seven o'clock
`` He 's fitting out a great submarine fleet to get right in after the Prussians , and , since you fellows seem so dead set on getting there , I guess maybe it 'll be arranged . '' Jack and Ted were in high spirits , and eager to be off for the naval base at once . Officer Dunn had informed them they might be forwarded to the nearest navy yard that night with a batch of recruits signed up during the week . He told them to report back to the recruiting station at seven o'clock `` ready to go . '' The boys were anxious , too , to get back to Brighton and break the news . It was arranged they should spend the dinner hour at the school bidding farewell and later meet their mothers and fathers at the recruiting station . There was a great buzz of excitement in the mess hall at dinner when the news spread that Jack Hammond and Ted Wainwright had enlisted in the navy and were soon to leave .