m, Dave began to feel certain that
he could distinguish plainly the ghostly figure of the saving
doughface in the alcove opposite.

Twelve o'clock struck. Then more waiting. It was not so very
long, this time, however, before there came a faint tapping at the
window.

Dave Darrin was out of bed as though he had been shot out. Like a
flash he was at the window, peering out. Where, after all, was the
cat's vision of which he had thought himself possessed? Some one
was outside the window. Dave thought he recognized the Naval
uniform, but he could not see a line of the face.

Tap-tap-tap! sounded softly. Dave threw the window up stealthily.

"You, Dan?" he whispered.

"Of course," came the soft answer. "Stand aside. Let me in---on
the double-quick!"

Dave pushed the window up the balance of the way, then stepped
aside. Dan Dalzell landed on his feet in the room, cat-like,
from the terrace without. Then Dave, without loss of an instant,
closed the window and wheeled about in the darkness.

"Hustle!" commanded Dave.

"What about?"

"Get off your uniform! Get into pajamas. Then I'll-----"

Dave's jaws snapped together resolutely. He did not finish, just
then, for he knew that Midshipman Dalzell could be very stubborn
at times.

"I'll have a light in a jiffy," whispered Dan "I brought back
a candle with me."

"You won't use it---not in here," retorted Dave. "The dark is light
enough for you. Hustle into your pajamas."

Perhaps Midshipman Dalzell did not make all the speed that his
roommate desired, but at last Dan was safely rid of his uniform,
underclothing and shoes, and stood arrayed in pajamas.

"Now, I'll hide this doughface over night," whispered Darrin,
going toward Dalzell's bed. "At the same time you get the articles
of your equipment out from under your bed clothes and hang them
up where they belong."

"I'll have to light the candle for that," muttered Dan.

"If you do, I'll blow it out. There's a regulation against running
lights in the rooms after taps."

"Do you worship the little blue-covered volume of regulations, Dave?"
Dan demanded with a laugh.

"No; but I don't propose to take any chances in my last year here.
I don't intend to lose my commission in the Navy just because I can't
control myself."

Dan sniffed, but he silently got his parts of uniform out from
between the sheets and hung up the articles where they belonged,
in this going by the sense of feeling.