Then the superintendent dropped to his chair.  There were not so very many dry eyes when the choir beautifully intoned: 

“God be with you till we meet again!”

But now another figure appeared on the rostrum.  Though few of the young men had ever seen this new-comer, they knew him by instinct.  At a signal from an officer standing at the side of the chapel, the members of the brigade broke forth into thunderous hurrahs.  For this man, now about to address them, was their direct chief.

“Gentlemen and friends,” announced the superintendent, “I take the greatest pleasure that may come to any of us in introducing our chief—–­the Secretary of the Navy.”

And now other officers appeared on the rostrum, bearing diplomas and arranging them in order.

The name of the man to graduate first in his class was called.  He went forward and received his diploma from the Secretary, who said: 

“Mr. Ennerly, it is, indeed, a high honor to take first place in such a class as yours!”

Ennerly, flushed and proud, returned to his seat amid applause from his comrades.

And so there was a pleasant word for each midshipman as he went forward.

When the Secretary picked up the seventeenth diploma he called: 

“David Darrin!”

Who was the most popular man in the brigade of midshipmen?  The midshipmen themselves now endeavored to answer the question by the tremendous explosions of applause with which they embarrassed Dave as he went forward.

“Mr. Darrin,” smiled the Secretary, “there are no words of mine that can surpass the testimonial which you have just received from your comrades.  But I will add that we expect tremendous things from you, sir, within the next few years.  You have many fine deeds and achievements to your credit here, sir.  Within the week you led in a truly gallant rescue human life down the bay.  Mr. Darrin, in handing you your well-earned diploma, I take upon myself the liberty of congratulating your parents on their son!”

As Dave returned to his seat with his precious sheepskin the elder Darrin, who was in the audience, took advantage of the renewed noises of applause to clear his throat huskily several times.  Dave’s mother honestly used her handkerchief to dry the tears of pride that were in her eyes.

Another especial burst of applause started when Daniel Dalzell, twenty-first in his class, was called upon to go forward.

“I didn’t believe Danny Grin would ever get through,” one first classman confided behind his hand to another.  “I expected that the upper classmen would kill Danny Grin before he ever got over being a fourth classman.”

But here was Dan coming back amid more applause, his graduation number high enough to make it practically certain that he would be a rear admiral one of these days when he had passed the middle stage of life in the service.