March grinned. “Plenty,” he replied. “That was the reason I liked my promotion so much.” “I don’t know why I liked it,” Stan said. “But I just got mine and I’m mighty happy about it. Anyway, my name’s Stan.” “Now, we’re straight on that,” Gray said. “Anson, you’re the navigation officer, according to my reports, and Bigelow is the engineering officer. There are two others. You’ll meet them a little later in the evening. Corvin is my Exec. He was with me on the _Shark_. He’s the diving officer, too. McFee was another from the _Shark_—he’s communications and handles commissary on the side. Bigelow, you may not know, but you’ll take care of the electrical end of things as well as engines.” “Yes, sir,” Stan said, hoping inwardly that he would remember all he had learned about the many electrical ends of the submarine. “Electricity’s everything on a sub!” “Well, not quite everything,” Gray smiled. “But it’s pretty important. We can’t get along very well without it, anyway. But if you need any advice or just plain moral support, get next to McFee. He knows electricity backward and forward.” There was a moment’s silence. Then Gray showed them to their quarters. Stan and March shared a tiny cabin that looked like a palatial mansion to them at once because they loved it so much. Then the Skipper asked if they had eaten dinner before they came aboard. They had not. “Good!” Gray said. “I’m just about to eat. We’ll have it together.” They went back to the little room that served as officers’ mess and the messboy appeared. Within a few moments they were eagerly eating rare roast beef, French fried potatoes, succotash, with biscuits and hot coffee. “Don’t get spoiled by the biscuits,” Gray said. “We eat pretty well, but the cook doesn’t have time for such frills very often when we’re under way.” By the time the meal was over March and Stan felt completely at home, and Gray seemed very much at ease. “We’ll go over the ship tomorrow morning,” he said. “She’s a beauty. Nothing finer being built today, and I know you’ll love _Kamongo_. Know about her name, by the way?” “Yes, Captain Sampson told us about it when we got our orders in New London,” March said. “I like it.” “So do I,” Stan said. “I felt proud telling everybody at home about what it meant.” A little later, while they were talking, Corvin and McFee, the two other officers, came in together. Introductions were informal and easy, and March began to feel very happy. These two men were just as young as their Skipper. March felt as if he were really at home with people just like himself. He turned and gave a look at Stan, who was beaming. “What’s that mean?” Gray asked, who seemed to notice everything. “Think you’ll like us?” March didn’t know what to say. “It’s hardly up to us to decide—” he began. “Oh, yes, it’s very important,” Gray said. “If I don’t like you—off you’ll go. If you don’t like me—I’ll know it, even if I like you, and off you’ll go anyway.”