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diff --git a/13826-0.txt b/13826-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c8947a7 --- /dev/null +++ b/13826-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7764 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13826 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 13826-h.htm or 13826-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/8/2/13826/13826-h/13826-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/8/2/13826/13826-h.zip) + + + + + +A GUNNER ABOARD THE "YANKEE" + +From the Diary of Number Five of the After Port Gun (Russell Doubleday) + +The Yarn of the Cruise and Fights of the Naval Reserves in the +Spanish-American War + +Edited by H. H. LEWIS, Late a S.N. + +With Introduction by W. T. SAMPSON, Rear Admiral U.S. + +1896 + + + + + + +BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA + +Honorary President, THE HON. WOODROW WILSON +Honorary Vice-President, HON. WILLIAM H. TAFT +Honorary Vice-President, COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT +President, COLIN B. LIVINGSTONE, Washington, D.C. +Vice-President, B.L. DULANEY, Bristol, Tenn. +Vice-President, MILTON A. McRAE, Detroit, Mich. +Vice-President, DAVID STARR JORDAN, Stanford University, Cal. +Vice-President, F.L. SEELY, Asheville, N.C. +Vice-President, A. STAMFORD WHITE, Chicago, Ill. +Chief Scout, ERNEST THOMPSON SETON, Greenwich, Connecticut +National Scout Commissioner, DANIEL CARTER BEARD, Fishing, N.Y. + +NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS +THE FIFTH AVENUE BUILDING, 200 FIFTH AVENUE +TELEPHONE GRAMERCY 540 +NEW YORK CITY + +FINANCE COMMITTEE +John Sherman Hoyt, Chairman +George D. Pratt +Mortimer L. Schiff +H. Rogers Winthrop + +GEORGE D. PRATT Treasurer +JAMES E. WEST Chief Scout Executive + +ADDITIONAL MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD +Ernest P. Bicknell +Robert Garrett +Lee F. Hanmer +Jobe Sherman Hoyt +Charles C. Jackson +Prof. Jeremiah W. Jeeks +William D. Murray +Dr. Charles P. Nell +Frank Presbrey +Edgar M. Robinson +Mortimer L. Schiff +Lorillard Spencer +Seth Spreguy Terry + + + + + July 31st, 1913. + + TO THE PUBLIC:-- + + In the execution of its purpose to give educational value + and moral worth to the recreational activities of the + boyhood of America, the leaders of the Boy Scout Movement + quickly learned that to effectively carry out its program, + the boy must be influenced not only in his out-of-door life + but also in the diversions of his other leisure moments. It + is at such times that the boy is captured by the tales of + daring enterprises and adventurous good times. What now is + needful is not that his taste should be thwarted but + trained. There should constantly be presented to him the + books the boy likes best, yet always the books that will be + best for the boy. As a natter of fact, however, the boy's + taste is being constantly vitiated and exploited by the + great mass of cheap juvenile literature. + + To help anxiously concerned parents and educators to meet + this grave peril, the Library Commission of the Boy Scouts + of America has been organized. EVERY BOY'S LIBRARY is the + result of their labors. All the books chosen have been + approved by them. The Commission is composed of the + following members: George F. Bowerman, Librarian, Public + Library of the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C.; + Harrison W. Graver, Librarian, Carnegie Library of + Pittsburgh, Pa.; Claude G. Leland, Superintendent, Bureau of + Libraries, Board of Education, New York City; Edward F. + Stevens, Librarian, Pratt Institute Free Library, Brooklyn, + New York; together with the Editorial Board of our Movement, + William D. Murray, George D. Pratt and Frank Presbrey, with + Franklin K. Mathiews. Chief Scout Librarian, as Secretary. + + In selecting the books, the Commission has chosen only such + as are of interest to boys, the first twenty-five being + either works of fiction or stirring stories of adventurous + experiences. In later lists, books of a more serious sort + will be included. It is hoped that as many as twenty-five + may be added to the Library each year. + + Thanks are due the several publishers who have helped to + inaugurate this new department of our work. Without their + co-operation in making available for popular priced editions + some of the best books ever published for boys, the + promotion of EVERY BOY'S LIBRARY would have been + impossible. + + We wish, too, to express our heartiest gratitude to the + Library Commission, who, without compensation, have placed + their vast experience and immense resources at the service + of our Movement. + + The Commission invites suggestions as to future books to be + included in the Library. Librarians, teachers, parents, and + all others interested in welfare work for boys, can render a + unique service by forwarding to National Headquarters lists + of such books as in their judgment would be suitable for + EVERY BOY'S LIBRARY. + + Signed + + Chief Scout Executive. + + + +ACKNOWLEDGEMENT + + +Acknowledgements are due to J. Harper Skillen, Stewart Flagg, George +Yardley, W.G. Wood, and E. Howe Stockwell for the use of photographs; +and to C.B. Hayward and Allan H. Seaman for the use of notes and +diaries. + + + +[Illustration: THE NAVAL RESERVES LEAVING NEW YORK--GOING OFF IN THE +TUGBOAT TO MAN THE "YANKEE".] + + + + + +THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY + +RUSSELL DOUBLEDAY + +NUMBER FIVE OF THE AFTER PORT GUN OF THE YANKEE + +TO THE NAVAL RESERVE ORGANIZATIONS + +THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, WHO HAVE MADE SUCH + +AN ENVIABLE RECORD DURING THE SPANISH-AMERICAN + +WAR AND BEFORE WHOM SUCH A + +GLORIOUS FUTURE + +OPENS AUTHOR'S FOREWORD + +1898 April 1917 + +The successors of the crew of the "Yankee" are now "somewhere in the +service." The boys of the First Battalion New York Naval Militia were +just as eager to get to sea in the service of Uncle Sam to do their part +for the great cause, as we were in the Spring of '98. + +The old frigate "Granite State" (formerly the New Hampshire), living +through three wars, has resounded to the tramp of hundreds of tars in +the making. She is the school ship, the home ship of the First +Battalion. Down her gangways went most of the "Yankee's" crew and +between her massive decks they returned after their job was done. + +As I write it seems as if I can hear the shrill whistle of the bo'sn's +pipe sounding in all parts of the old wooden ship, then the long drawn +call "all hands on deck." The men come tumbling up from below, touching +their caps in salute as their heads rise above the hatch coaming. Men +standing in battalion formation, by divisions, at attention, each man +answers "here" as his name is called. Some of the voices are a little +husky as the speaker realizes that war is on and he is about to be +called for real service. + +And so they are mustered in. The state's sailors become Uncle Sam's +man-o'-war's-men. The old "Granite State" is once more emptied of its +crew. The decks are silent and the long, low gangways beneath the +ancient deck beams are checked with squares of undisturbed yellow-light, +as the sun streams through the square gun ports. + +The readers of this book can imagine the men on our great gray ships of +war going through much the same routine followed by the "Yankee's" crew, +for there has been but little change in the work and play of the +man-o'-war's-men. + +So let us take off our caps and give the men of 1917 three cheers and a +tiger. May they shoot straight, and keep fit. + +Pipe down. + +RUSSELL DOUBLEDAY + +April, 1917 +Nineteen years ago this +month the "Yankee's" +crew went to sea. + +INTRODUCTION. + +As the Commander-in-Chief of the American Naval Squadron blockading +Santiago and the Cuban coast, the auxiliary cruiser "Yankee," manned by +the New York Naval Reserves, came immediately under my observation, and +it is a pleasure for me to speak of the spirit and efficiency shown by +the officers and crew during their stay under my command. + +The young men forming the ship's company of the "Yankee" were called +into service several weeks prior to any other Naval Reserve battalion; +they came from all walks of civil life, and their minds, devoted to +peaceful pursuits, were suddenly diverted to the needs and requirements +and the usages of naval routine. Notwithstanding this radical change, +they have made the name of their ship a household word throughout the +country, and have proved that the average American, whether he be clerk +or physician, broker, lawyer, or merchant, can, on the spur of the +moment, prove a capable fighter for his country even amid such strange +and novel surroundings as obtain in the naval service. These young men +have especially upheld the American supremacy in the art of gunnery, and +have, on all occasions, proved brave and efficient. + +The conclusion of the Spanish-American War released them from their +voluntarily assumed positions in the regular navy, but when they +returned to civil life they carried with them the consciousness of duty +well done at Santiago and Cienfuegos and whenever their guns were used +in hostile action. In a word, the Naval Reserves manning the "Yankee," +in common with those on board other vessels in the service, have proved +their aptitude for sea duty, and made apparent the wisdom of the +Government in calling them into active service. + +W.T. SAMPSON, +Rear-Admiral, U.S.N. + +U.S. FLAGSHIP "NEW YORK," +September 3, 1898. + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER + AUTHOR'S FOREWORD + INTRODUCTION + PREFACE + I. IN WHICH THE "YANKEE" GOES INTO COMMISSION + II. IN WHICH WE GET UNDER WAY AT LAST + III. IN WHICH THE "YANKEE" CRUISES FOR PRIZES + IV. WE GET ORDERS TO GO SOUTH + V. A WILD GOOSE CHASE + VI. WE BECOME COAL HEATERS + VII. WE ENTER THE "THEATRE OF WAR" +VIII. WE JOIN SAMPSON'S FLEET + IX. CLEAR SHIP FOR ACTION + X. WE BOMBARD SANTIAGO DE CUBA + XI. A PERILOUS MOMENT + XII. IN SEARCH OF ADVENTURE +XIII. A NARROW ESCAPE + XIV. WE ENGAGE IN A SEA FIGHT + XV. COALING IN THE TROPICS + XVI. "REMEMBER THE FISH" +XVII. IN GOD'S COUNTRY +XVIII. THE "YANKEE" ARRIVES OFF SANTIAGO + XIX. HOPE DEFERRED + XX. TAPS + APPENDIX + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +THE NAVAL RESERVES LEAVING NEW YORK--GOING OFF IN THE TUGBOAT TO +MAN THE "YANKEE" + Frontispiece + +"THAT FAT MAN IN THE CELLAR WANTS ME TO SLEEP IN A BAG--" + +"THE GIG WAS LOWERED" + +"THE MEN ON THE STAGES" + +"STAND BY, MEN. BE READY FOB INSTANT ACTION" + +"THE 'YANKEE' DROPPED HER ANCHOR OFF TOMPKINSVILLE" + +"WITH A FRIGHTFUL ROAR THE DEFECTIVE CARTRIDGE EXPLODED" + +"THE SIX-POUNDERS ON THE 'YANKEE'S' FORECASTLE JOINED IN THE CHORUS" + +"CLEAR SHIP FOR ACTION!" + +THE BOMBARDMENT OF MORRO CASTLE, SANTIAGO + +ON THE GUN DECK DURING THE BOMBARDMENT + +THE SEARCHLIGHT "SWEEPING BACK AND FORTH ACROSS THE BLACK OF THE HORIZON" + +"THERE WAS TEMPORARY CONFUSION" + +"THE FUSILLADE WAS LIVELY" + +"THE SPAR DECK WAS COVERED WITH RED SHELLAC" + +"THE MARINES AIRED THEIR HAMMOCKS ON THE FORECASTLE DECK" + +"HE GOT HIS ORDERS FROM THE BRIDGE" + +"ALL YOU MEN WHO WANT TO GO IN SWIMMING MAY DO SO" + +MARCHING THROUGH CITY HALL PARK, NEW YORK CITY + + + + + +PREFACE. + +When the important events of the first part of April, 1898, were shaping +themselves toward an inevitable conflict between Spain and the United +States of America, the authorities at Washington began to perfect their +plans for an immediate increase of the navy. The Naval Militia of the +country, of whom Assistant Secretary Theodore Roosevelt had a very high +opinion, came in for early attention, and word was sent to the different +States to prepare for service. Several days previous to the actual +outbreak of war, messages were forwarded from the Naval Reserve +receiving ship "New Hampshire," lying at a dock in the East River, to a +number of young men, members of the Naval Militia, residing in New York +City. These summons contained simply a request to report at once on +board the ship, but they resulted in a most curious and interesting +transformation--in fact, they formed the foundation of a chain of events +which was destined to amalgamate into a common grade--that of a naval +bluejacket--several hundred young Americans, who, in their natural +characters, were sons of rich men and of men of moderate means, of +doctors and lawyers and brokers and clerks and bookkeepers, and of all +sorts and conditions of respectable citizens. Patriotism was the +incentive which called these youths of various stations together, and +sheer love of country and the courage to fight her battles formed the +cement which bound them cheerfully to their duty. To fight for pay and +as a profession is one thing; to offer your freedom and your life, to +endure discomforts and actual hardships, to risk health in a +fever-stricken foreign country, and to sacrifice settled ambition for +mere patriotism, is another. It is the latter which the Volunteer Naval +Reserve of the United States has done, and every American citizen with a +drop of honest blood in his veins will surely give the organization the +praise it so richly deserves. + +On the third of May, while Cervera's whereabouts was still an absorbing +mystery, the "Yankee" (an auxiliary cruiser, converted from the +steamship "El Nort") went into commission at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. She +was manned entirely, save for the captain, executive officer, navigator, +paymaster, and the marine guard, by members of the New York State Naval +Militia. For four months she remained in commission, weaving the threads +of a glorious record which will ever redound to the credit and honor of +the Volunteer Naval Reserve. Truth is ever stranger than fiction, and +the simple story of the boys of the gallant "Yankee," as set forth in +the diary of Number Five of the After Port Gun, should appeal to the +heart of every reader in this great country of ours--a country made +grander and better and more potent in the world's history by the +achievements of such brave lads as those who formed the crew of the +"Yankee." Number Five's diary was written simply for his family, but the +fame gained by the "Yankee" leads the publishers to believe that it will +prove interesting to Americans far and wide. It is set forth in +narrative form, but the incidents and the straightforward, simple, and +sailor-like words are those of the actual participant. This is his +story. + + +CHAPTER I. + +IN WHICH THE "YANKEE" GOES INTO COMMISSION. + +U.S.S. "NEW HAMPSHIRE," +April 26, 1898. +Report at "New Hampshire" immediately, ready to go on board auxiliary +cruiser "Yankee." + +(Signed) +JOHN H. BARNARD, +Lieut, commanding 3d Division, +N.Y. State Naval Militia. + +It was this telegram, brief but extremely comprehensive, received early +on the morning of the twenty-sixth of April, which sent me post-haste to +the old receiving-ship "New Hampshire," moored at the end of an East +River dock. The telegram had been anxiously expected for several days by +the members of the First Battalion, and when I reached the ship I found +the decks thronged with excited groups. + +"War was a certainty, and the very air was filled with rumors. The +prevailing topic was discussed from every point of view, and within +sixty seconds as many destinations had been picked out for the +'Yankee.' It was variously reported that she was to go to Havana, to +Manila, to Porto Rico, and even to Spain. This last rumor brought shouts +of laughter, and 'Stump,' as we termed him, a well-known young insurance +broker of New York, remarked, in his characteristic way: + +"It probably won't be this particular 'Yankee,' boys, that will go +there, but there'll be others." + +There was much cleaning of kits and furbishing of cutlasses. We knew +that we would not take the latter with us, but then it was practice, and +we felt anxious to do something martial as a relief to our excitement. +There was a diversion shortly before noon, when the "old man" (the +captain) appeared with a number of official-looking papers in his hands. + +"He's got the orders," whispered little Potter, our latest recruit. +"Whoop! we'll get away this morning, sure." + +The whistle of the bosun's mate on watch echoed shrilly about the decks +a few moments later. + +"Now, d'ye hear there," he shouted, hoarsely, "you will break out mess +gear and get yourselves ready for messing aboard ship." + +That did not sound as if we were destined to see our new vessel put into +commission very soon, and there was some grumbling, but the boys fell to +work with good grace, and we were soon preparing for our stay aboard the +old frigate. The officer of the deck was lenient, however, and the +majority of the crew secured permission to sleep at home that night. + +The following Monday, on reporting on board the "New Hampshire," we +learned that the entire detail selected to man the "Yankee" would +proceed to that ship shortly after eight bells. Word was passed that our +enlistment papers--for we were to regularly enter Uncle Sam's naval +service--would be made out, and that our freedom and liberty, as some of +the boys put it, would cease from that hour. The latter statement made +little impression. We had entered the Naval Reserves for business, if +business was required, and we expected hardships as well as fun. + +A navy-yard tug, sent by the Commandant, steamed alongside at two +o'clock, and the company was marched on board without delay. The boys +were eager to enter on this, their first real detail, and, in the rush +to gain the deck of the tug, young Potter slipped from the rail and fell +with a mighty splash into the water. "Man overboard!" bawled his +nearest mate, and "Man overboard!" echoed one hundred and fifty voices. +There