CHAPTER XXV
THE BOMBARDMENT OF THE SANTIAGO BATTERIES
When Walter returned to his friends he was immediately surrounded and asked what had happened in the cabin. "Did the commodore slap you on the back and call you a bully boy?" queried Si.
"Well, hardly," answered Walter, with a quiet smile. "They plied me with questions and said I had had some remarkable adventures; that's all."
"Didn't praise you?" queried Caleb.
"No."
"Didn't rush up and shake hands even?" put in Paul.
"Not at all. I saluted and toed the mark, and kept toeing it until I left."
At this Paul's face fell. "Why, I thought you would be right in it, Walter," he said.
"I guess you've been reading some dime and half-dime colored-cover novels, Paul. I imagine that is the way they do in such books."
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