. Weren't we all
three discussing hazing?"

"Yes."

"Then that part of what I told the officer was straight. Now, Eph, when we
saw that first cadet come along, didn't I suggest to you to ask him about
hazing?"

"Ye-es," admitted Somers, thoughtfully.

"Then, didn't the cadet midshipmen offer to show us all about hazing
pranks, and didn't they do it?"

"Well, rather," muttered Eph.

"Now, young man, that's all I told the officer, except that we enjoyed our
entertainment greatly."

"_Did_ we enjoy it, though?" demanded Eph Somers, bridling up.

"I did," replied Jack, "and I spoke for myself. I enjoyed it as I would
enjoy almost any new experience."

"So did I," added Hal, warmly. "It was rough--mighty rough--but now I know
what an Annapolis hazing is like, and I'm glad I do."

"Well, I want to tell you I didn't enjoy it," blazed Eph. "It was a mighty
cheeky--"

"Then why did you let the officer imagine you enjoyed it?" taunted Jack.

While Hal put in, slyly:

"Eph, you're too quick to talk about others fibbing. From the evidence
just put in, it's evident that you're the only one of the three who fibbed
any. Won't you please walk on the other side of the road? I never did like
to travel with liars."

"Oh, you go to Jericho!" flared Eph. But, as he walked along, he blinked a
good deal, and did some hard thinking.

"I'll tell you," broke out Jack, suddenly, "who thanks us even more than
the cadets themselves do."

"Who?" queried Hal.

"That officer who caught the crowd at it."

"Do you think he cared?"

"Of course he did," said Jack, positively. "He'd rather have gone hungry
for a couple of days than have to report that bunch for hazing."

"Then why was he so infernally stiff with the young men?"

"He had to be; that's the answer. That officer, like every other officer
of the Navy detailed here, is sworn to do his full duty. So he has to
enforce the regulations. But don't you suppose, fellows, that officer was
hazed, and did some hazing on his own account, when he was a cadet
midshipman here years ago? Of course! And that's why the officer didn't
question us any more closely than he did. He was afraid he might stumble
on something that would oblige him to report the whole crowd for hazing.
_He_ didn't want to do it. That officer, I'm certain, knew that, if he
questioned us too closely, he'd find a lot more beneath the surface that
he simply didn't want to dig up."

"Would you have told the truth