nery mechanics, "is there anything that's ever been invented
that we don't have to do here?"

"If there is, I haven't heard of it," his chum agreed. "Let's see, we've
got navigation, and surveying, and physics, and chemistry, and gunnery,
and tactics, and engineering, and ship-building, and--"

"Stop it, Homer," protested Eric, "you'd have to talk for a week just to
make a list. I've often wondered if all this stuff is necessary."

"It sure is," his chum answered; "that's why I came into the Coast Guard
instead of the Navy. There's a heap more variety, by nature of the work.
A fellow's got to know everything about the handling of sailing ships,
because part of the job is the handling of sailing ships in distress.
He's got to be a sharp on towage, because he's got to take risks in
storms that drive an ocean-going tug to port. He's got to know every
breed of steamship and variety of engine, because the information's apt
to be called on 'most any time."

"Yes, I suppose that's so," agreed Eric. "Navigation is just as bad. In
the engineering end, you don't have as much of that, Homer, as we do,
but I tell you, it's a fright the amount of stuff we have to learn. You
take an ordinary ship captain. He only has to run into a few ports, and,
in any case, he never goes near dangerous shoals. All he's got to learn
is to keep away from them. But there isn't an inch on the American coast
from Maine to Texas or from Alaska to Southern California that we don't
have to remember. Almost any day a fellow's likely to have to chase into
a bad shoal to help some ship that's fast on a lee shore; and that's
usually in bad weather--it's no time to guess, then, you've got to be
sure."

"I sometimes doubt," said Homer, "if all this infantry drill is going to
be any use."

"Oh, I can see the use of that, all right," replied Eric. "In the
Spanish-American War, the Coast Guard cutters did a lot of work, and,
just the other day, our men were called on to keep San Domingo in order.
After all, Homer, the Coast Guard is a military arm, just as much as the
navy."

"They don't worry you the way they do us," groaned the young cadet
engineer, "over all the different sorts of machinery for the handling of
big guns. It's thorough, all right; there isn't a chap in our class who
couldn't figure out and explain every process of manufacture and
mounting, up to the actual work of handling the gun in an engagement."

"I don't see that you've got any kick