y from the service. I shall
do so upon the next serious breach of discipline hereafter. You may
consider that you have had a very lucky escape from long imprisonment
and from dismissal as well."

"And, as for Seaman Davis, I desire to commend him thus publicly for
his pluck, his faithful obedience of orders and the masterful way in
which he has carried out his orders. Such men are a credit to the
United States Navy. They make one forget that, now and then, we have
some of the other sort among us. Davis, you will be mentioned in my
communication to the department."

CHAPTER XVI

A SURPRISE, INDEED

"I expect you'll be getting your whole head knocked off some of these
days," growled Sam Hickey.

"It has not been knocked off yet," answered Dan with a laugh, "though
it has had a considerable list to starboard on occasions."

"I should say it had. I'm glad those niggers are in the brig.
They----"

"Don't use that word, please. I never liked it. And, besides, they
are not Africans; they are Hawaiians."

"They ought to have been shot. Anyhow, all black looks the same color
to me."

The lads were lounging on deck in the forecastle. It was Wednesday
afternoon, when all hands ordinarily take a half holiday, except those
who are on duty. The battleship "Long Island" was plowing up the
waters off the coast--"coasting," they call it on shipboard. The
officers on the bridge were taking sights at the ranges--light
houses--with their sextants, while the young midshipmen, under the
direction of the ship's navigator, were mathematically working out the
ship's position.

"I never could understand why they have to go to all that trouble,"
said Sam.

"They are figuring out our position--they are trying to find out where
we are."

"Don't we know where we are?"

"We don't. Perhaps the officers do."

"Pooh! I know where we are, and I don't have to get a sextant and a
lot of other junk to tell me, either," scoffed the red-headed boy.

"Well, where are we, Mr. Smarty, if you know so much?"

"We're off Atlantic City. That's the Absecon light off the port bow.
I could knock the top of it off with the seven-inch if I had half a
chance."

"That may be true, Sam, but suppose there were a fog, or the lights on
shore went out, or one of many things were to occur--supposing we were
hundreds of miles out at sea and--well, how would you find out where
you were, if you had no instruments with which to take your