room and said: "Blunt, report to the commandant's office immediately."

Harry Blunt clutched the table as if for support, and with pallid face and in trembling tones he asked: "What does he want me for?"

"You'll know when he tells you," and Robert walked out. It was not with his usual debonair manner that Harry Blunt entered the commandant's presence. In fact it was a very scared youth who confronted Commander Dalton. Fear and apprehension were plainly depicted in his face.

"Mr. Blunt," commenced the commandant, "your father, mother and sister are to dine at my house to-day, and I want you to come too. Your father tells me he hasn't seen much of you of late; you are not on the first conduct grade, are you? If you are not I'll dispense with the regulation and grant you special permission to dine with an officer to-day."

Harry Blunt suddenly sat down on a chair behind him. He was momentarily speechless.

"Sit down, Mr. Blunt," smiled the commandant. Then Harry stood up.

"Wa-wa-was that all you wanted to see me for?" he stammered.

"Yes; we dine at half-past one."

"Thank you, captain; I'll be delighted to dine with you and be with my father. This is awfully kind of you, captain. Oh, thank you; yes, indeed, I'll be there – I don't believe I've ever called on you, captain, but – "

"Well, well, Mr. Blunt," interrupted the commandant, "what is the matter with you? At first when you came into my office you seemed to be bereft of speech, and all of a sudden you talk with such a rush that you can't stop yourself. Perhaps you thought I was going to talk about something else," and Commander Dalton glanced keenly at Harry.

"Be at my house by half-past one," repeated the commandant, dismissing Harry, and the latter left. He took several deep breaths when out of the commandant's office.

"By George," he said, almost aloud, in tones of great relief, "I feared I was up against it. I was never so scared in all my life."

CHAPTER XII

ROBERT MAKES A DISCOVERY

"Pete," said Robert a few days later, "let's go to the gun shed."

"All right," replied the amiable Peters, "come along; but what are we to do there? I don't know of any more uninteresting place in the whole Academy."

"You know that our company is going to try hard to win the flag, don't you?"

"Of course we are. And so is every other company. Don't think for a minute, Bob, that you're the only cadet lieutenant who has picked out the girl who's going to present it. But what has the gun shed to do with our company winning the flag?"

"It all counts, Pete; you know part of the grand multiple each company makes is made up of its record at target practice with six-pounder guns, don't you?"

"Of course."

"Well, I received a letter from Stanton last week; he says the sights of this gun are very poor. Now in our gunnery sections we were all encouraged to make improvements. You see gunnery in the navy is now a matter of terrific competition; it is ship against ship and gun against gun. At each target practice the ship that does the best carries the gunnery trophy for a year, and big money prizes are won by the best gun crews. And officers in command of different guns are encouraged to make improvements. Why, just before the Spanish war the twelve-inch guns of the 'Texas' could only shoot once in five minutes, and then the shots didn't hit often. On her last target practice those same guns fired once a minute and hit the target almost every time. And the improvements were all made by officers aboard the ship."

"Well, Bob, here is your six-pounder gun; just take a look at it. I don't imagine you will be allowed to do much tinkering with it. You don't know a great deal about the gun – not nearly so much as the men who designed and built it – and here you are talking about improving it. You would probably injure rather than improve it."

"I know how to work it, anyway, and I have fired a six-pounder a number of times," replied Robert, rapidly throwing down a couple of clamps, and turning the gun on its pivot.

"I have no notion of touching the mechanism of the gun; but Stanton says the gun sights are poor; that anybody could put better sights on the gun."

Robert now put himself at the rear of the gun, assuming the prescribed position of the man who fired it, holding it securely by the shoulder and hand of his right arm, his left hand being at the trigger. He ran his eye over the gun sights, and moved the gun up and down, and from side to side.

"Pete," he remarked, "look at this rear sight; it's an open sight – just a mere notch, a groove. And the forward sight is just a sharp point. If I screw my eye up or down, or from side to side, I might think there were many different places the gun would shoot to. When the gun is fired in this exact position the shot is going in only one direction, but I bet you if ten different fellows should aim along these sights as the gun is now and say where the shot was going to hit you would find there were ten different opinions."

"Of course there would be," replied Peters in a superior tone; "there always are with open sights; professional marksmen always use peep-sights."

"Pete, you're a treasure," cried Robert in enthusiastic approval; "we'll fit peep-sights to this gun, but we'll keep it a dead secret, and when we come to fire our string of shots we'll use our own peep-sights."

"How are you going to fit peep-sights to this gun and not have everybody else know about it?" asked Peters dubiously. "And we only practice with this gun; we will actually fire one of the 'Nevada's' six-pounders, – and probably the sight you fitted to this gun wouldn't fit the 'Nevada's.'"

"Let's go aboard the 'Nevada'; she's alongside the 'Santee' wharf, and we'll talk to the captain. I know him, and we'll ask him to let us fit up the six-pounder we're going to use. There's a gunner's mate named Lenn aboard that ship who is a great friend of mine; he's awfully handy with tools, and he'll help me."

"But, Bob, a captain isn't going to let a midshipman monkey with the guns of his ship."

"The 'Nevada' is in reserve with a crew of only thirty-five men on board; she's here for the instruction of midshipmen, and besides, we're not going to make any permanent change; we're going to invent a new six-pounder gun sight; we'll just take off the old sights and put in our own peep-sights; the captain can put the other ones back if he wants to."

"You talk as if you had already invented your peep-sights and all you had to do was to put them on. Now let me tell you, Bob, it isn't so all-fired easy. This gun isn't fitted for peep-sights. Another thing, the rear sight is attached here to a graduated bar; it moves up and down according to the distance of the target you are firing at, and it also moves from side to side, to allow for the speed of the ship. Now you're going to have a good deal of trouble to arrange an entire new kind of sights for this gun."

"Pete, those are problems that I'm sure can be solved. I don't pretend to say I know just how we can make the change, but I'm going to study the question, and I'm going to get expert help. Now let's go over to the 'Nevada' and talk with Captain Brice; we've got to get his consent first; and then I'll get that smart gunner's mate, Lenn, to help me; he's a very inventive chap. Come along."

Before long the two midshipmen were aboard the monitor "Nevada" and were talking with Captain Brice. At first the latter was utterly opposed to any "monkeying," as he expressed it, with one of his guns. Finally he became interested in Robert's earnestness, and relented to the extent of the following ultimatum: