"Now, try again, mister." "For, sir, the, sir, same, sir, purpose, sir." "Now, mister," continued the quizzing visitor, transfixing Dalzell with a look of tremendous sternness, "can you talk French ?" Dan's eyes twinkled briefly.
"I don't know, sir.

I never tried, sir," replied Dalzell, in pretended embarrassment.
For a moment it looked as though Dan had turned the tables of mischief upon his tormentors.

His reply was so absurd that all of the upper class men, for a moment, betrayed signs of twitching at the corners of their mouths.

Then all of them conquered the desire to laugh and returned to the inquest with added severity.
The late questioner turned to one of his classmates, remarking scornfully: "_Touge!_" "Very touge, indeed" replied the one addressed.
A "touge" plebe, in Naval Academy parlance, is one who is wholly "fresh." "Mister," continued Dan's quizzer, "we find you too full of levity for one who intends to embrace the profession of quarter-deck lounger.

In our belief it will be necessary for you to let some new ideas soak into your head.