In the second place, I wished to draw attention to the fact that our country is growing with marvelous rapidity. From thirteen States we have multiplied to several times that number, and our flag waves from the coast of Maine in the East to the coast of Luzon in the West, and from Alaska in the North to Texas and Porto Rico in the South. What a truly great country it is, and what glorious freedom it grants to millions upon millions of people! In these days it is truly worth while to be an American, and in the days to come the honor will probably be even greater. There is an important lesson to be learned from all this, and I would that every lad who reads these lines would take that lesson to heart. The opportunities for boys and young men were never greater than they are to-day. The future lies with you, and you can make of it, and of our grand country, what you will. The path to success is open to rich and to poor alike, and even the humble rail-splitter or the canal-boat boy can become President. Will you take hold of that opportunity or will you let it slip by? CAPTAIN RALPH BONEHILL. THE YOUNG NAVAL CAPTAIN. CHAPTER I. THE UNITED STATES AGAINST THE WORLD. "War is declared!" "Impossible!" "It is true. The news has just come by telephone from the cabinet chamber at Washington." "And against whom?" "Against the world!" "Are you joking, Andy?" "Oscar, I was never more serious in my life. The War Department has just sent the news to the office. The three new warships we are building must be completed without delay. The firm is offered a bonus of fifty thousand dollars if we can float them complete by the first of July." "That is just six weeks off." "Exactly, and it means that four months' work must be accomplished in that time. We can't do it," and Andy Greggs shook his head doubtfully. He was a tall, well-built fellow of eighteen, with blue eyes and curly brown hair. He was a machinist, employed in the great Standard Shipyard of Bridgeport. "We can do it and we will," answered Oscar Pelham decidedly. "We can work nights." "It won't be enough." "Then the firm will have to double the force." "Where are you going to get the men?" "Advertise for them--hunt for them--take them from other shipyards if necessary. If Uncle Sam wants those ships he is going to have them. But a war against the world! It's enough to stagger a fellow, Andy." "So it is, Oscar, but it was bound to come, sooner or later. Foreign nations have been watching the United States with great envy since we whipped the Spaniards and gathered in Porto Rico and the Philippines, and when Cuba became a new state and Canada broke loose from England, I reckon they thought we were getting too big for our boots."