and Duke.
Roger was just finishing the story of their latest adventure (described
in _The Revolt on Venus_).

"The best part, of course, was the actual hunting of the tyrannosaurus,"
said Astro.

"A tyrannosaurus?" exploded Spears, the youngest and most impressionable
of the three Earthworms. "You actually hunted for a dinosaur?"

Astro grinned. "That's right. They're extinct here on Earth, but on
Venus we catch 'em and make pets out of the baby ones."

"We could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble, though," commented
Roger mockingly. "We have several officers here that would have served
just as well. Major 'Blast-off' Connel, for instance, the toughest,
meanest old son of a hot rocket you have ever seen!"

"_Stand to!_"

The six boys nearly broke their backs jumping to attention. A squat,
muscular figure, wearing the black-and-gold uniform of a Solar Guard,
strode heavily into their line of vision. Roger gulped as Major Connel
stopped in front of him. "Still gassing, eh, Manning?" he roared.

"'Evening, Major, sir," mumbled Roger, his face beet red.
"We--er--ah--were just telling this Earthworm unit about the Academy,
sir. Some of its pitfalls."

"Some of the cadets are going to fall into a pit if they don't learn to
keep their mouths shut!" snapped Connel. He glared at Tom, Astro, and
Roger, then wheeled sharply to face the three quaking freshmen cadets.
"You listen to anything they tell you and you'll wind up with a book
full of demerits! What in blazes are you doing here, anyway? You're
supposed to be at physical exams _right this minute!_"

The three boys began to shake visibly, not knowing whether to break
ranks and run or wait until ordered.

"Get out of here!" Connel roared. "You've got thirty seconds to make
it. And if you _don't_ make it, you'll go down on my bad-rocket list!"

Almost in one motion, the three cadet candidates saluted and charged
through the door. When they had gone, Connel turned to the _Polaris_
cadets who were still at attention. "At ease!" he roared and then
grinned.

The boys came to rest and smiled back at him tentatively. They never
knew what to expect from Connel. "Well, did you put them through their
paces?" he asked as he jerked his thumb toward the door.

"Yes, sir!" said Tom.

"Did they know their manual? Or give you any lip when you started giving
them hot rockets?" Connel referred to the hazing that was allowed by the
Academy, only as another of the multitude