I went to a red building and waited in an anteroom. A corporal bade me enter an inner office. Admiral Count Baudissin wanted to see me. How was I to behave in the presence of such a high dignitary? I supposed the principal thing was to stand at attention. The admiral was seated. He had gold braid on his sleeves. He was the same gentleman with the pointed beard who had looked at me on the train. I stood there at attention, elbows and hands held tight against me. "Tell me, which Luckner are you?" "The son of Heinrich Luckner." "What is your first name?" "Felix." "He is missing." "I am that Felix, sir." "How did you get here?" "I have passed my examination as mate, which entitles me to volunteer service, I hope to become a reserve officer through good behaviour." "How do you expect to pay your way?" "I have 3,400 marks." "You have earned that much?" "Yes, sir." "Why did you not write to your parents?" "I want to go home an officer in the Emperor's service. I did not write because I did not want my parents to know I was a common sailor. I don't want them to know until I return home an officer." Then the admiral said: "I am your uncle Fritz." "Eh," I thought, "what a noble uncle!" I had never heard of this relationship. I rolled my eyes right and left, not knowing whether to address the admiral as Uncle then and there. "Your Excellency," I said, "I wish it could be arranged that my parents do not learn of my being here until I have qualified as a reserve officer." "Very well," he answered, "but you must not expect any help from me." Not being able to say "Uncle," I replied: "No, sir." "Do not in any sense think that you are under my protection." "No, sir." "By the way, Felix, you may come to my house twice a week. My daughter will teach you a little, my lad. You speak a dreadful German." I had considered myself, after all my studies, a tolerably educated man, but lapses in grammar have been my bane, more than storms at sea or shell fire during the war. In the admiral's family, as a side line to my grammatical studies, I was required to write out a history of my adventures, which I did with judicious omissions, such as service in the Salvation Army and stealing a horse from a lighthouse-keeper. Such details would have spoiled my career at the outset. I soon felt at home in the navy. There was a tremendous amount of studying to be done in mechanics, engineering, and the mathematics of gunnery. I was beginning to get used to study, as a slave gets used to the treadmill.