was a scramble for the side, and the tug's deck hand, assisted by +several of our fellows, fished Potter from the river with a boat hook. + +"Hereafter, please ask permission before you leave the ship," +facetiously remarked the officer in charge. + +"Humph! as if I meant to do it," grunted Potter, wringing the East River +from his duck shirt. + +We caught our first view of the "Yankee" as we steamed past the cob dock +at the yard. We were favorably impressed at once. She is a fine-looking +ship, large, roomy, and comfortable, with lines which show that she is +built for speed. As her record is twenty knots an hour, the latter +promise is carried out. The "Yankee" was formerly the "El Norte," one of +the Morgan Line's crack ships, and, when it was found necessary to +increase the navy, she was purchased, together with other vessels of the +same company, and ordered converted into an auxiliary cruiser. Gun +mounts were placed in the cargo ports, beams strengthened, magazines +inserted, and interior arrangements made to accommodate a large crew. +The "Yankee's" tonnage is 4,695 tons; length, 408 feet; beam, 48 feet. +The battery carried consists of ten five-inch quick-firing +breechloaders, six six-pounders, and two Colt automatic guns. After +events proved conclusively the efficiency of the "Yankee's" armament. + +The detail was taken alongside the "Yankee" by the tug. We had our first +meeting with our new captain, Commander W.H. Brownson, of the regular +navy. His appearance and his kindly greeting bore out the reputation he +holds in the service as a gentleman and a capable officer. It is well to +say right here that Commander Brownson, although a strict +disciplinarian, was ever fair and just in his treatment of the crew. Our +pedigrees were taken for the enlistment papers, and the questions asked +us in regard to our ages, occupations, etc., proved that the Government +requires the family history of its fighters. The following day each man +was subjected to a rigid physical examination. The latter ceremony is so +thorough that a man needs to be perfect to have the honor of wearing the +blue shirt. Personally, when I finally emerged from the examining room, +I felt that my teeth were all wrong, my eyes crossed, my heart a wreck, +and that I was not only a physical ruin, but a gibbering idiot as well. +That I really passed the examination successfully was no fault of the +naval surgeon and his assistants. + +After the medical department had finished with us, the enlistment papers +were completed, and we became full-fledged "Jackies," as "Stump" termed +it. The members of the battalion were rated as landsmen, ordinary +seamen, and able-bodied seamen, according to their skill, and a number +of men, hastily enlisted for the purpose, were made machinists, firemen, +coal-passers, painters, and carpenters. Some of these had seen service +in the regular navy, and they were visibly horny-handed sons of toil. +One Irishman, whose brogue was painful, looked with something very like +contempt on the Naval Reserve sailors. + +"Uncle Sam is a queer bird," several of us overheard him remark to a +mate. "He do be making a picnic av this war wid his pleasure boats an' +his crew av pretty b'yes. If we iver tackle the Spaniards, there'll be +many a mama's baby on board this hooker cryin' for home, swate home." + +"Hod," a six-footer, who played quarter-back on a famous team not long +ago, took out his notebook and made an entry. + +"I'll spot that fellow and make him eat his words before we get into +deep water," he said, quietly. He was not the only one to make that +vow, and it was plain that Burke, the Irishman, had trouble in store for +him. + +On our return to the "New Hampshire," the battalion was placed under the +regular ship's routine. All the men were divided into two watches, +starboard and port. The port watch, for instance, goes on duty at eight +bells in the morning, stands four hours, and is then relieved by the +starboard watch; this routine continues day and night, except from four +until eight in the afternoon, when occur the dog watches, two of them, +two hours long each, stood by the port and starboard men respectively. +The dog watches are necessary to secure a change in the hours of duty +for each watch. + +From now on we were given a taste of the actual work of the service. +Details were made up each morning and sent to the "Yankee" to assist in +getting her in readiness for service. One of the first duties was to +carry on board and stow away in the hold one hundred kegs of mess pork. +As each keg contained one hundred pounds, the task was not easy for men +unaccustomed to manual labor. Still there was no complaint. In fact, the +only growling heard so far had come from some of the men who had seen +service in the regular navy. Burke, the fireman, declaimed loudly +against the "shoe leather an' de terrer-cotter hard-tack which they do +be tryin' to feed to honest workers. As for the slops they call coffee, +Oi wouldn't give it to an Orangeman's pig!" + +The food served out on board the "New Hampshire"--being the usual +Government ration of salt-horse, coffee, and hard-tack--was vastly +different from that to which the majority of the boys were accustomed, +but it was accepted with the good grace displayed by the members of the +Reserve on every occasion. All these little discomforts are, as the +Navigator (a commissioned officer of the regular navy) remarked, "merely +incidental to the service." + +As the time approached when we were to board the "Yankee" for good, the +ordinary watches were abandoned, and only anchor watches kept. An anchor +watch is a detail of five or six men, selected from the different parts +of the ship, who do duty, really, as watchmen, during the night. Two +days before the order arrived to leave the "New Hampshire," it was found +necessary to station several men, armed with guns and fixed bayonets, on +the dock near the ship, to stop men from taking the "hawser route" +ashore. The firemen and coal-passers had been refused shore leave, or +liberty, as it is called, because of their habit of getting +intoxicated, pawning their uniforms, and loitering ashore. Truth to +tell, the guns and bayonets had little effect, as the offenders were old +in the business. + +The second night after the order was put in force it happened that +"Hod," who was rated as an able seaman, was on duty with gun and bayonet +on that end of the dock opposite the forecastle. He had just relieved +the man whose watch ended at midnight, and he stood thoughtfully +watching the twinkling lights on the opposite side of the mighty East +River. There was so much to occupy his mind in a situation which was +both charming and fascinating that he remained motionless for several +minutes. Presently there came a slight, scraping sound, and the end of a +rope struck the dock almost at his feet. + +Glancing up, "Hod" saw a man's figure, dimly outlined in the gloom, slip +from the topgallant forecastle and quickly descend the rope. It was +evidently one of the men taking "French" leave, and it was the sentry's +duty to give the alarm at once. But "Hod" had other views in this +particular case. Hastily stepping back into the shadows, he laid his gun +upon the floor of the dock, and rolled up his sleeves with an air that +meant business. The next moment the absconder dropped from the rope. + +As he prepared to slip past the ship a sinewy hand was placed upon his +shoulder, and another equally sinewy caught him by the collar. + +"Burke, suppose you return aboard ship," said "Hod," quietly. "You are +not going to hit the Bowery this time." + +The Irish fireman attempted to wrench himself free, then he struck out +at "Hod" with all the force of his right arm. The quarter-back's +practice on the field came into play, and the college graduate tackled +his opponent in the latest approved style. The struggle was short and +decisive, and it resulted in Burke declaring his willingness to return +to the ship. + +"The next time you try to size up a new shipmate be sure you are on to +his curves," remarked "Hod," as he escorted his prisoner over the +gangway. "You will find some of 'mama's pretty boys' rather tough nuts +to crack." + +The day following this little episode found the members of the State +Naval Militia detailed to form the crew of the "Yankee" in full +possession of the cruiser which they were to sail to glory or defeat in +defense of their country. The ship's company, two hundred and +twenty-five in all, boarded the auxiliary warship without ceremony, and +were speedily set to work hoisting in provisions, removing to the yard +all unnecessary stuff with which the ship was littered, and getting her +generally in condition for sailing. The work was extremely hard, but it +was done without demur. + +A naval officer attached to the yard stood near me at one time during +the afternoon, and I heard him remark to a visitor who had accompanied +him on board: "You will find an object lesson in this scene. These young +men working here at the hardest kind of manual labor, buckling down +cheerfully to dirty jobs, were, a few days ago, living in luxury in the +best homes in New York City. The older men were clerks, or lawyers, or +physicians, and not one of them had ever stained his hands with toil. +Look at them now." + +Unconsciously I glanced across the deck to where three men were hauling +upon a whip, or block-and-tackle, which was being used to hoist huge +boxes and casks of provisions on board. The three men were working +sturdily, and it would have been difficult to recognize in them, with +their grimy faces and soiled duck uniforms, a doctor, a bank cashier, +and a man-about-town well known in New York City. Near the forward +hatch, industriously swabbing the deck, was a black-haired youth whose +father helps to control some of the largest moves on 'Change. Scattered +about the gangway were others, some painting, some rolling barrels, and +a number engaged in whipping in heavy boxes of ammunition. They were all +cheerful, and the decks resounded with merry chatter and whistling and +song. + +I turned to myself. My hands were brown and smeared and bruised. My +uniform, once white, was streaked and stained with tar. I wore shoes +innocent of blacking and made after a pattern much admired among +navvies. I had an individual ache in every bone of my body, and I was +hungry and was compelled to look forward to a dinner of odorous +salt-horse, hard bread, and "ennuied" coffee, but I was happy--I had to +admit that. Perhaps it was the novelty of the situation, perhaps it was +something else, but the fact remained that I would not have left the +ship or given up the idea of going on the cruise for a good deal. + +We worked hard all day, and, when mess gear was piped for supper, we +could hardly repress a sigh of heartfelt relief. The food, bad as it +was, was welcome, and when I reluctantly swung away from the mess table +I felt much better. At six bells, shortly before hammocks were piped +down, the "striker," or helper, for our mess cook, said mysteriously: + +"Don't turn in early, Russ, there's going to be a little fun. 'Bill' and +'Stump' have young Potter on a string. It will be great." + + +CHAPTER II. + +IN WHICH WE GET UNDER WAY AT LAST. + +The hint of possible fun that night was sufficient to keep me alert. +"All work and no play, etc.," was part of our code aboard the "Yankee," +and goodness knows we had worked hard enough getting the ship ready for +sailing to be permitted a little sport. Then, again, any badgering of +young Potter would be innocent amusement, so I laid by and waited, +keeping my eye on "Bill." + +"Bill," by the way, was the captain of our mess, a jolly good fellow, +popular, and always in evidence when there was any skylarking on foot. + +Hammocks were piped down at seven bells (7:30 p.m.), and, as it was our +first experience on board the "Yankee," there was some confusion. A +number of new recruits had joined that afternoon, and their efforts to +master the mysteries of the sailor's sleeping outfit were amusing. A +naval hammock differs largely from those used ashore. A hammock aboard +ship is of canvas, seven feet long, with holes a few inches apart at +each end, through which are reeved pieces of strong cord. The latter are +called clews, and they meet at an iron ring, which is attached to the +hooks in the carline beams when the hammock is in position for use. When +a hammock is properly slung it hangs almost straight, with very little +sagging. To get in properly, one grasps two hoops near the head, and, +with an agile spring, throws body and feet into the canvas bed. This +requires a knack, and is learned only after a more or less painful +experience. A three-inch mattress and two blankets go with each outfit. +For sheets a bag-like mattress cover is used, and, in lieu of the downy +pillows of home, the sailor must be content with his shoes rolled up +inside his trousers or flannel shirt. With it all, however, the naval +hammock is very comfortable. There is the advantage of being able to not +only wash your blankets and sheets, but your bed as well. Once each +month clean hammocks are issued and the old ones scrubbed. + +While I was below, rigging up my clews, I saw a commotion on the other +side of the deck. The master-at-arms was expostulating with one of the +new recruits who had reported that afternoon. Suddenly the latter called +out, angrily, "I'll see if I have to, durn you!" and bolted for the +upper deck. The master-at-arms followed him at once, and several of us +followed the master-at-arms to see the excitement. We reached the +quarter-deck just as the recruit came to a stop in front of the officer +on watch. + +[Illustration: "THAT FAT MAN IN THE CELLAR WANTS ME TO SLEEP IN A +BAG----".] + +"What's the matter with you?" demanded the latter, curtly. "What's up?" + +"Th-th-that m-m-man down in the--the cellar wants me to sleep in a bag, +durn him," gasped the recruit, waving his lanky arms, "and I won't do it +for him or no one else." + +"Cellar?" Then the officer shouted with laughter. + +The recruit was sent back to the "New Hampshire" next day, but it was +long before the master-at-arms was known by any other name or title than +"the man in the cellar." + +A few minutes before tattoo, "Bill" and "Stump" came up and intimated by +signs that I was to accompany them to the forward part of the berth +deck. On reaching the extreme end, which was occupied by an immense +hawser reel, "Bill" indicated a hammock which was swinging with the +forward clews directly above the great spool, or reel. + +"If young Potter doesn't think this old hooker is haunted I'll never +play another joke," he chuckled. "Get in and show him, 'Stump.'" + +The latter grasped two hooks, gave himself a swing, landed in the +hammock, and in an instant struck the deck with a thump, the hammock +under him. As he rolled out I rubbed my eyes. The hammock had swiftly +returned to its former position! + +"It isn't hoodooed," grinned "Bill." "Just look here." + +He hauled up on the head clews and presently a five-inch shell appeared +above the top of the reel. The shell was fastened to the end of the +hammock lashing, at the other end of which was attached the ring. The +lashing led over the hook, and the weight of the shell was just +sufficient to keep the hammock in its place. As I finished inspecting +the clever contrivance, the boatswain's mate piped tattoo. + +We hurried away to watch from a distance. Laughing and singing, the +fellows trooped down to prepare for turning in; the hard labor of the +day had not dampened their spirits. The deck soon presented an animated +scene. A number of us had slept long enough on board the "New Hampshire" +to become accustomed to man-o'-war style, but the new recruits were like +so many cats in a strange garret. They stood about, glancing doubtfully +at their hammocks and then at their clothes. They did not know just what +to do with either. + +"How do you get into the thing, I wonder?" asked the fellow from Harlem, +eyeing his suspended bed. + +"Borrow the navigator's step-ladder," suggested the coxs'n of the gig. +"He keeps it in the chart room." + +The greatest difficulty was the disposal of our clothes. There were no +wardrobes nor closets nor convenient hooks, and it was strictly against +the rule to leave anything lying around decks. The question was solved +presently by an old naval sailor, who calmly made a neat roll of his +duck jumper and trousers and another of his shoes and shirt. The latter +he tucked into his clews at the foot, and the other he used as a pillow. +We thanked our lucky stars we did not have creased trousers, smooth +coats, vests, white shirts, collars, and neckties to dispose of. + +In due time young Potter, who had stayed on deck viewing the scenery +until chased by the corporal of the guard, came down and made for his +hammock. Four dozen pairs of eyes watched him with delightful +anticipation. Unconscious of the attention he was attracting, he doffed +his clothes and brought out something from his black bag which proved +to be a night-shirt! If there was any compunction in regard to the trick +intended for him, it instantly vanished. A sailor with a night-shirt was +legitimate prey. + +Whistling softly, the victim prepared himself for the swing, grasped the +hooks, and then, with good momentum, landed in the hammock. There was a +swish, a distinct thud, and young Potter rolled out upon the deck with a +gasp of amazement. Turning as quickly as he could, he looked up and saw +the hammock swinging in its proper place. It was physical labor for us +to keep from howling with glee at the expression on his face. He glanced +sheepishly about to see if his catastrophe had been observed; then he +made another attempt. This time a heave of the ship sent him even more +quickly to the deck, and he landed with a bump that could have been +heard in the cabin. He was fighting mad when he again scrambled to his +feet. + +"I can lick the lubber who threw me out," he shouted. + +"Stop that talking," came from the master-at-arms' corner. "Turn in and +keep quiet about the decks." + +Potter grumbled something under his breath, then he made a careful +search in the vicinity of his hammock. It was worth a dollar admission +to see him poke about with, the end of a broom. He found nothing +suspicious, and proceeded to try again. Very gingerly he grasped the +hooks, and he experimented with one foot before trusting his whole +weight to the hammock. The second he released his hold of the hooks he +fell, and the fall was even greater than before. + +"The blamed thing is spooky!" he howled, as he gathered himself +together. He made a quick run for the ladder leading on deck, but was +stopped by the master-at-arms, who demanded an explanation. While they +were arguing, "Bill" and I quickly fixed the hammock, casting off the +shell and concealing it behind a black bag. We had barely finished when +the chief petty officer came up and examined the clews. He tested them +by applying his own weight, then gave the crestfallen and astounded +Potter a few terse words of advice about eating too much supper. Five +minutes later the deck was quiet. + +The hard labor of the previous day--such labor as hauling and pulling, +handling heavy boxes and casks, and bales and barrels of provisions and +ammunition--had made me dead tired, and I slept like a log until +reveille. This unpleasant function occurred at three bells (half-past +five o'clock), and it consisted of an infernal hubbub of drums and +bugles and boatswains' pipes, loud and discordant enough to awaken the +seven sleepers. We roused in a hurry, and, with eyes scarcely open, +began to lash up our hammocks. + +"Seven turns, no more, no less," bawled the master-at-arms. "Get just +seven turns of the lashing around your hammocks, and get 'em quick. If +you can't pass your hammock through a foot ring, you'll go on the +report. Shake a leg there!" + +The rumor had gone about that it was the custom to "swat" the last man +with a club, and there was a great scramble. We found the hammock +stowers in the nettings, which were large boxes on the gun deck, and our +queer canvas beds were soon stowed away for the day. As the reveille +hour is too early for breakfast, coffee and hard-tack is served out by +each mess cook. The coffee is minus milk, but it is hot and palatable, +and really acts as a tonic. + +The first order of the day is to scrub down decks and clean ship +generally, but, as the "Yankee" was still in the throes of preparation, +we were spared that disagreeable work and permitted to arrange our +belongings for the long voyage before us. In the service each man is +allowed a black bag about three feet six inches high, and twelve inches +in diameter, and a small wooden box, eighteen inches square, known as a +"ditty box," to keep his wardrobe in. All clothing is rolled, and +careful sailors generally wrap each garment in a piece of muslin before +consigning it to the black bag. In the ditty box are kept such articles +as toothbrush, brush and comb, small hand glass, writing material, and +odds and ends. Each bag and box is numbered, and must be kept in a +certain place. At first we thought it wouldn't be possible to keep our +clothing in such a small space, but experience taught us that we would +have ample room. + +The following days until the eighth of May were days of manual labor, +which hardened our muscles and placed a fine edge on our appetites. To +see the men who had been accustomed to a life of luxury toiling away +with rope and scrubbing brush and paint pot, working like day laborers, +and happy at that, was really a remarkable spectacle. For my part, I +noticed with surprise that scratched and bruised hands--scratched so +that the salt water caused positive pain--did not appeal to me. I tore +off a corner of my right thumb trying to squeeze a large box through the +forward hatch, and the only treatment I gave it was a fragment of rather +soiled rag and a little vaseline borrowed from a mate. To quit work and +apply for the first aid to injured never struck me. Ashore I would +probably have called a doctor. + +The day before we left the yard one of my mates sprained his back +lifting a box of canned meat. In civil life he had been a lawyer with a +promising practice, his office being with one of the best known men of +the bar. He gave it up and joined the Naval Reserves because, as he +expressed it, "To fight for one's country is a patriot's first duty." +When the accident happened, he refused to go below to the sick bay until +the doctor stated that rest for a few days at least was absolutely +necessary. + +"It isn't that I mind the hurt, boys," he said, with a smile, as he was +assisted to the hatch, "but I hate to be knocked out in my first +engagement, and that with a box of canned corned beef." + +The monotony of work was broken on the ninth of May, when preparations +were made to leave the yard. The destination was only Tompkinsville, but +there was not a man on board but felt that, as the last hawser was cast +off, we were fairly started on our cruise in search of action. As the +"Yankee" was assisted away from the wharf by a Government tug, a number +of friends gathered ashore cheered lustily and waved their hats and +handkerchiefs. The scene had been repeated time without end, no doubt, +but it went to our hearts all the same, and there was many a husky note +in the cheers we gave in return. + +There was also encouragement in the whistles we received as we dropped +down the East River, and we felt as if our small share in the war would +be appreciated by those compelled to stay at home. We steamed directly +to the vicinity of Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, anchored off +Tompkinsville, and then picked up a berth there for the night. Half way +down the bay we met a tug carrying a committee from the "Sons of the +Revolution" of New York State. The committee had been selected by the +society to present us with a set of colors. The tug accompanied us to +our anchorage, then the committee came on board. The ceremony of +presentation was rather picturesque. + +The visitors gathered on the bridge, the ship's bugler sounded the +assembly, and in obedience to the call we lined up on the forward deck. +We wore the white duck service uniform, including trousers, jumper, and +cap. Some of the uniforms had suffered in contact with pitch, but the +general effect was good. When everything was in readiness, the chairman +of the committee presented the set of colors and said: + +"Captain Brownson, officers and men of the 'Yankee,' I have the honor, +on behalf of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution in the State of +New York, to present these colors to the members of the Naval Reserve of +the State of New York, who have enlisted for service under your +command." + +He continued by hoping that the colors would ever float victorious, and +said that he did not doubt it, and then our skipper made a little speech +in reply. The affair wound up with a round of cheers and general +congratulations. The flags were handsome, and, as it came to pass, they +flaunted amid battle smoke before many weeks. + +Our stay off Tompkinsville was to be short, but we had time to become +acquainted with a characteristic naval oddity known as the bumboat. +Diligent inquiries among the old sailors on board the "Yankee" failed to +enlighten me as to the derivation of the name, but the consensus of +opinion was that these floating peddlers sold articles which, to use a +slang phrase, were pretty "bum." Experience has given the opinion some +color of truth. Our bumboat boarded us early and stayed with us until +the corporal of the guard called "time." + +She came laden with pies and doughnuts, pins and needles, tape and +buttons and whisk brooms and shoe blacking, handkerchiefs, ties, +scissors, soap, writing paper, envelopes, ink, pens, cakes, bread, +jelly, pocket knives, and a schedule of prices that would have brought a +blush of envy to the face of a Swiss inn-keeper. As the boys had not yet +grown entirely accustomed to what is called "Government straight," i.e., +salt meat and hard-tack, the bumboat did a thriving business. Young +Potter's bill was tremendous, and Mrs. Bumboat bade him a regretful +farewell when she visited us for the last time. + +At three in the afternoon of the tenth we hoisted anchor on our way to +sea. Our good friends had not deserted us, and a number of them, aboard +several tugs, accompanied us as far as the Narrows. The "God-speed" +given us as we steamed away would have been a fine object lesson to our +future antagonists. + +Up to the present we had been concerned simply with the preparations for +war, but it was destined that before another twenty-four hours had +passed we would have a taste of the actual realities. + +The "Yankee" was to see service. + + +CHAPTER III. + +IN WHICH THE "YANKEE" CRUISES FOR PRIZES. + +It was evening, the evening of the day on which the "Yankee" sailed from +Tompkinsville bound out on her maiden cruise as an auxiliary ship of +war. The afternoon had passed without event, save that which attacks the +amateur sailor when he first feels the heaving swell of old ocean. The +crew had shaken into its place, and the men of the watch on deck were +commencing to appreciate their responsibilities. + +The ship was quiet, save for the faint chug-chug of the propeller under +the stern and the occasional clang of a shovel in the fire room deep +down in the innermost reaches of the ship. The sun had vanished in a +hazy cloud which portended a stiff breeze, but the wind was still +gentle, and, as it swept across the decks from off the port quarter, it +seemed grateful indeed to those who came from below for a breath of air. + +Orders had been issued to darken the decks. The running lights of red +and green were still in the lamp room, and, except for a soft, rosy +glow from the binnacle-bowl, there was a blackness of night throughout +the upper part of the ship. Cigars and pipes and cigarettes had been +tabooed, and doors were opened in the deck houses only after the inside +lights had been lowered to a flickering pin point. + +Up on the forward bridge Captain Brownson stood talking in a low voice +to the executive officer, Lieutenant Hubbard. The lurching swing of the +ship caused them to sway back and forth against the rail and a metallic +sound came from a sword scabbard suspended from the captain's belt. The +presence of this sword, betrayed by the clatter it made, told a secret +to several sailors gathered under the lee of the pilot house, and one +said, in an excited whisper: + +"There's something up, Chips. The old man is fixed for trouble. I'm +going aft and stand by." + +The speaker started off, but before he had taken ten steps the shrill +blast of a bugle suddenly broke the stillness of the night. The +discordant notes rang and echoed through the ship, and, while the sound +was still trembling in the air, two score of shadowy figures sprang up +from different parts of the deck and scurried toward the ladders leading +below. + +The transformation was instant and complete. + +From a ship stealthily pursuing its way through the darkness--a part of +the mist--the "Yankee" became the theatre of a scene of the most intense +activity. + +There was no shouting, no great clamor of sound; nothing but the +peculiar shuffling of shoes against iron, the hard panting of hurrying +men, the grating of breech-blocks, low muttered orders from officer to +man, and a multitude of minor noises that seemed strange and weird and +uncanny in this blackness. + +A belated wardroom boy, still carrying a towel across his arm, slips +from the cabin and hastens forward to his station in the powder +division. The navigator, an officer of the regular navy, whose ideas of +discipline are based on cast iron rules, espies the laggard and +administers a sharp rebuke. A squad of marines dash from the "barracks" +below and line up at the secondary battery guns on the forecastle. Some +of the marines are hatless and coatless, and one wiry little private +shambles along on one foot. He stumbles against a hatch-coaming and +kicks his shoe across the deck. + +Suddenly an order comes out of the gloom near the main hatch and is +carried from gun to gun. + +"Cast loose and provide!" + +The hitherto motionless figures waiting at the battery spring into +activity. Hands move nimbly at the training and elevating gear. +Breech-blocks are thrown open, sights adjusted, the first and second +captains take their places, the former with the firing lanyard in +readiness for use at his gun; then there is silence again as the officer +in charge of the division holds up one hand as a signal that all is +prepared. Then comes the word to load. + +In a twinkling the ammunition hoists are creaking with their burdens and +boxes of shell appear on deck. These are quickly lifted to the guns and +taken in hand by the loaders. The latter do their part of the general +work thoroughly and with despatch, and presently the breech-blocks are +swung to and the battery is ready for action. + +In the meantime there has been systematic preparation in other parts of +the auxiliary cruiser. Down in the sick bay aft, the surgeon and his +assistants have made ready for their grewsome task. Cases of glittering +instruments have been opened, lint and bandages and splints are in their +proper places, and the apothecary and bayman are getting the cots in +trim for instant use. + +In the fire room the firemen and coal-passers are heaping up the +furnaces, a couple of men hurry away to attend to the fire mains, and, +standing by in readiness for duty, are the engineers and crew of the off +watch. The carpenters are ready below with shot-hole plugs, and +everywhere throughout the ship can be found officers and sailors and +marines and men of the "black gang," each at his proper station in +readiness for the word to begin action. + +But that word does not come. Instead a stentorian command is heard from +the bridge: + +"Secure!" + +Laughing and joking, the crew of the "Yankee" hasten to restore the ship +to its former state. All this has been a drill, the drill known as +general quarters. It is the first time it has been held under service +conditions, and when the captain steps down from the bridge and says in +his brisk, authoritative way, "Very well done, very well done indeed," +the boys of the cruiser are satisfied and happy. + +Twice during the night the drill is repeated. There is no grumbling +because of disturbed sleep, for a rumor has gone about the ship that +Spanish vessels have been seen off the coast, and even the cranks on +board admit that drills and exercises are necessary. + +Sea watches have been set, and the rules followed when under way are now +operative. A brief explanation of the routine attending the first hours +of a naval day may help to make succeeding descriptions more plain. The +ship's daily life commences with the calling of the ship's cook at +3:30 a.m. The ordinary mess cooks are awakened at four o'clock, so that +coffee can be prepared for the watch. Coffee is always served with +hard-tack to the watch coming on deck at four. It is all the men get +until breakfast at 7:30, and a great deal of work must be accomplished +before that time. + +After the hard-tack and coffee had been consumed--and it went to that +spot always reserved for good things--the lookouts of the other watch on +the port and starboard bridge and the patent life buoys port and +starboard quarter were relieved. As soon as the first streaks of dawn +Were to be seen a long-drawn boatswain's pipe, like the wail of a lost +soul, came from forward, and the order "scrub and wash clothes" given. + +A day or two before the "Yankee" left the navy yard, one of the pretty +girls who had come over to visit her asked: "Where do you have your +washing done? It must require a great many washerwomen to keep the +clothes of this dirty [glancing rather disdainfully at her somewhat +grimy friend] crew clean." Though we knew that the luxury of a laundry +would not fall to our lot, we were at a loss as to the method pursued to +clean clothes. + +We soon learned. + +We who had been anticipating an order of this sort came running forward +with bundles of clothes that would discourage a steam laundry. This was +the first opportunity we had had to clean up. The forecastlemen led out +the hose, which was connected to the ship's pump, and, after wetting +down the forecastle deck (where all clothes must be scrubbed), we were +told we might turn to. + +The "Kid," who was the youngest member of the crew aboard, very popular +with officers and men, and who afterward became the ship's mascot, said, +"How do you work this, anyway?" I confessed that I was in the dark +myself, but proposed that we watch "Patt," the gunner's mate, who had +served in the navy before. Presently we saw him lay his jumper flat on +the deck, wet it thoroughly with water from the hose, then rub it with +salt-water soap. Then he fished out a stiff scrubbing brush and began to +scrub the jumper as if it was a floor. We then understood the +significance of the order _scrub_ and wash clothes. In salt water the +clothes have not only to be washed, but scrubbed as well. + +The "Kid" remarked, "Well, I'll be switched," and forthwith fell on his +knees and proceeded to follow "Patt's" example. + +Though we scrubbed manfully, "putting our backs into it" and "using +plenty of elbow grease," as instructed, still the result was hardly up +to our expectations. The navigator remarked, as we were "stopping" the +clothes on the line, "You heroes might scrub those clothes a little bit; +it does not take a college education to learn how to wash clothes." + +I agreed with the "Kid" that, though cleanliness was next to Godliness, +cleanliness, like Godliness, was often a difficult virtue to acquire. We +found it almost impossible to be cleanly without the aid of fresh water, +so the schemes devised to avoid the executive's order and get it were +many and ingenious. + +One man would go to the ship's galley, where the fresh water hand-pump +was, and, without further ado, begin to fill his bucket, remarking, if +the cook attempted to interfere, that he had to scrub paint work or he +had orders from the doctor to bathe in fresh water. These excuses would +be successful till too many men came in with buckets and plausible +excuses, when the cook would shut down on the scheme for the time. The +man with fresh water was the envy of his fellows, and must needs be +vigilant, or bucket and water would disappear mysteriously. + +The "Kid" happened to be next me when "stopping" his clothes on the +line, and remarked, as he tied the last knot on his last jumper, "I like +to be clean as the next chap, but this scrubbing clothes on your knees +is no snap." + +He stopped to feel them. + +"Why, I can feel the corns growing on them already. How often do we have +to do this scrubbing job, anyhow?" he asked. + +"You _can_ do it every morning, if you really feel inclined," I replied, +smiling at his rueful countenance; "clothes can only be washed during +the morning watch (four to eight), I understand, and, as the starboard +men are on duty one day during that time and the port watch the next, +each is supposed to 'scrub and wash clothes' in his own watch. See?" + +The "Kid" looked up at the dripping line of rather dingy clothes, then +down at his red and soapy knees, and said, as he turned to go aft, +"Well, when we get back to New York, I am going to have a suit of whites +made of celluloid that can be washed with a sponge." + +At 6:30 the order "knock off scrubbing clothes" was given, and then all +hands of the watch "turned to" and scrubbed decks, scoured the gratings +and companion-way ladders with sand and canvas, brass work was polished, +paint work wiped down, and everything on board made as spick and span as +a new dollar. + +A vast quantity of water is brought from over the side through the +ship's pump, and the men work in their bare feet. In fact, the usual +costume during this period of the day consists of a pair of duck +trousers and a thin shirt. On special occasions even the shirt is +dispensed with. During warm weather it is delightful to splash around a +water-soaked deck, but there are mornings when a biting wind comes from +the north, and the keenness of winter is in the air, and then Jackie, +compelled to labor up to his knees in water, casts longing glances +toward the glow of the galley fire, and makes his semi-yearly vow that +he will leave the "blooming" service for good and go on a farm. + +This scrubbing of decks and scouring of ladders put an extra edge on our +appetites, so we agreed with "Stump" when he said, "I feel as if I could +put a whole bumboat load of stuff out of commission all by my lonely." +"Stump's" appetite was out of proportion to his size. + +When the boatswain's mate gave his peculiar long, quavering pipe and the +order "spread mess gear for the watch below," at 7:20, we of the watch +on deck realized that there was still forty minutes to wait. Every man's +hunger seemed to increase tenfold, so that even the odor of boiling +"salt-horse" from the galley did not trouble us. + +Finally the order came, "on deck all the starboard watch"; followed by +the boatswain's mess call for the watch on deck. The scramble to get +below and to work with knife, fork, and spoon resembled a fire panic at +a theatre. It is first come first served aboard ship, and the man who +lingers often gets left. + +The gun deck of the "Yankee," like the gun deck of most war vessels, is +Jack's living room. Here he sleeps, in what he facetiously calls his +folding-bed, which is swung from the deck beams above; here he enjoys +the various amusements that an ordinary citizen would call work; here he +goes through his drills; here he fights, not his shipmates, but his +country's enemies, and here he eats. + +The remark, "he spread his legs luxuriously under the mahogany," would +hardly apply to Jack's mode of dining. His table is a swinging affair +that is hung on the hammock hooks--a mere board a couple of feet wide +and twelve or fourteen feet long, having a ridge around the edge to keep +the plates from sliding off in a seaway. Jack's dining chairs are called +"mess benches," and consist of a long folding bench that with the table +can be stowed away in racks overhead when not in use. A mess chest for +each mess, an enamelled iron plate and cup, and a knife, fork, and spoon +for each man complete the "mess gear" outfit. + +The ship's company is divided into messes, each man being assigned to a +certain mess at the same time his billet number or ship's number is +given to him. There are from fifteen to thirty men in a mess. Each has +its own "berth-deck cook," who prepares the food for the galley; each, +too, has a mess caterer, or striker, whose business it is to help the +mess cook and see that all goes well. The caterer is a volunteer from +the mess, and generally serves for a week, when another volunteer takes +his place. If the quantity or quality of the food is not up to +expectations, it would be better for the caterer that he be put down in +the "brig" out of harm's way, for Jack is apt to speak his mind in +vigorous English, and his mind and stomach have generally formed a close +alliance. + +The twenty minutes allowed for meals are well spent, and the clatter of +knives and forks attests the zest with which Uncle Sam's +man-o'-war's-man tackles his not always too nice or delicate fare. The +nine dollars a month allowed by the navy for rations is expended by the +paymaster of the vessel, not by the men, so, if the paymaster concludes +that the men shall have "salt-horse," rice, and hard-tack, Jack gets +"salt-horse," rice, and hard-tack, and that is all he does get unless +his mess cook and caterer are unusually prudent and save something from +the previous day's rations, or the mess has put up some extra money and +has "private stores." + +As the man with the biggest appetite or the fellow who eats slowly are +putting away the last morsel of cracker hash or the last swallow of +coffee, "Jimmy Legs" (the master-at-arms) comes around, shouting as he +goes, "Shake a leg there, we want to get this deck cleared for +quarters." He is often followed by the boatswain's mate of the watch, +who echoes his call, and between them they clear the deck. Then begins +the real work of the day. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +WE GET ORDERS TO GO SOUTH. + +Shortly after breakfast the "Yankee" came to anchor outside of +Provincetown, Mass. An hour later a large man-of-war was discovered +steaming toward us. Rumors were rife at once, and the excitement +increased when the vessel, which proved to be the gallant cruiser +"Columbia," passed close alongside, and the captain was observed to lean +over the bridge railing with a megaphone in his hands. + +"'Yankee' ahoy!" came across the water. + +"Hello, 'Columbia!'" replied Captain Brownson. + +"I have orders for you." + +"Whoop! we are going to Cuba," cried young Potter. "It's dead sure this +time. They can't do without us down--" + +"Silence!" called out the executive officer, sternly. "Corporal of the +guard, see to that man." + +Poor Potter is sent below in disgrace amid the chuckles and jeers of +his unsympathetic shipmates. The little episode nearly earned him many +hours of extra duty. + +In the meantime the "Columbia's" captain had communicated the welcome +intelligence that we were to cruise to the southward at once to look for +several suspicious vessels that had been sighted in the vicinity of +Barnegat. This promised action so strongly that a cheer went up from the +crew. This time even the officers joined in. + +Very shortly after came the order "All hands on the cat falls," at which +every man Jack came running forward. The blue-clothed figures poured up +the companion-ways like rats out of a sinking ship, for "all hands on +the cat falls" means up anchor, and up anchor meant new experiences, +perhaps a brush with a Spanish man-of-war or the capture of a Spanish +prize. The anchor was yanked up and guided into place on its chocks in a +hurry, and soon the "Yankee" was under way and headed southward. As we +passed the "Columbia," the men of both ships stood at attention, feet +together, hands at the side, heads up, silent. So a ship is saluted in +the United States Navy, a ceremony dignified and impressive, though not +as soul-stirring as the American cheer. + +The "Scuttle Butt Navigators," or, as the "Yankee" boys called them, +the Rumor Committee, were very busy that bright day in May. According to +them we were to sail seaward and discover Cervera's fleet, the +whereabouts of which was then unknown. We were to sail south and bombard +Havana. The older, wiser heads laughed at such rumors, and said it was +foolishness, but all were ready and anxious to listen to the wildest +tales. + +All the time the ship was getting under way the routine work was going +on. The sweepers had obeyed the order given by the boatswain's mate, +accompanied by the pipe peculiar to that order, "Gun-deck sweepers, +clean sweep fore and aft; sweepers, clean your spit kits." + +At twenty minutes past nine the bugle sounded the first or officers' +call to quarters, a call that sounded like "Get your sword on, get your +sword on, get your sword on, get your sword on, get your sword on right +away!" Ten minutes later came "assembly," and the men rushed to their +places at the guns and their stations in the powder divisions. + +After our division had been mustered, "Long Tommy," the boatswain's mate +and captain of our gun, said to "Hay," "I think we'll have some shooting +to-day. I saw the gunners' mates rigging a target." + +"Good!" said "Hay," "what does it look like?" + +"Why," explained Tommy, "it's a triangular sail, having a black spot +painted in the middle, supported by a raft, also triangular, which is +floated by three barrels, one at each corner." + +"Can't be very big," said "Stump." + +"About ten feet at the base, tapering to a point. The red flag that +flies from the top is perhaps fourteen feet from the water, I should +say." + +"And they expect us to hit that?" broke in "Lucky bag Kennedy." + +"Of course," said Tommy the confident, "and we shall." + +As soon as the officers of the different divisions had returned from the +bridge, where they had been to report, the quick, sharp bugle call which +summons the crew to general quarters was sounded. + +As the first notes were heard, the men scattered as if a bomb with a +visible burning fuse had fallen in their midst. Some hurried to lead out +the hose, some to get the gun sights and firing lanyards, some to get +belts and revolvers for the guns' crews, some down into the hot, dark +magazines, and some to open up the magazine hoists. All was apparent +confusion, but was in reality perfect discipline. Soon boxes of shell +were ready by the guns, but the order "load" had not yet been given. + +The triangular target was then lowered over the side and cast loose. In +a few minutes the six-pounders on the spar deck began to bark. "Getting +the range, I guess," said "Hod," who had sneaked over from the powder +division to get a look at the target. + +"Pretty near it," replied "Stump," as a shot splashed close to the +triangular piece of canvas. + +"Here comes Scully," some one whispered; "now we'll have a chance." + +"The captain says fire when ready, at 1,500 yards," said Scully, +saluting Mr. Greene, the officer of the division. "Captain says, sir, +instruct your men to shoot at the top of the roll, and a little over, +rather than under the target," continued he, saluting again. + +"Port battery take stations for exercise, load, set your sights at 1,500 +yards, and when ready, fire." Mr. Greene's orders came sharp and clear; +there was never any misunderstanding of them. + +Most of us of Number Eight's gun crew had never stood near a big gun +when it spoke, and most of us dreaded it and felt inclined to run away +out of ear-shot. It was our business to stand by, however, so we stood +by while Tommy, firing lanyard in hand, sighted the machine. + +"Right!" he sung out to "Stump" and "Flagg," who were at the training +wheels. "Right handsomely," added Tommy, working the elevating gear, as +the gun moved slowly round. The gun roared and jumped back on its mount +six or eight inches, but promptly slid back again--forced back by +powerful springs. The shell sped on its way, humming as it went, and +struck a little short of the target, sending up a great fountain as it +was exploded by the impact with the water. + +"Hay" pulled the breech lever and the breech plug came out, allowing +"Stump," who wore heavy gloves for the purpose, to extract the empty +shell. This he dropped in the concrete waterway, then ran to his place +at the training wheel; a fresh shell had been put in the gun, meanwhile, +and it was ready for business again. A number of good shots were made by +different gunners. Enough to show that, amateur tars that we were, there +was the making of good gunners in us. As the "Kid," in his overweening +confidence, said, "Ain't we peaches? When we get down south we will have +a little target practise, and the 'dagos' will be so scared that they +will haul down their colors tight away." + +During the day we steamed slowly along, a bright lookout being kept by +the men at the foremast-head for suspicious steamers. After dinner at +eight bells (12 o'clock), the smoking lamp, which hangs near the scuttle +butt aft, was kept lighted about fifteen minutes. Smoking is allowed +aboard only when the smoking lamp is lighted, and as "Hay" was wont to +say, it was lighted "when you did not want to smoke." At ten minutes +past one "turn to" was piped by the boatswain's mates, followed by the +call for sweepers. Then came the order, "Stand by your scrub and wash +clothes." So the "Kid" and I hastened forward, both anxious to see if +our initial clothes-washing venture was a success. We had depended on +the sun to bleach our much be-scrubbed clothes, but--well--I would have +left them where they were if I could. As for the "Kid's"--after holding +them off at arm's length for a while, he remarked, "Why, I would not use +such rags to clean my bicycle at home," and threw them overboard. He was +always a reckless chap. + +The infantry drill we had at afternoon quarters at 1:30, served to keep +us busy. The same thing had been gone through on the "New Hampshire" +many a time and oft. We found it rather difficult to march straight and +keep a good line on a swaying deck. So we were kept at it until we had +got the hang of it. We were still parading to and fro on the spar deck, +when some one sighted land off the starboard bow. The dismissal call was +given none too soon, for the curiosity as to what we were heading for +made discipline lax and attention far from close. + +We soon learned that this was Block Island. + +The gig was lowered, and the captain and mail orderly went ashore. + +"Now we'll get our real orders," said Potter. "Ho! for the Spanish +main," he shouted, forgetting his narrow escape of the day before. + +"It will be Ho! for the ship's brig, and Ho! for five days on bread and +water, if you don't look out," said "Stump," dryly. + +About dark, the gig came back again, bringing the captain in it and the +mail orderly--but no mail, and how we did long for a word from home. A +scrap of newspaper, even, would be a blessing. + +We had just sat down to evening mess when the order, "All hands on the +gig falls!" was given, and the master-at-arms chased us off the gun +deck. Soon the measured tread of many feet could be heard, and then the +order was given by the officer of the deck to the coxswain of the +gig, "Secure your boat for sea." + +[Illustration: "THE GIG WAS LOWERED"] + +[Illustration: "THE MEN ON THE STAGES"] + +So we were to go off again. Where? + +Within a short time we were under way again. The usual watches were set, +but very few of the boys went below. The mere rumor that the enemy was +prowling along the coast was enough to prevent sleep. My watch went on +duty at four o'clock. We were not called in the usual way, by the +boatswain's whistle, but each man was roused separately. This in itself +was sufficient to lend an air of intense interest to the scene. + +On reaching the deck I found that the night had grown stormy. A chill +wind was blowing off the coast, rendering pea coats and watch caps +extremely comfortable. A fine rain began to fall shortly after four, and +by the time I had taken my post forward as a lookout it had increased to +a regular squall. + +The "Yankee" was a splendid sea boat, but in the course of an hour the +choppy waves kicked up by the storm set her to bobbing about like the +proverbial cork. The gloom of the night had changed to a blackness that +made it impossible to see an arm's length away. Standing on the +starboard bridge, I could scarcely distinguish the faint white foam +gathered under the forefoot. Aft there was nothing visible save a +length of stay which seemingly began at nothing and ended in darkness. + +The howling of the wind through the taut cordage of the foremast, the +sullen plunging of the ship's hull in the trough of the sea, the rise to +a wave crest and the poising there before falling once more, the smell +of the dank salt air, and the occasional spurt of spray over