rrin and awakened him.

"Is the ship under way?" asked Dave, rolling over and opening his
eyes.

"Aye, aye, sir," responded the orderly, who then wheeled and departed.

Dave was quickly out of his berth, and dressed in time to join the
gathering throng of the "Hudson's" officers in the ward-room, where
every officer, except the captain, takes his meals.

"Have you heard the port for which we're bound, Danny?" Darrin asked
his chum.

"Not a word," replied Dalzell, shaking his head.

"Perhaps we shall find out at breakfast," commented Dave.

A minute later the signal came for the officers to seat themselves.
Then, after orders had been given to the attentive Filipino boys, who
served as mess attendants, a buzz of conversation ran around the
table.

Soon the heavy, booming voice of Lieutenant Commander Metson was heard
as he asked Commander Dawson, the executive officer:

"Sir, are we privileged to ask our port of destination?"

This is a question often put to the executive officer of a war vessel,
for ninety-nine times out of a hundred he knows the answer. He _may_
smile and reply:

"I do not know."

Sometimes the executive officer, who is the captain's confidential
man, has good reasons for not divulging the destination of the ship.
In that case his denial of knowledge is understood to be only a
courteous statement that he does not deem it discreet to name the port
of destination.

But in this instance Commander Dawson smiled and replied:

"I will not make any secret of our destination so far as I know it. We
are bound for some port on the Riviera. It may be Nice, or perhaps
Monte Carlo. I am informed that the admiral has not yet decided
definitely. I shall be quite ready to tell you, Mr. Metson, as soon as
I know."

"Thank you, sir," courteously acknowledged the lieutenant commander.

During this interval the buzz of conversation had died down. It soon
began again.

"The Riviera!" exclaimed Ensign Dalzell jubilantly, though in a low
tone intended mainly for his chum's ear. "I have always wanted to see
that busy little strip of beach."

The Riviera, as will be seen by reference to a map of Southern Europe,
is a narrow strip of land, between the mountains and the sea, running
around the Gulf of Genoa. One of the most important watering places on
this long strip of beach is Nice, on French soil, where multitudes of
health and pleasure seekers flock annually. The mild, nearly tropical
climate of thi