“We would like to go to the Orient, sir,” Phil answered bashfully; “we want to see the world.” “Is that all you wish?” returned the captain surprised at the modesty of the lads. “I shall see that your wish is gratified. I have received an intimation that I shall go to that station when I have received my promotion to rear-admiral, which will be in a few months now, and I shall be happy to have such officers under my command. I am sorry the naval regulation does not allow me to nominate midshipmen on my personal staff.” The boys thanked him enthusiastically. Phil stood irresolutely regarding the captain: there was one more request he wished to make. “Go on, out with it,” Captain Taylor exclaimed kindly. “Boatswain’s Mate O’Neil, sir, may he go too?” Phil asked hesitatingly. “Well! Well!” laughed the captain; “yes, I shall see that your good man Friday goes too.” Within an hour the squadron was under way, and the boys took their last view of La Boca, not without regrets, for the leaf just turned in their life histories had been an interesting one. As they scanned the scenes of the recent adventures they could hardly be expected to realize that the stirring deeds of the past few weeks formed but a milestone in the career of one who served his country on the seas. FOOTNOTE: [1] “I thought our numbers were made.” Each officer and man in the navy is denoted by a number, and when one is called by a higher authority his number is called or “made” by signal flags. O’Neil’s meaning is that a Higher Authority had “made” their numbers. TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. Archaic or alternate spelling has been retained from the original.