the leaning +bow, all made a scene so novel to me that I forgot Spanish ships and my +duty and stood almost entranced. + +It was a dereliction for which I was to suffer. In the midst of my +reverie a hand was suddenly placed upon my shoulder and I heard a +familial voice exclaim sternly: + +"Lookout, what do you mean by sleeping on post? Why did you not report +that light?" + +It was Captain Brownson! + +Asleep on post! The accusation was grave enough to startle me, and I +lost no time in stammering a denial. Luckily, the discovery of the +strange light, which was just faintly visible dead ahead, occupied the +commander's attention for the moment and I escaped further rebuke. + +Captain Brownson hurried to the bridge and presently word was passed to +go to quarters at once. The ports were opened, ammunition made ready +for both the main and secondary batteries, and the crew stood at their +guns in readiness for action. It was a very impressive sight, the grim +weapons just showing in the dim lantern light, the great cartridges +standing close to the breeches, the men quiet and steady, their faces +showing anxiety but perfect self-control. + +I was proud to belong to such a crew, for the majority thought that an +action was imminent, and perhaps a superior foe to be fought, yet there +was no sign of that fear which is supposed to attack the novice in +battle. It was a convincing proof of American bravery and self-reliance. + +In the meantime the engines had been called on for full speed, and the +ship throbbed and swayed with the increased power. Extra men were +presently sent below to the fire room, and it soon became evident that +we were in actual chase of the suspicious vessel. From my station at the +after port gun I was enabled to catch an occasional glimpse of the sea +through the open port. + +The squall had passed in part and the night was growing lighter. The +rain still fell, though fitfully, and at times a dash of water entered +the port, besprinkling gun and crew and fighting tackle, leaving great +drops that glistened like dew in the waning light of the lanterns. +Alongside, white-capped waves raced with the ship. + +As the gloom lightened, the horizon spread, and presently, away in the +distance, a dark spot, like a smudge upon a gray background, became +visible. "Long Tommy," attached to my gun, leaned far out of the port +with an exclamation of excitement. + +"By George! it's another ship," he added. + +"We are in a nest of the Dagoes," cried young Potter, rather wildly. "We +have run into an ambuscade." + +"You've got a great chance to become a dead hero," remarked the first +gun captain dryly. + +Word was passed from above to break out more shell, and presently the +navigator slipped down the ladder and made a close inspection of the +different five-inch guns. As he went from crew to crew he gave whispered +instructions to the officers in charge. + +"The old man expects trouble this trip," whispered Tommy. He coolly +stripped off his shirt and stood, half-naked, the muscles of his +athletic chest and arms gleaming like white marble in the uncertain +light. Most of us followed his example, and the spectacle of the swaying +groups of men, bared for action, added a dramatic tinge to the scene. + +Below, the powerful engines throbbed with a pulsation that set every +bolt and joint creaking, the strident echoes of the firemen's shovels +could he heard scraping against the iron floor, and little whistlings of +steam came like higher notes in the general tune. Even the noises of the +ship were strange and weird and impressive. + +The crews had been standing in readiness at their stations for almost an +hour when it suddenly became noticeable that the darkness of night was +giving way before a gradual dawn. The glimmering flame in the lanterns +faded and waned, objects buried in gloom began to assume shape, and the +edges of the open ports grew sharp and more defined. Constant waiting +brought a relaxation of discipline, and the members of the different +crews grouped about the ports and eagerly searched for the chase. + +The smudge on the horizon had long since disappeared, but directly ahead +could be seen the faint outlines of a steamer. A dense cloud of smoke +was pouring from her funnel, and it was plainly apparent that she was +making every effort to escape. This in itself was enough to stamp her +identity, and we shook our clenched fists exultantly after her. + +The night broke rapidly. In the east a rosy tinge proclaimed the coming +sun. Just as the first glitter of the fiery rim appeared above the +horizon, a gray, damp mist swept across the water, coming like an +impenetrable wall between the "Yankee" and the chase. + +[Illustration: "STAND BY, MEN. BE READY FOR INSTANT ACTION".] + + +CHAPTER V. + +A WILD GOOSE CHASE. + +A howl of disappointment went up from the crew. + +"Oh, if she was only within range," cried "Hay," smiting the breech of +the five-inch rifle with his hand. "Just one shot, just one shot." + +"Guns' crews will remain at stations," ordered the first lieutenant from +near the ladder. "Stand by, men. Be ready for instant action." + +"Hurray! the old man won't give it up," cheered "Stump," under his +voice. "That's the stuff. Now, if only that measly fog lifts and we get +a trifle nearer, we'll do something for the old flag." + +The minutes passed slowly. It was heartbreaking work, this waiting and +watching, and there was not one of the "Yankee's" crew but would have +given a year's pay to have seen the mist lift long enough to bring us +within range. + +Suddenly, just as the fervent wish was trembling on our lips, "Hod +Marsh," who was near the port, cried out joyfully: + +"She's fading, fellows, she's fading!" + +Like a theatre curtain being slowly raised, the mist lifted from the +surface of the water. Little by little the expanse of ocean became +visible, and at last we, who were watching eagerly, saw the hull of a +steamer appear, followed by masts and stack and upper rigging. An +exclamation of bitter disappointment came from Tommy. "Durned if it +ain't an old tramp!" he groaned. "Fellows, we are sold." + +And so it proved. + +The fog lifted completely in the course of an hour and we secured a good +view of our "will o' the wisp" of the night's chase. It was a great +lumbering tramp, as high out of the water as a barn, and as +weather-stained as a homeward-bound whaler. She slouched along like a +crab, each roll of the hull showing streaks of marine grass and +barnacles. There was little of man-o'-war "smartness" in her make-up, of +a verity. + +For several days the "Yankee" cruised up and down the coast between +Delaware Breakwater and Block Island. Many vessels were sighted, and on +two occasions it was considered expedient to sound "general quarters," +but nothing came of it. We finally concluded that the enemy were +fighting shy of the vicinity of New York, and all began to long for +orders to the southward. + +Drill followed drill during these waiting days. Target practice was held +whenever practicable, and the different guns' crews began to feel +familiar with the rapid-fire rifles. + +The men, accustomed to a life of ease and plenty, found this first +month's work an experience of unparalleled hardship. + +Their hands, better fitted for the grasp of pen and pencil, were made +sore and stiff by the handling of hawsers, chains, and heavy cases. +Bandages on hands, feet, and, in some cases, heads, were the popular +form of adornment, and the man who did not have some part of his anatomy +decorated in this way was looked upon as a "sloper," or one who ran away +from work. For how could any one do his share without getting a finger +jammed or a toe crushed? + +The work that was done, too, during this month of cruising along the +coasts of Long Island and New Jersey was hard and incessant. Drills of +all kinds were frequent, and sleep at a premium. + +The "Yankee" at this time was attached to the Northern Patrol Fleet, of +which Commodore Howell was the commander. It was her business to cruise +along the coast from Block Island south to Delaware Breakwater, and +watch for suspicious vessels. This duty made constant movement +necessary, and unwearying vigilance on the part of the lookouts +imperative. + +Rainy, foggy weather was the rule, and "oilers" and rubber boots the +prevailing fashion in overclothing. Sea watches were kept night and day; +half of the crew being on duty all the time, and one watch relieving the +other every four hours. + +The watch "on deck" or on duty on a stormy night found it very tedious +waiting for the "watch below" to come and relieve them. The man who +could tell a story or sing a song was in great demand, and the man who +could get up a "Yankee" song was a popular hero. The night after our +wild goose chase, described in the last chapter, the port watch had the +"long watch"; that is, the watch from 8 p.m. to midnight, and from four +to eight the next morning--which allowed but four hour's sleep. + +It was raining and the decks were wet and slippery. The water dripped +off the rims of our sou'westers in dismal fashion, and the fog hung like +a blanket around the ship, while the sea lapped her sides unseen. Our +fog-horn tooted at intervals, and everything was as damp, dark, and +forlorn as could be. + +A knot of men were gathered under the lee of the after deckhouse, +huddled together for warmth and companionship. There was "Stump," +"Bill," Potter, and a number of others. + +"Say! can't any one sing, or tell a yarn, or whistle a tune, or dance a +jig?" said "Bill" in a muffled tone. "If some one does not start some +kind of excitement I will go to sleep in my tracks, and Doctor 'Gangway' +says I mustn't sleep out of doors." His speech ended in a fit of +coughing and a succession of sneezes. + +"Here, 'Morse,' give us that new song of yours," said "Steve," as +another oilskinned figure joined the group. "Morse" and "Steve" were our +chief song writers. Each sat on a quarter six-pounder, one on the +starboard, the other on the port. "I will, if you chaps will join in the +chorus," answered "Morse." "No, thank you," he added, as some one handed +him an imaginary glass. "_Nature_ has wet my whistle pretty thoroughly +to-night." "Stump," in his most impressive manner, stepped forward, and +in true master-of-ceremonies style introduced our entertainer. He was +enlarging on the undoubted merits of the composer and singer, and had +waxed really eloquent, when a strong gust of wind blew the water that +lodged in the awning squarely down his neck. This dampened his ardor but +not our spirits. + +"Morse," like the good fellow he was, got up and sang this song to the +tune of "Billy Magee Magaw": + + When the "Yankee" goes sailing home again, + Hurrah! Hurrah! + We'll forget that we're "Heroes" and just be men, + Hurrah! Hurrah! + The girls will giggle, the boys will shout, + We'll all get a bath and be washed out, + And we'll all feel gay when + The "Yankee" goes sailing home. + + The city bells will peal for joy, + Hurrah! Hurrah! + To welcome home each wandering boy, + Hurrah! Hurrah! + And all our sisters and cousins and girls + Will say "Ain't they darlings?" and "_See_ the pearls!" + So we'll all feel gay when + The "Yankee" goes sailing home. + + Our patrolling cruise will soon be o'er, + Hurrah! Hurrah! + We'll be happy the moment our feet touch shore, + Hurrah! Hurrah! + And "Cutlets" and "Hubbub" and all the rest + May stick to the calling they're fitted for best, + But _we'll_ all feel gay when + The "Yankee" goes sailing home. + +Even "Bill" was able to find voice enough to shout "Good!" and give +"Morse" a resounding slap on his wet oilskinned shoulder. The song +voiced our sentiments exactly, and cheered us a lot. None of us believed +that "Our patrolling cruise would soon be o'er," however, and hardly a +man would have taken his discharge had it been offered to him that +moment. We had put our names to the enlistment papers and had promised +to serve Uncle Sam on his ship the "Yankee" faithfully. We had gone into +this thing together, and we would see it through together. Still we +would "All feel gay when the 'Yankee' goes sailing home." + +"That reminds me of a story," began Potter, when "Long Tommy," the +boatswain's mate of the watch, interrupted with, "Potter, take the +starboard bridge. I will send a man to relieve you at the end of an +hour." So Potter went forward to relieve his mate, who had stood an hour +of lookout duty on the starboard end of the bridge. + +He went forward, swaying with the motion of the ship, his oilskin +trousers making a queer, grating noise as one leg rubbed against the +other, and "Stump" said, "I'll bet he won't stay with us long; he talks +too much." A prophetic remark, as future events proved. + +The group broke up after this. Some who were not actually on lookout +duty went into the hot fire room, and after taking off their outer +clothing, tried to snatch a few winks of sleep. The "watch on deck" was +not allowed to go below at night, so the only shelter allowed us was the +fire room and the main companion-way. The latter could hold but a few +men, and the only alternative was the fire or "drum" room, into which +the heat and gas from the furnaces ascended from the bowels of the ship, +making it impossible for a man to breathe the atmosphere there for more +than half an hour at a time. The after wheel-house was sometimes taken +advantage of by the more venturesome of the boys, but the risk was +great, for "Cutlets" was continually prowling around, and the man found +taking shelter there would receive tongue lashings hard to bear, with +abuse entirely out of proportion to the offence. + +A little before twelve o'clock we heard the boatswain's pipe, and the +long drawn shout, "On deck all the starboard watch," and "All the +starboard watch to muster." So we knew that we would soon be relieved, +and would be able to take the much-needed four hours' sleep in our +"sleeping bags," as "Hay" called them. The starboard men came slowly up, +rubbing their eyes, buttoning their oilskins, and tying their +sou'westers on by a string under their chins as they walked. + +"Hurry up there, will you?" calls out a port watch man, as the men of +the other watch sleepily climb the ladder. "Get a move on and give us a +chance to get out of this beastly wet." A sharp retort is given, and the +men move on in the same leisurely way. The men of both watches are +hardly in the best of humors. It is not pleasant to be waked up at +midnight to stand a four hours' watch in the rain and fog, nor is it the +most enjoyable thing in life to be delayed, after standing a four hours' +watch in the rain, realizing all the time that each minute of waiting +takes that precious time from the scant four hours' sleep. + +But finally "all the watch" is piped, and we go below and flop into our +hammocks, to sleep as soundly and dreamlessly as babies. A sailor will +sleep like a dead man through all kinds of noises and calls, but the +minute his own watch is called he is wide awake in an instant, from +sheer force of habit. + +So when the boatswain's mate went around with his pipe, singing out as +he dodged in and out among the swinging hammocks, "On deck all the port +watch," each of us jumped out of his swaying bed and began to climb +into his damp clothes and stiff "oilers." We then made our way through +the darkness, often bumping our heads on the bottom of hammocks, and +earning sleepy but strongly worded rebukes from the occupants; colliding +with stanchions, and stubbing our toes on ring bolts and hatch covers. +All arrived at length, formed an unsteady line on the forecastle deck, +and answered to our names as they were called by the boatswain's mate. +So began another day's work on one of Uncle Sam's ships. + +It was Sunday, and after a while the fog lifted and the sun came out +strong and clear. All the men who were off duty came on deck to bask in +the sun, and to get dried and thawed out. + +"Steve" poked his uncombed, sleepy head through the "booby" hatch cover. +"Well, this is something like! If the 'old man' will let us take it easy +after inspection, I won't think life in the navy is so bad after all." + +"Well, inspection and general muster and the reading of the ship's bible +will take up most of the morning," said gunner's mate "Patt," as he +emerged from the hatch after "Steve," wiping his grimy hands on a wad of +waste, for he had been giving the guns a rub. "And if we don't have to +go chasing an imaginary Spaniard or lug coal from the after hold +forward, we'll be in luck," he continued. + +"What about the 'ship's bible'? What is 'general muster'?" queried half +a dozen of us. + +"Why," said "Patt," "the ship's bible is the book of rules and +regulations of the United States Navy. It is read once a month to the +officers and crew of every ship in the navy. The officers and crew will +be mustered aft--you'll see--the deck force and engineer force on the +port side, the petty officers on the starboard side forward, the +commissioned officers on the starboard side aft, and the marines +athwartships aft. This forms three sides to a square. See?" + +"I don't see the use of all this," broke in the irreverent "Kid." "Do we +have to stand there and have war articles fired at us?" + +"That's what, 'Kid,'" replied "Patt," good-naturedly. + +"After all hands have taken their places," continued our informant, "the +'old man' will walk down the galley ladder in that dignified way of his, +followed by the executive officer. 