a square quarter of an inch these fellows have missed,
I didn't notice it," muttered Dan to himself.

"You may dress, Mr. Darrin," announced the senior surgeon, and
Dave went to the chair on which his clothing lay.

"Mr. Dalzell, come here a moment"

Dan began to feel queer. What had they missed? On what point
was his physical condition doubtful?

"Open your mouth," directed one of the surgeons.

Then followed some more exploration of his teeth.

"Oh," murmured Dan, when the medical men gave him a rest for a
moment. "It's only my teeth, eh? That's not a vitally important
point, is it, sir?"

"We reject candidates for what might seem very slight defects
of the teeth," replied the senior surgeon, with emphasis. "Open
your mouth again."

The cold ooze stood out on Dan's brow this time. Joke as he might,
he did not want to be dropped out of the Navy. Were these medical
officers going to find, in his mouth, the clue his disqualification?

"Hm!" said the senior surgeon, watching while another medical
officer did the probing and the holding of the dental mirrors.

That "hm!" sent a cold chill of dread coursing down young Daniel's
spine.

"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.

Back in the same waiting room the two young men lingered until
nearly eleven o'clock. More than two score of candidates had
passed the medical examiners by this time, and some others had