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The officer passed out of the dynamo room, leaving the unlucky one more than ever angry with Darrin, whom he incorrectly charged with his present trouble. The recall sounding, Dave turned to Whittam, saying crisply but pleasantly: "Thank you for our instruction." "He's thanking the fellow for my new scrape," growled Pennington inwardly. Dave marched his section back to deck and dismissed it.
No cheap greaser is going to ride over me!" That morning none of the midshipmen were called upon to handle any of the fascinating-looking machinery. Nearly the whole of this tour of practical instruction was taken up by the remarks of the chief electrician. As he spoke, Whittam moved over to one piece or another of mechanism and explained its uses.
But the chief electrician stepped over, halting in front of the hapless one, and said: "This is the young gentleman, sir." "Your name, sir?" demanded the officer. "Pennington, sir." "Mr. Pennington, you will place yourself on the report, sir, for disobedience of orders," commanded the officer. "Is this the only case, Whittam?" "The only case, sir."
"Are there any breaches of conduct to be reported, Whittam?" inquired the officer, halting. "Nothing worth mentioning, sir," replied the chief electrician. "I asked you, Whittam, whether there had been any breaches of conduct," retorted the officer with some asperity. "One midshipman, sir, after having been instructed to touch nothing, rested his hand on one of the brass rods." "His name?"
Dave saluted, then, as Chief Electrician Whittam turned to lead the way, Dave called quietly: "Section, left wheel march!" They followed Whittam down into the dynamo room, an interesting spot for a machinist. "It's fine," muttered Dan, as he stared about him at the bright metal work, the switch-board and the revolving machines.
He slid one hand along the rail. "Here, sir, don't handle that!" rasped in the voice of Whittam. Pennington drew back his hand, a flush mounting to his face. "The fellow has no right to talk to a midshipman in that fashion!" quivered Pennington to himself. "But it was the fault of that low-minded greaser Darrin, anyway.
"One of the first and most important requests I have to make," said Whittam presently, "is that none of you touch the switches, except by direction. None of you can guess the harm that might follow the careless and ignorant handling of a switch." "It's pretty cheeky for an enlisted man to talk to midshipmen about ignorance," whispered Pennington to Farley.
This young man, Whittam, by name, was an enlisted man, but a bright young sample of what the Navy can do for the boy who enlists as an apprentice. "You will take your orders from Mr. Whittam as though he were an officer," directed the officer, his words intended for all members of the section, though he looked only at Darrin.
"But I'm afraid I couldn't learn the use and sense of all this in five years." "Silence in the section," commanded Dave, turning around upon his chum. Whittam now began a short, preliminary talk upon the subjects in which the midshipmen would be required to qualify.
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