Were these medical officers going to find, in his mouth, the clue his disqualification?
"Hm!" said the senior surgeon, watching while another medical officer did the probing and the holding of the dental mirrors.
That "hm!" sent a cold chill of dread coursing down young Daniel's spine.
"Your teeth just about pass," remarked the senior officer.

"You may dress, Mr.Dalzell." It was not long before Dave and Dan both had their clothing on.
As Dan was finishing, Dave turned to the senior surgeon.
"Is it improper, sir, for me to ask whether we have passed ?" asked Darrin quietly.
"You have both passed," nodded the surgeon.

"Mr.Dalzell, however, will do well to take the most wholesome care of his teeth hereafter." Just then the door opened and two more candidates were shown in.
"Come with me," directed the same midshipman master of ceremonies.
Dan was indiscreet enough to range up alongside their conductor, just missing a vigorous nudge that Dave tried to give him.
"Well, we slipped by the drug-store sign all right," Dan confided to the white-gloved midshipman.

"Now, how soon do we get our messenger-boy uniforms?
"Never, I hope," replied their conductor frigidly, "unless you can learn to speak of the uniform of the service with more respect." Dan fell back abashed.

His style of humor, he was fast discovering, did not seem to make a hit at Annapolis.
Back in the same waiting room the two young men lingered until nearly eleven o'clock.