deed, I should think not," chuckled the little fellow, with a
proudly affectionate look up into his father's face.

"No, nor any other visitor to the ship," said the captain. "We may go
there without feeling the least apprehension of such a reception."

"So we will start for the _Illinois_ as soon as we are ready for the day's
pleasures," said Violet, smiling into the bright little face of her boy.

Harold and Herbert joined them at the usual early hour, bringing Chester
and Frank Dinsmore with them, and in a few minutes they were all upon the
deck of the model battleship.

They were treated very politely and shown every department from sleeping
quarters to gun-deck. They were told that she was steel armor-plated below
the berth-deck, and were shown that above the decks were steel turrets,
through portholes of which deep-mouthed wooden guns projected. Also that
she was fully manned and officered with a crew of two hundred men, who
gave daily drills and performed all the duties required of them when in
actual service on the high seas.

From the battleship they went to the lighthouse and life-saving station.

On the plaza in front of the Government Building was the camp of the
life-saving corps. It was neat and pretty, and close beside it was the
model of a government lighthouse. Some of our party went to the top of
that, and all of them viewed the paraphernalia used in the saving of life
when a vessel is wrecked within sight of the shore. Some of them had
already seen it on the Eastern shore, but were sufficiently interested to
care to look at it again, while to the others it was altogether new, as
was the drill through which the company of life guards were presently put,
for both the benefit to themselves of the practice, and the edification of
visitors.

That over Grandma Elsie asked, "Shall we not, now we are here, go into the
Government Building and look at the military exhibit?"

"I should like to do so," said Mr. Dinsmore. "In what part of the building
is it, Harold?"

"The southeastern, sir. I have been in once, and found many things well
worth looking at more than once."

Harold led the way as he spoke, the others following.

The first department they entered contained exhibits of metal work, gun
and cartridge-making machines, campaign materials, and battleflags.

All were interesting to the gentlemen, and to some of the ladies also, but
to the others and the children the battleflags were far more so