'Mother Hubbub' will then open the +blue-covered book that he carries, and read you things that will make +your hair stand on end and cause you to consider the best wording for +your last will and testament." "Patt" was very impressive, and we stood +with open mouths and staring eyes. + +"When old 'Hubbub' opens the book, all hands, even the captain, will +take off their hats and stand at attention. Then the war articles will +be read to you. You will learn that there are twenty-seven or more +offences for which you are liable to be shot--such as sleeping on post, +desertion, disobedience, wilful waste of Government property, and so +forth; you will be told that divine service is recommended whenever +possible--in short, you are told that you must be good, and that if you +are not there will be the deuce to pay. Then the captain will turn to +'Scully' and say, 'Pipe down,' whereupon 'Scully' and the other bosun's +mates will blow a trill on their pipes, and all hands will go about +their business." + +So concluded our oracle. + +"Gee whiz!" said the "Kid." "I nearly got into trouble the other night, +for I almost dozed when I was on the buoy. I'm not used to getting along +on eleven hours' sleep in forty-eight yet," he added, apologetically. + +We all looked forward to "general muster" with a good deal of interest, +and when it occurred, and the captain had inspected our persons, +clothes, the ship, and mess gear, we decided that "Patt's" description +fitted exactly, and were duly impressed with its solemnity. + +We found to our sorrow that we of Number Eight's crew were not to enjoy +sunshine undisturbed, but were soon put to work carrying coal in baskets +from the after hold forward, and dumping it in the bunker chutes. + +This work had been going on almost every day, and all day, since we left +Tompkinsville. The coal was in the after hold and was needed in the +bunkers forward, so every piece had to be shovelled into bushel baskets, +hoisted to the gun deck, and carried by hand to the chute leading to the +port and starboard bunkers. A dirty job it was, that not only blackened +the men, but covered the deck, the mess gear, the paint work, and even +the food, with coal dust. + +Number Eight's crew had been at this pleasant occupation for about an +hour, with the cheerful prospect of another hour of the same diversion. +"Hay" was running the steam winch, "Stump" was pulling the baskets over +the hatch coaming as they were hauled up by the winch, and the other +five were carrying. + +"Say, this is deadly slow, tiresome work," said "Flagg," who was +carrying with me. "I'd give almost anything for a little excitement." + +The last word had scarcely been uttered when there came the sounds of +'commotion on deck. A voice cried out in sharp command, the rudder +chains creaked loudly, the ship heeled over to starboard, and then we +who were at the open port saw a long, snaky object shoot out from the +edge of the haze and bear down upon us. + +"My heaven!" shouted "Stump," "it's a torpedo boat!" + +The commotion on deck had given us some warning, but the sudden dash of +the long, snaky torpedo boat from out the haze came as a decided shock. +For one brief moment we of the after port stood as if turned to stone, +then every man ran to his quarters and stood ready to do his duty. With +a cry, our second captain sprang to the firing lanyard. Before he could +grasp it, however, the officer of the division was at his side. + +"Stop!" he exclaimed authoritatively. + +The interruption was fortunate, for, just then, a swerve of the oncoming +torpedo boat revealed a small flag flying from the taffrail staff. It +was the American ensign. + +The reaction was great. Forgetting discipline, we crowded about the port +and laughed and cheered like a lot of schoolboys. Potter, in his joy and +evident relief, sent his canvas cap sailing through the air. A rebuke, +not very stern, however, came from the lieutenant in charge of the +division, and we shuffled back to our stations. + +"Cricky! what a sell," exclaimed the second rifleman, grinning. "I was +sure we had a big job on our hands this time. I'm rather glad it is one +of our fellows after all." + +"I'm not," spoke up young Potter, blusteringly. "What did we come out +here for, hey? I say it's a confounded shame. We might have had a chance +to send one of the Spaniards to the bottom." + +"It may be a Dago after all," suggested "Bill," glancing from the port. +"The flag doesn't mean anything. They might be flying Old Glory as a +_ruse de guerre_. By George! That craft looks just like the 'Pluton.'" + +We, who were watching, saw Potter's face lengthen. He peered nervously +at the rapidly approaching torpedo boat, and then tried to laugh +unconcernedly. + +"You can't 'string' me," he retorted. "That's one of your Uncle Samuel's +boats all right. See! they are going to hail us." + +A bell clanged in the engine room, then the throbbing of the machinery +slackened to a slow pulsation. The rudder chains rattled in their +fair-leaders, and presently we were steaming along, with the torpedo +craft a score of yards off our midships. + +On the forward deck of the latter stood two officers clad in the uniform +of the commissioned service. One placed a speaking trumpet to his lips +and called out: + +"Cruiser ahoy! Is that the 'Yankee'?" + +"You have made a good guess," shouted Captain Brownson. "What boat is +that?" + +"'Talbot' from Newport. Any news? Sighted you and thought we would speak +you." + +Our commander assured them that we were in search of news ourselves. The +"Talbot's" officers saluted and then waved a farewell. + +The narrow, low-lying craft spun about in almost her own length, a +series of quick puffs of dense black smoke came from the funnels, and +then the haze swallowed up the whole fabric. + +We were left to take our discomfiture with what philosophy we could +muster. When "secure" was sounded we left our guns with a sense of great +danger averted and a feeling of relief. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +WE BECOME COAL HEAVERS. + +The little strip of North American coast between Delaware Breakwater and +Block Island is very interesting, and, in places, beautiful. The long +beaches and bare sand dunes have a solemn beauty all their own. + +Though the boys on the "Yankee" took in and appreciated the loveliness +of this bit of coast, they were getting rather familiar with it and +somewhat bored. They longed for "pastures new." + +Summer had almost begun, but still the fog and rain held sway. The ship +crept through the night like a big gray ghost--dark, swift, and, except +in the densest fogs, silent. Pea-coats were an absolute necessity, and +woolen gloves would have been a great comfort. All this in the blooming, +beautiful month of May! + +One bleak morning the starboard watch was on duty. We of the port watch +had turned in at four (or, according to ship's time, eight bells). We +were glad to be between decks, and got under way for the land of Nod +without delay. It seemed as if we had been asleep but a few minutes, +when "Scully," chief boatswain's mate, came down the gun deck gangway, +shouting loud enough to be heard a mile away: "All hands, up all +hammocks;" then, as the disposition to get up was not very evident, +"Show a leg there; ham and eggs for breakfast." This last was a little +pleasantry that never materialized into the much-coveted and long +abstained from delicacy. + +The hammocks were lashed up and stowed away in the "nettings," as the +lattice-like receptacles are called, leaving the deck clear for the work +of the day. + +Mess gear for the "watch below" had just been piped, and we were glad; +even the thought of burnt oatmeal and coffee without milk was pleasant +to us. + +The ports were closed and the gun deck was dark and dismal. The fog +oozed in through every crack and cranny, and all was very unpleasant. + +Of a sudden there was a sharp reverberation that sounded so much like +the report of a big gun that all hands jumped. + +The course of the ship was changed, and the jingle bell sounded. The +"Yankee" forged on at full speed in the direction from which the sound +had come. + +We all stood in expectant attitudes, listening for another report. We +had about made up our minds that our ears had deceived us, when another +explosion, louder and nearer than the first, reached us. + +On we rushed--toward what we knew not--through a fog so thick that the +water could be seen but dimly from the spar deck. + +The suspense was hard to bear, and the desire to do something almost +irresistible. The men unconsciously took their regular stations for +action, the guns' crews gathered round their guns, the powder divisions +in the neighborhood of the ammunition hoists. + +"I wish Potter was here," said "Stump." "I rather think he would be +white around the gills. This sort of business would give him a bad case +of 'cold feet.'" + +"Oh, he had 'cold feet' a few days after we left New York, and wrote to +his friends to get his discharge," said "Bill." "Got it and quit two +weeks after we left New York, the duffer," added "Hay." + +The "Yankee" still steamed on into the bank of fog. + +"Cupid," the ship's bugler, began to play the call for general +quarters, but was stopped by a sharp command from the bridge. + +What was it all about? Was it to be tragedy or farce? + +Then Scully came down the starboard gangway, a broad smile on his ruddy +face. + +A clamoring group gathered round him instantly. "What is it?" "Is the +'old man' playing a joke on us?" "Do you suppose Cervera has got over to +this side?" "Scully," overwhelmed with questions, put up his hands +protestingly. + +"No, no; none of those things," said he. "What do you suppose we have +been doing for the last twenty minutes?" + +We confessed we did not know. + +"Chasing thunder claps--nothing more nor less than thunder claps! And +we'll see nothing worse on this coast," he added sententiously, as soon +as he could get his breath. + +The wind rose, and while it blew away the fog in part, it kicked up a +nasty sea, in which the "Yankee" wallowed for hours, waiting for the fog +to clear enough to make the channel and enter New York harbor. It seemed +we had been heading for New York, and we did not know it. It was not the +custom aboard that hooker to give the men any information. + +[Illustration: "THE 'YANKEE' DROPPED HER ANCHOR OFF TOMPKINSVILLE"] + +When we learned for sure that we were bound for New York, our joy was +beyond measure. + +Shore leave was the chief topic of conversation. And every man not on +duty went down into his black bag, fished out his clean blues, and set +to work sewing on watch marks and cap ribbons. For Jack must be neat and +clean when he goes ashore. + +The mud-hook was dropped in the bay off Tompkinsville, Thursday, May +26th, seventeen days after we left the navy yard. It seemed seventeen +months. + +An "anchor watch" of sixteen men was set for the night, and most of us +turned in early to enjoy the first good sleep for many weary days. + +All hands were turned out at five o'clock. We woke to find a big coal +barge on either side of the ship. + +After breakfast the order "turn to" was given. "All hands coal ship, +starboard watch on the starboard lighter, port watch on the port +lighter." From seven o'clock in the morning till twelve o'clock that +night, the crew of the "Yankee"--aforetime lawyers, physicians, literary +men, brokers, merchants, students, and clerks--men who had never done +any harder work than play football, or row in a shell--coaled ship +without any rest, other than the three half hours at meal times. About +the hardest, dirtiest work a man could do. + +The navy style of coaling is different from that customary in the +merchant service. In the latter, the dirty work is done in the quickest, +easiest way possible. The ship is taken to a coal wharf and the coal is +slid down in chutes, or barges are run alongside and great buckets, +hoisted by steam, swing the black lumps into the hold or bunker. + +The navy style, as practised on the "Yankee," was quite different. The +barges were brought alongside, the men divided into gangs--some to go in +the hold of the barge, some to go on the platforms, some to carry on the +ship herself. The barge gang shovelled the coal into bushel baskets; +these were carried to the men on the stages; and the latter passed them +from one to the other, to the gun deck; finally, the gang on the vessel +carried the baskets to the bunker holes, and dumped them. The ship was +well provided with hoisting machines, but, for some reason, this help +was not permitted us. + +It was a long, inexpressibly dreary day's work, and though undertaken +cheerfully and with less complaining than would have been believed +possible, the drudgery of it was a thing not easily forgotten. Before +the day had ended, all hope of getting ashore was lost, for we were +told that no liberty would be given. + +The following day and half of our stay in New York harbor was spent in +the same way--shovelling, lifting, and carrying coal. The eyes of many +of us were gladdened by the sight of friends and relatives, who were +allowed aboard when mess gear was piped, and put off when "turn to" +sounded. We were pleased to see our friends, but our friends, on the +contrary, seemed shocked to see us. One dainty girl came aboard, and, as +she came up the gangway, asked for a forecastle man. The word was passed +for him. He had just finished his stint of coaling, and was as black as +a negro. In his haste to see his sister, he neglected to clean up, and +appeared before her in his coal heaver's make-up. + +"You, Will? I won't believe it! I won't, I won't, I won't!" And for a +second she covered her face with her hands. Then she picked out the +cleanest spot on his grimy countenance and kissed him there, while we +looked on in envy. + +The "Yankee" at last receiving orders to sail for the front, left +Tompkinsville May 29th. We passed out of the Narrows with a feeling of +relief. The work we had just finished was the hardest we had ever +experienced. It was particularly tantalizing because we were almost in +sight of our homes, but could not visit them. A starving man suffers +more from hunger if pleasant food is placed within sight, but beyond his +reach. + +However, we were to go to the front at last, and we rejoiced at the +prospect of being really useful to our country. + +The following day, Decoration Day, dawned pleasantly, both wind and +weather being all that could be desired. + +Directly after dinner we were sent to quarters for target practice. The +target was dropped astern, and the ship steamed ahead to the required +distance. Word was given to the marines manning the six-pounders to +prove their skill. + +The port forecastle six-pounder, using a shell containing cordite, a +powerful English explosive, was in charge of a marine corporal named +J.J. Murray, who acted as captain of the gun. After firing several +rounds with marked success, Murray saw that the gun was loaded for +another trial. + +Standing at the breech, he steadied the gun with his left arm and +shoulder, seized the pistol-grip, placed his finger on the trigger, and +then slowly and carefully brought the target within the sighting line in +readiness to fire. + +The other members of the gun's crew were at their proper stations. +Numbers 2 and 3, respectively second captain and first loader and +shellman, were directly behind the corporal. They saw him steady the +piece again, take another careful aim, then noted that his finger gave a +quick tug at the trigger. + +The result was a dull click but no explosion. + +The corporal stepped back from his place in vexation. He had succeeded +in getting a fine "bead" just as the cartridge failed. + +"Blast the English ammunition!" he exclaimed. "It's no good." + +The other men at the gun nodded approval. Their experience bore out the +corporal's assertion. They also knew that the cordite cartridges were +not adapted to American guns, and should not have been used. But they +were marines and they were accustomed to obey orders without comment. + +Captain Brownson had noticed the incident and he sent word to delay +opening the breechblock until all danger of explosion had passed. After +waiting some time, Corporal Murray proceeded to extract the shell. He +took his place at the breech, while No. 2 unlocked the plug and swung it +open. + +"Now we'll see what is the matter," he began. "I guess it is another +case of--" + +He never finished the sentence. With a frightful roar the defective +cartridge exploded, sending fragments of shell and parts of the +breech-block into the corporal's face and chest. He was hurled with +terrific force to the deck, where he lay motionless, mortally wounded. + +Numbers 2 and 3 of the unfortunate gun's crew did not escape, the former +being struck down with the hand lever, which penetrated his arm. The +injured men received prompt attention from the surgeon and his +assistants, but Corporal Murray was beyond mortal aid. He died ten +minutes after the accident. + +He was a good soldier, jolly and light-hearted, and a great favorite +with the crew. The peculiar feeling of antagonism which is supposed to +exist between the sailors and marines did not obtain in his case. + +In the navy the hammock which serves the living as a bed by night is +also their coffin and their shroud. It so served Corporal Murray. + +[Illustration: "WITH A FRIGHTFUL ROAR THE DEFECTIVE CARTRIDGE EXPLODED"] + +Shortly after four bells (six o'clock) on the evening of the day on +which the accident occurred, the boatswain's mate sent the shrill piping +of his whistle echoing through the ship, following it with the words, +doleful and long drawn out: + +"All hands shift-ft-ft into clean-n-n blue and stand by to bury the +dead-d-d!" + +When the crew assembled on the gun deck in obedience to the call, the +sun was just disappearing beyond the edge of the distant horizon. Its +last rays entered the open port, showing to us the dead man's figure +outlined under an American flag. The body had been placed upon a grating +in front of an open port, and