sponded in a friendly tone. "You are in
Philadelphia, and the only restriction upon you now is that you are not
to stroll too far away. We leave here in a short while for the navy
yard, where mess will be served."

"Mess? That's breakfast, ain't--isn't it?" asked Slim anxiously.

"Yes," the sergeant replied, "and a good one, too."

Each boy touched his cap respectfully as the non-commissioned officer
turned to return to the train.

"Hope we have sausage," said Jerry in an undertone; "but I'm hungry
enough to eat anything they give me."

"Same with me," Slim added in melancholy tones; "but I guess I'll have
to diet some until I'm sure, certain, and solidified in the service."

At that instant the shrill blast of a whistle brought their attention
back to the train, where the sergeant was signaling them to return.
Three automobiles had arrived, and into these our three friends and the
other fifteen recently enlisted men climbed, for the trip to League
Island, where is located one of the Nation's largest and most important
navy yards.

Down wide, asphalted Broad Street the party sped, past solid rows of
handsome dwellings, and then across the stretch of beautiful park that
was once a mosquito-ridden marshland, and to the gates of the navy yard.

Here the detachment of marines on guard gave the boys their first close
association with the spirit of war. As they swung through the gates a
virtual wonderland of the machinery of sea battles greeted their
eyes--powerful battleships, lithe and speedy cruisers, spider-like
destroyers, tremendous colliers capable of carrying thousands of tons of
coal to the fleets at sea, and in the distance a transport, waiting to
take on its human freight of Uncle Sam's fighters for foreign
battlefields.

On the parade ground several companies of marines were going through
maneuvers, while on every ship bluejackets were engaged in various
tasks, and activities were in full sway in the many large manufacturing
buildings at the lower end of the yard, near the waterfront.

It was a scene to inspire the lads with a full appreciation of the great
military and naval service of which they were to become a part, and in
their patriotic enthusiasm they forgot even their healthy young
appetites.

Mess was in one of the big barracks, where they mingled with hundreds of
others, some of whom were raw rookies like themselves, others of longer
experience, and some of previous service in Haiti and else