"I wish you wouldn"t ask me who it was, Dave. I can a.s.sure you that the person who did it will never trouble us again," and as Dave did not like to think evil of any one, he consented, and continued to think of Marian Stevens, when he thought of her at all, as a jolly girl.

The annual examinations were approaching. Dan Dalzell was buried deep in gloom. Dave Darrin kept cheerful outwardly, but doubts crept into his heart.

The examinations over, Dave felt reasonably safe. But Dan"s gloom deepened, for he was sure he had failed in "skinny," as the boys termed chemistry and physics. So it was that when the grades were posted Dave scanned the D"s in the list of third cla.s.smen who had pa.s.sed. Dan, on the other hand, turned instantly to what he termed the "bust list."

"Why, why, I"m not there!" he muttered.

"Look at the pa.s.sing list, Danny," laughed Dave.

Unbelieving, Dan turned his eyes on the list and to his utter astonishment found his name posted. True, in "skinny" he had a bare pa.s.sing mark. But in other subjects he was somewhat above the minimum.

"So you see, old man, we"ll both be here next year as second cla.s.smen,"

said Dave jubilantly.

This was as Dave Darrin said, and what happened during this time may be learned in a volume ent.i.tled, "DAVE DARRIN"S THIRD YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; or, Leaders of the Second Cla.s.s Midshipmen."

THE END