several men were stationed close by in +readiness to launch it into the sea. + +The ceaseless swaying of the ship in the trough of the sea, the engines +having been stopped, set the lines of blue uniformed men swinging and +nodding, and, as the surgeon, Dr. McGowan, read the Episcopal service, +it seemed in the half light as if every man were keeping time with the +cadence. + +The words of the service, beautiful and impressive under such novel +circumstances, echoed and whispered along the deck, and at the sentence, +"We commit this body to the deep," the grating was raised gently and, +with a peculiar _swish_, the body, heavily weighted, slid down to the +water's edge and plunged sullenly into the sea. A moment more and the +service was finished, the bugler sounding "pipe down." A salute, three +times repeated, was fired by sixteen men of the marine guard. + + * * * * * + +The voyage down the coast was utilized in making good men-o'-war's men +of the "Yankee's" crew. Captain Brownson believes thoroughly in the +efficacy of drill, and he lost no time in living up to his belief. When +all the circumstances are taken into consideration, the task allotted to +the captain of the "Yankee" by the fortunes of war, was both peculiar +and difficult. + +On his return from Europe, where he had been sent to select vessels for +the improvised navy, he was ordered by the Navy Department at Washington +to take command of the auxiliary cruiser "Yankee." This meant that he +was to assume charge of a ship hastily converted from an ordinary +merchant steamer, and to fight the battles of his country with a crew +composed of youths and men whose whole life and training had hitherto +followed totally different lines. + +It was a "licking of raw material into shape" with a vengeance. + +When the "Chesapeake" sailed forth to fight her disastrous battle with +the British ship "Shannon," her crew was made up of men untrained in +the art of war. The result was the most humiliating naval defeat in the +history of the United States. The same fate threatened Captain Brownson. +There was this difference in the cases, however. The "Chesapeake" had +little time for drilling, while the "Yankee" was fully six weeks in +commission before her first shot was fired in action. Every minute of +those six weeks was utilized. + +During the trip down the coast from New York general quarters were held +each day, and target practice whenever the weather permitted. In +addition to these drills the crew was exercised in man and arm boats, +abandon ship, fire drill, infantry drill, and the many exercises +provided by the naval regulations. Before the "Yankee" had been in the +Gulf Stream two days, the various guns' crews were almost letter-perfect +at battery work. As it happened, the value of good drilling was soon to +be demonstrated. + +As we neared Cuba, the theatre of our hopes and expectations, we were +scarcely able to control ourselves. The bare possibility of seeing real +war within a few days made every man the victim of a consuming +impatience. Rumors of every description were rife, and the many weird +and impossible tales invented by the ship's cook and the captain's +steward--the men-o'-war oracles--would have put even Baron Munchausen to +the blush. + +The Rumor Committee, otherwise known as the "Scuttle-butt Navigators," +to which every man on board was elected a life member the moment he +promulgated a rumor, was soon actively engaged, and it was definitely +settled that the "Yankee" was to become the flagship of the whole fleet, +our captain made Lord High Admiral, and the whole Spanish nation swept +off the face of the globe, in about thirteen and a half seconds by the +chronometer. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +WE ENTER THE "THEATRE OF WAR." + +The shrill pipe of the bosun's whistle, followed by the order "All hands +to muster," reached our ears a day or two out from New York. We were +enjoying an hour of well-earned leisure, so it was with reluctance that +we obeyed and went aft on the gun deck. All hands are seldom called to +muster, so we knew that something of importance was in the wind. + +After the three-sided hollow square had been formed, the captain +appeared. The small men stood on tip-toe, and the tall men craned their +necks. + +"We are about to enter the theatre of war," said the captain, in his +sharp, decisive way, "and I expect every man to do his duty, to redouble +his efforts to preserve discipline, to perfect drills. Drills will, of a +necessity, be frequent and hard. I would have you understand that our +best protection is the fire from our own guns. The more rapid and +accurate our fire, the safer we shall be. Pipe down." + +After we had been dismissed, the men formed little groups and discussed +the captain's speech. + +"I like the 'old man's' talk," said the "Kid," condescendingly; "it's to +the point and short. But how in the name of common sense are we going to +find time to drill with more frequency? Three times a day and once or +more at night, allows us just about time enough to eat and do the +necessary routine work, to say nothing about sleeping. Clear ship, +general quarters, and fire drill during the day, and general quarters +after ten last night. That's already somewhat frequent, methinks," he +concluded, suppressing a yawn. + +"Well, if we are to have any scraps," said "Bill," "we certainly must +know how to work the ship and the guns. For, as the skipper said, 'our +own fire is our best protection.'" + +We bowled along at a good fifteen-knot gait, day after day and night +after night. The weather was magnificent and the climate delightful. It +was full moon, and such a moon as few of us had seen before--so bright +that letters could be and were written by her silvery light. + +Though drills of all sorts were of constant occurrence, there were times +after mess when we could "caulk off" and enjoy the glorious weather. +Our experience of bad weather along the coast of New Jersey and Long +Island had given us keen zest for the good conditions we were now +enjoying. We were sailing along in the warm waters of the Gulf +Stream--the Gulf weed peculiar to that current slipping by as we forged +through it. "Stump," "Dye," of Number Eight's gun crew, a witty chap and +a good singer, "Hay," and I were leaning over the taffrail, looking into +the swirling water made by the propeller's thrust, when "Dye" remarked: +"This is the queerest water I ever saw in all my days; it looks like the +bluing water our laundress used to make, with the suds mixed in." + +The smooth sea was dark and clear as could be, but where churned by the +propeller it turned to the color of turquoise. + +"I really believe," said "Bill," as he joined the group, "that we could +use it to turn our whites blue." + +It was a delight and marvel to us all; we would have liked nothing +better than to have spent hours gazing at these wonderful colors. + +As we stood absorbed in the sight before us, we were interrupted by the +short, sharp ringing of the ship's bell--a dozen or more strokes given +in quick succession followed, after a short pause, by two more strokes. + +Some one shouted "Fire, boys!" and all hands rushed for their +stations--some to the hose-reel, some below to the gun deck to close the +ports, and some to the berth deck to receive the hose when it came down. +We did not know whether it was drill or actual fire, but the skipper's +talk of the night before gave us unusual energy, and the preparations +were made in record time. The canvas hose was pulled along the deck with +a swish, the nozzle grasped by the waiting hands below and carried with +a run away aft on the berth deck. The fire was supposed to be raging at +this point, as was indicated by the two last strokes of the alarm +signal. + +While the hose was being led out, sturdy arms tugged at the port +lanyards and pulled them to. Others battened down the hatches, to keep +the draught from adding fury to the flames. + +All this was done in less time than it takes to tell it, and the men +stood at their posts, perspiring and panting from the quick work. + +We had hardly time to catch our breath when the order "Abandon ship" was +heard. Immediately there was a scurry of feet, and a rush for the upper +deck; but some stayed below to carry ship's bread and canned meats to +the boats--two cases of bread and two cases of meat for the large boats, +and one case of each for the smaller. The crews and passengers of each +boat gathered near it. Every man had been assigned to a boat either as +crew or passenger, and when the order "abandon ship" was given, every +one knew instantly where to go for refuge. + +Though we had already gone through this "fire drill" and "abandon ship" +(one always followed the other), it had then been done in peaceful +waters and in a perfunctory way. Now that we were entering "the theatre +of war," we felt the seriousness of it all, and realized that what was +now a mere drill might become a stern reality. + +The order "Secure" was given; the hose was reeled up, the ports opened, +and the provisions returned to their places in hold and store room. The +men went to their quarters, and so stood till the bugler blew "retreat." + +The time not devoted to drills was taken up in getting the ship ready +for the serious work she was to undertake. + +All woodwork on the gun deck not in actual use was carried below or +thrown overboard, and the great cargo booms were either taken down and +stowed safely away, where the splinters would not be dangerous, or were +covered with, canvas. + +These preparations had a sinister look that made us realize, if we had +not done so before, that this was real war that we were about to engage +in--no sham battle or manoeuvres. + +The men went about their work more quietly and thoughtfully, for one and +all now understood their responsibilities. If the ship made a record for +herself, the crew would get a large share of the credit; and if she +failed to do the work cut out for her, on the crew would be laid the +blame. If the men behind the guns and the men running the engines did +not do their work rapidly and well, disaster and disgrace would follow. + +As we neared the scene of conflict, the discipline grew more and more +strict. Before a man realized that he had done anything wrong, his name +would be called by the master-at-arms and he would be hauled "up to the +mast" for trial. + +"You ought to see the gang up at the mast," said "Stump," one bright +afternoon. "'Mac' and 'Hod Marsh' have gathered enough extra duty men to +do all the dirty work for a month." + +"What were you doing up there?" asked a bystander. + +"Why, I thought I heard my name called, and as discretion is the better +part of valor, I lined up with the rest, and I was glad I did, too, for +it was good sport." + +"Maybe you thought it was sport, but how about the chaps that were +'pinched'? Who was up before the skipper, anyhow?" + +"Oh, there was a big gang up there--I can't remember them all; 'Lucky +Bag Kennedy' was there, for being late at general quarters the other +day. When the captain looked at him in that fierce way of his and asked +what he had to say for himself, 'Lucky Bag' said he didn't realize the +time. The skipper could hardly keep his face straight. 'Four hours,' he +said, and that was all there was to it." + +"Poor 'Lucky Bag,'" came from all sides as "Stump" paused to take +breath. + +"Then there was 'Big Bill,' the water tender," continued "Stump." "He +was hauled up for appearing on the spar deck without a uniform. When the +skipper asked him what he had to say for himself, 'Big Bill' cleared his +throat with a _woof_--you know how it sounds: the ship shakes and +trembles when he does it--and the 'old man' fairly tottered under the +blast. 'Big Bill' explained that he could not get a uniform big enough +for him, because the paymaster could not fit him out. The captain +almost grinned when he heard the excuse, and 'Big Bill'--well, he +enjoyed the situation, I'll bet a month's pay." + +There was a little pause here, and we heard a great voice rumbling from +below. Then we knew that "Big Bill" was telling his intimates all about +it, embellishing the story as only he could do. + +We laughed sympathetically as the shouts of glee rose to our ears. We +had all enjoyed his good-humored Irish wit. + +"Well, who else was in trouble this afternoon, 'Stump'?" said "Mourner," +the inquisitive. + +"Oh, a lot of unfortunate duffers. Several who were put on the report +for being slow in lashing up their hammocks got a couple of hours extra +duty each. One or two were there because they had clothes in the 'lucky +bag'--they had left them round the decks somewhere, and the +master-at-arms had grabbed them. The owners had to go on the report to +get the clothes out. It cost them a couple of hours each." + +"Well, how did you get out of it?" said I, when "Stump" paused to +breathe. + +"I was nearly scared to death," he continued, after a minute or two. "My +name was not called, and the rank thinned out till there were only a +few of us left. I began to think that some special punishment was being +reserved for me, and that the captain was waiting so he could think it +over. What my offence was I could not imagine; my conscience was clear, +I vow. As I stood there in the sun I thought over the last few days, and +made a confession to myself, but couldn't think of anything very wicked. +Had I unintentionally blocked a marine sentry's way and thus interfered +with him in the performance of his duty? I had visions at this point of +myself in the 'brig,' existing on bread and water. Had I inadvertently +gone into 'Cutlet's' pet after wheel-house? I was in a brown study, +conjuring up imaginary misdeeds, when a voice sounded in my ear: 'Here, +my man; what do you want?' I looked around, dazed, at the captain, who +stood by, the closed report book in his hand. Then I realized that my +being there was a mistake, so I saluted and said, 'Nothing, sir.'" + +"That's a very nice tale," said "Dye." "We'll have to get 'Mac' to +verify it." + +"It's straight," protested "Stump." "Ask the skipper himself if you want +to." + +The old boat ploughed her way through the blue waters of the Gulf Stream +at the rate of from fourteen to fifteen knots an hour. The skies were +clear and the sun warm and bright--cool breeze tempered its heat and +made life bearable. The ship rolled lazily in the long swell and the +turquoise wake boiled astern. We steamed for days without sighting a +sail or a light; we were "alone on a wide, wide sea." At times schools +of dolphins would race and shoot up out of the water alongside, much to +our glee. All the beauties of these tropical waters were new to us. +Every school of flying fish and flock of Mother Carey's chickens brought +crowds to the rail. The sunsets were glorious, though all too short, and +the sunrises, if less appreciated, just as fine. + +At night the guns' crews of the "watch on deck" slept round their loaded +guns, one man of each crew always standing guard. The men of the powder +divisions manned the lookout posts. + +All hands were in good spirits, calmed somewhat, however, by the thought +that soon we might be in the thick of battle, the outcome of which no +man could tell. + +It was during this voyage that friendships, begun on the Block +Island-Barnegat cruise, were cemented. The life aboard ship tended to +"show up" a man as he really was. His good and bad qualities appeared so +that all might see. Was he good-natured, even-tempered, thoughtful, his +mates knew it at once and liked him. Was he quick-tempered, selfish, +uncompanionable, it was quite as evident, and he had few friends. +Sterling and unsuspected qualities were brought out in many of the men. + +Every man felt that we must and would stand together, and with a will do +our work, be it peaceful or warlike. + +Where were we bound? Were we to join the Havana blockading fleet? Were +we destined for despatch and scout duty? Or were we to take part in +actual conflict? + +It was while we were settling these questions to our own satisfaction on +the morning of June 2d, that a hail came from the lookout at the +masthead forward. + +"Land O!" he shouted, waving his cap. "Hurray! it's Cuba!" + +The navigator, whose rightful surname had been converted by the +facetious Naval Reserves into "Cutlets," for reasons of their own, lost +no time in rebuking the too enthusiastic lookout. + +"Aloft, there, you measly lubber! What in thunder do you mean? Have you +sighted land?" + +"Ye-es, sir-r," quavered the lookout. + +"Then why don't you say so without adding any conjectures of your own?" +commented the irascible Lieutenant "Cutlets," severely. + +The rest of the crew were too deeply interested in the vague streak of +color on the horizon to pay any attention to the "wigging" of the man at +the masthead. We knew that the dun-hued streak rising from the blue +shadows of the ocean was Cuba, and we could think or talk of nothing +else. + +Somewhere beyond that towering mountain was Santiago, the port in which +the flea-like squadron of Admiral Cervera was bottled up, and there was +a deadly fear in our hearts that the wily Spaniard would sally forth to +battle before we could join our fleet. + +We pictured to ourselves the gray mountain massed high about the narrow +entrance of Santiago Bay, the picturesque Morro Castle, squatting like a +grim giant above the strait, and outside, tossing and bobbing upon the +swell of a restless sea, the mighty semicircle of drab ships waiting, +yearning for the outcoming of the Dons. We of the "Yankee," I repeat, +were in an agony of dread that we would arrive too late. + +Cape Maysi, the scene of many an adventurous filibustering expedition, +was passed at high noon, and at eight bells in the evening the anchor +was dropped off Mole St. Nicholas, a convenient port in the island of +Hayti. As we steamed into the harbor we passed close to the auxiliary +cruiser "St. Louis." + +The anchor was scarcely on the bottom when the gig was called away. We +awaited the return of Captain Brownson with impatience. The news he +brought was reassuring, however. Nothing of moment had occurred since +our departure from New York. Within an hour we were again out at sea, +this time en route to Santiago. + +There was little sleep on board that night, and when morning dawned, +every man who could escape from below was on deck watching, waiting for +the first glimpse of Admiral Sampson's fleet. Shortly after daylight, +the squadron was sighted. The scene was picturesque in the extreme. + +The gray of early dawn was just giving way before the first rays of a +tropical sun. Almost hidden in the mist hovering about the coast were a +number of vague spots seemingly arranged in a semicircle, the base of +which was the green-covered tableland fronting Santiago. The spots were +tossing idly upon a restless sea, and, as the sun rose higher, each +gradually assumed the shape of a marine engine of war. Beyond them was +a stretch of sandy, surf-beaten coast, and directly fronting the centre +ship could be seen a narrow cleft in the hill--the gateway leading to +the ancient city of Santiago de Cuba. + +As we steamed in closer to the fleet we saw indications that something +of importance had occurred or was about to occur. Steam launches and +torpedo boats were dashing about between the ships, strings of +parti-colored bunting flaunted from the signal halliards of the flagship +"New York," and nearer shore could be seen one of the smaller cruisers +evidently making a reconnaissance. + +"We are just in time, Russ," exclaimed "Stump," jubilantly. "The fleet +is getting ready for a scrap. And we'll be right in it." + +I edged toward the bridge. The first news would come from that quarter. +Several minutes later, Captain Brownson, who had been watching the +signals with a powerful glass, closed the instrument with a snap, and +cried out to the executive officer: + +"Hubbard, you will never believe it." + +"What's happened?" + +The reply was given so low that I could catch only a few words, but it +was enough to send me scurrying aft at the top of my speed. The news was +startling indeed. