“Mr. Darrin,” spoke Lieutenant Hall severely, “here is your dress jacket on the floor, and with dust ground into it.”

“Yes, sir,” replied Dave, saluting.  “But I left it on its proper hook—­I am sure of that.”

Up came Dan’s hand in quick salute.

“May I speak, sir?”

“Yes, Mr. Dalzell,” replied the officer in charge.

“I remember seeing Mr. Darrin’s coat hanging properly on its hook, sir, just before we marched off to math. recitation.”

“Did you leave the room, Mr. Dalzell, after Mr. Darrin, or even with him?” questioned Lieutenant Hall.

“No-o, sir.  I stepped out just ahead of Mr. Darrin.”

“That is all, then, Mr. Dalzell.  Mr. Darrin, there is a pair of your shoes.  They are in place, but one of them is muddy.”

Dave glanced at the shoes uneasily, a flush coming to his face.

“I am certain, sir, that both shoes were in proper condition when I left to go to the last recitation.”

“Then how do you account for the dust-marked dress jacket on the floor, and the muddy shoe, Mr. Darrin?”

“I can think of no explanation to offer, sir.”

“Nor can I imagine any excuse,” replied Lieutenant Hall courteously, yet skeptically.

Lieutenant Hall made a further inspection of the room, then turned to Dave.

“Mr. Darrin, you will put yourself on the report for these two examples of carelessness of your uniform equipment.”

“Very good, sir.”

Saluting, Dave crossed to the study table, laying his book and papers there.  Then, once more saluting, he passed Lieutenant Hall and made his way to the office of the officer in charge.

Taking one of the blanks, and a pen, Dave Darrin filled out the complaint against himself, and turned it over.

“Dave, you didn’t leave your things in any such shape as that?” burst from Dan as soon as Dave had returned to his room.

“I didn’t do it—­of course I didn’t,” came impatiently from Darrin.

“Then who did?”

“Some fellow may have done it for a prank.”

Dan shook his head, replying, stubbornly: 

“I don’t believe that any fellow in the Naval Academy has a sense of humor that would lead him to do a thing like that, just as a piece of what he would consider good-natured mischief.  Dave, this sort of report against you on pap means demerits.”

“Fortunately,” smiled Darrin, “the pap sheet is so clear of my name that I can stand a few demerits without much inconvenience.”

But at breakfast formation, the next morning, Dave’s name was read off with twenty demerits.

“That’s a huge shame,” blazed forth Dan, as soon as the chums were back in their room, preparing to march to their first recitation.

“Oh, well, it can’t be helped—­can it?” grimaced Dave.

Within the next fortnight, however, Darrin’s equipment and belongings were found to be in bad shape no less than five other times.  With a few demerits which he had received in the summer term Dave now stood up under one hundred and twenty demerits.