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +WE JOIN SAMPSON'S FLEET. + +As the "Yankee" steamed in toward the blockading fleet off the entrance +to Santiago harbor, the scurrying torpedo boats and the many little +launches darting here and there like so many beetles on a pond, became +more apparent, and it was plainly evident to all that something of great +importance had recently happened. + +The scattered remarks made by Captain Brownson on the bridge formed, +when pieced together, such a wonderful bit of news that I could scarcely +contain myself as I hurried aft. I wanted to stop and fling my cap into +the air. I felt like dancing a jig and hurrahing and offering praise for +the fact that I was an American. + +As it happened, I was not the only member of the "Yankee's" crew that +had overheard the "old man's" words. The second captain of the after +port five-inch gun, a jolly good fellow, known familiarly as "Hay" by +the boys, chanced to be under the bridge. As I raced aft on the port +side he started in the same direction on the starboard side of the spar +deck. His legs fairly twinkled, and he beat me to the gangway by a neck. + +"What do you think?" I heard him gasp as I came up. "Talk of your +heroes! Whoop! Say, I'm glad I am a son of that old flag aft there. It's +the greatest thing that ever happened." + +"What?" chorused a dozen voices. + +"Last night--" + +"Yes." + +"Last night a volunteer crew--" + +"Hurry up, will you?" + +"Last night, or rather early this morning, a volunteer crew, under the +command of a naval constructor named Hobson, took the collier 'Merrimac' +into the mouth of the harbor and--" + +"That old tub?" interrupted a marine who had served in the regular navy, +incredulously. "Why, she's nothing but a hulk. She hasn't a gun or--" + +"She didn't go in to fight," said "Hay." "They were to block up the +channel with her." + +"To block up the channel?" + +"Yes. Cervera and his fleet are in the harbor, you know, and the scheme +was to keep them from coming out." + +"Did they succeed?" chorused the whole group of eager listeners. + +"Yes, but----" + +The conclusion of "Hay's" sentence was drowned in a wild whoop of joy, a +whoop that brought a number of other "Yankees" to the spot, and also a +gesture of remonstrance from the executive officer on the bridge. + +"Wait, boys," I said, gently; "you haven't heard all." + +There was quiet at once. + +"Hobson and his brave men succeeded in accomplishing their object, but +they have paid the penalty for it." + +"Not dead?" asked one in almost a whisper. + +"So the captain read the signals. The 'Merrimac' went in about three +o'clock this morning. It seems she reached the channel all right, but +she was discovered and sent to the bottom with all on board." + +"Hay" took off his cap reverently, and the others instantly followed his +example. Nothing more was said. The glory of the deed was overshadowed +by the supposed fate of the gallant volunteer crew. + +The "Yankee" steamed in to a position designated by the flagship, and +the captain went aboard to pay his respects to Admiral Sampson. A +Spanish tug, flying a flag of truce, which had emerged from the harbor +at noon, met one of our tugs, also flying a flag of truce, and almost +immediately a string of signals went up to the signal yard of the "New +York." + +Then came such a burst of cheers and whistling and tossing of hats from +every ship in the fleet that it seemed as if every officer and sailor in +Sampson's squadron had suddenly gone daft. Like wildfire, the glorious +news spread-- + +Hobson and his men were safe! + +The tug from the harbor had brought an officer sent by Admiral Cervera +himself with a message stating that the brave naval constructor and all +his crew had been captured alive and were now prisoners in Morro Castle. +Later, a press boat came alongside and confirmed the news through a +megaphone. + +The excitement on board the "Yankee," like that throughout the fleet, +was tremendous. Those in the North who had received both the news of the +feat and the rescue at the same time, can hardly understand the +revulsion of feeling which swept through the American ships gathered +off Santiago. It was like hearing from a supposed dead friend. + +These heroes were comrades--nay, brothers. They wore the blue and they +were fighting for Old Glory. Their praise was ours and their deed +redounded to the eternal credit and fame of the American navy. Small +wonder that we welcomed the news of their safety, and cheered until our +throats were husky and our eyes wet with something more than mere +exertion. + +All hail to Richmond Pearson Hobson and his men! + +Heroes all! + + * * * * * + +During the afternoon of our arrival, when we finally secured time to +look about us, we were struck with the appearance of the really +formidable fleet of warships collected under Admiral Sampson's flag. For +size of individual ships and weight of armor and armament, there had +never been anything in the history of the United States to equal it. + +The fleet consisted of the powerful battleships "Iowa," "Indiana," +"Massachusetts," and "Texas," the two splendid armored cruisers "New +York" and "Brooklyn," cruisers "New Orleans" and "Marblehead," converted +yachts "Mayflower," "Josephine," and "Vixen," torpedo boat "Porter," +cable boat "Adria," gunboat "Dolphin," and the auxiliary cruisers "St. +Louis" and "Yankee." + +The vessels formed a semicircular line, completely enclosing the +entrance to Santiago harbor. From where the "Yankee" rested, on the +right wing, a fine view of the coast could be obtained. Two insurgent +camps were plainly visible--one on the beach and another in the hills, +which at that point rose to the height of fully four thousand feet. +Morro Castle, a grim, sullen, gray embattled fort, directly overlooking +the channel, was in plain sight, and here and there could be seen little +green or sand-colored mounds, marking the site of earthworks. + +The stretch of blue sea, edged by the tumbling surf-beaten beach, and +the uprising of foliage-covered hills, all brought out clearly by a +tropical sun, formed a picture as far removed from the usual setting of +war as could be. But war was there, and the scenery appealed to few. +There was more interest in the drab hulls of the fleet and the outward +reaching of the mighty guns. + +That evening--the evening of June 3d--the "Yankee's" decks presented an +animated spectacle. The novel surroundings and the prospect of action +kept the boys interested. The "Rumor Committee" was in active session, +and one of its principal members, the captain's orderly, brought the +news forward that the auxiliary cruiser would surely lead a procession +of battleships into Santiago harbor the following day. + +This was a little too strong for even the marines to swallow. We lay +down by our loaded guns that night, feeling that it was well to be +within easy reach of our defenders. + +Hammocks were laid on the deck close to each five-inch breechloader, and +the regular watch was doubled. Lack of experience made all these warlike +preparations very impressive, and it was some time before the boys fell +asleep. For my part, such a restlessness possessed me that, after trying +to woo slumber for a half hour, I left my place and crawled over nearer +the open port. + +"Hello, Russ," whispered a voice, apparently from the outside. "Just +lean out here if you want to cool off. Isn't the night air fine?" + +A small figure wriggled in from where it had been hanging over the port +sill, and in the faint light I recognized "Kid," as we called him, the +smallest boy on board, and so pleasant and popular that we had +unanimously elected him the mascot of the ship. + +I was glad to see that it was "Kid." His fund of ready wit and his +never-failing good-nature made him a welcome companion at all times. He +did not belong to my gun, being a "powder monkey" on No. 16, a +six-pounder on the spar deck, but "Kid" was privileged, and he could +have penetrated to the captain's cabin with impunity. + +"Thought I'd drop down here for a rest," he began, stretching himself +and yawning. "Too much tramping about on deck to sleep. Say, looks as if +we were going to have a little rain, doesn't it?" + +The moon had just passed behind a scurrying cloud, causing the silvery +sparkle of its reflection to suddenly fade from the surface of the +water. The lights and shadows on the nearby beach changed to a streaky +dark smudge. There was a damp touch to the air. + +"This would be a proper night for one of those sneaking torpedo boats to +give us a scare," resumed "Kid," thoughtfully. "Funny ways of fighting +those Dagoes have, eh? It's like prisoner's base that I played when I +was a boy." + +"Kid's" eighteen years were a mature age in his opinion. + +"The two torpedo craft in Santiago harbor could do a great deal of +damage if they were properly handled," I ventured. "They are +magnificent vessels of their class. Look what Cushing did with a slow +steam launch and a powder can on the end of a stick." + +"The case was different." + +"Yes, but----" + +"Cushing was an American," interrupted the boy convincingly. + +There was silence for awhile and we lolled in the port, gazing idly at +the black spots in the gloom representing the blockading fleet. Between +us and the shore was the "New Orleans," the faint tracery of her masts +just showing above the distant background of the hills. The dampness in +the air had increased, and a dash of rain came in the open port. + +"What were you doing at the mast this morning, 'Kid'?" I asked by way of +variety. + +"Had a mustering shirt in the lucky bag." + +I heard the boy chuckle. There was an escapade behind the remark. + +"You know that wardroom Jap with the bad eye?" + +"Yes." + +"It was his shirt." + +"But how----" + +"It was this way. You know how hard it has been to put up with +'government straight' as a steady diet, don't you?" + +I nodded. As "government straight" meant the extremely simple bill of +fare provided by Uncle Sam, consisting of salt beef, pork, hardtack, +beans, and canned butter, with an occasional taste of dried fruit, I was +compelled to admit my acquaintance with it. + +"Well, the other night I got to dreaming that I was back in New York," +resumed "Kid." "I dreamt I dropped into a bang-up restaurant and ordered +beefsteak, fried potatoes, pie, and----" + +A groan came from one of the gun's crew, who was within hearing, and +"Kid" lowered his voice. + +"Hit him where he lived, I guess," he chuckled. "Well, I woke up so +hungry that I couldn't stand it any longer. I looked up the Jap and +struck him for a hand-out. He wanted a shirt, and I wanted something to +eat, and we made a bargain. I brought him my extra mustering shirt--it +was too large for me, anyway--and he gave me some bread and butter, cold +potted tongue, three bananas, and----" + +"For mercy's sake, stow that," muttered a voice from back of the +gun-mount. "Don't we suffer enough?" + +"That's 'Hand-Out' Hood," grinned "Kid." "He's kicking because he didn't +get it. Well, I gave the shirt to the Jap, and what did he do but lose +it. My name was on the collar, and 'Jimmy Legs' put me on the report. +The 'old man' was easy, though. Gave me four hours extra duty. I asked +him if I couldn't work it out in the wardroom pantry." + +"Kid's" chuckle came to a sudden stop, and he leaned out through the +port. + +"What's the matter?" I asked. + +"Thought I saw something moving over there near the beach." + +"Must have been a shadow." + +"Guess so. Still, it looked like some kind of a--" + +Bang! + +The sharp report of a rapid-fire gun cut short his words. Another +followed almost instantly, then came a regular volley. The effect on the +crew of the "Yankee" was instantaneous. The men sleeping at the guns +scrambled to their feet, hammocks were kicked out of the way, and before +the word to go to general quarters was passed, every member of the crew +was at his station. + +"I thought I saw something moving inshore," cried "Kid," as he scurried +away. + +"It's a Spanish torpedo boat," muttered "Stump." "Great Scott! just +listen to the 'New Orleans.' She's firing like a house afire." + +Suddenly there came a deep, thunderous roar. It was the voice of a +thirteen-inch gun on the "Massachusetts." Sixty seconds later the +six-pounders on the "Yankee's" forecastle joined in the chorus, and the +action became general. + +"Do not fire without orders, men," cautioned Lieutenant Greene, the +officer in charge of our division. "Just take it easy and bide your +time." + +It was our first experience in actual fighting, and our anxiety to "let +loose" was almost overwhelming. We were held to our stations so rigidly +that but few glimpses could be caught of the outside. The "New Orleans," +on our starboard, was still rattling away. + +Notwithstanding our own inaction (the gun deck battery was not used), +there was a certain exhilaration in even listening to the sounds of +conflict, and the eager, tense faces surrounding the guns reflected in +the dim light of the deck lanterns such a fierce desire to fight that +they were absolutely transfigured. + +"Can't stand this much longer," muttered "Hay," the second captain, as a +peculiarly vicious report came from the direction of the +"Massachusetts." "Why don't they give a fellow a chance?" + +[Illustration: "THE SIX-POUNDERS ON THE 'YANKEE'S' FORECASTLE JOINED IN +THE CHORUS"] + +"Steady, men," admonished Lieutenant Greene. "Don't be impatient. Our +turn will come soon. Steady!" + +A turn of the hull--we were under way at half speed--brought the land on +the port bow just then. The moon suddenly emerged from behind the +clouds, and we who were nearest the port, distinctly saw a long, black +object fade into the obscurity of the coast almost directly under Morro +Castle. + +"She's escaped!" groaned "Stump." "It's the torpedo boat, and she is +safe again." + +As if to prove the truth of his words the guns on the "New Orleans" and +"Massachusetts" became silent; then word was sent below to "secure." Our +first action was disappointing, but there was little grumbling. We knew +full well that momentous events were bound to occur before long. + +The following morning, shortly after daybreak, the torpedo boat "Porter" +steamed alongside. Her coming created some excitement, and the +"Yankee's" crew promptly lined the railing. + +"What's that object on the deck?" asked "Stump," pointing to a long +brass cylinder lying abaft the after conning tower. + +"It's a torpedo, but not like those used in our navy," replied "Hay." + +Captain Brownson leaned over the end of the bridge and waved his hand to +Lieutenant Fremont, the "Porter's" commander. The latter was smiling, +and as we watched, he made a gesture toward the mysterious brass +cylinder. + +"See that thing, Brownson?" he called out. + +The captain nodded. + +"It almost paid you a visit last night." + +"What----" + +"We picked it up near shore this morning and sunk another. That Spanish +torpedo boat made a great attempt to sink one of our ships, and, if I am +not mistaken, the 'Yankee' was her intended prey. Congratulations." + +As the "Porter" steamed away we felt very much like congratulating +ourselves. This was grim war of a certainty. Like the boy who was blown +a mile in a cyclone without injury, we experienced a certain pride that +we really had been in danger. + +About the middle of the afternoon a signal was seen on the flagship. It +was read at once, and immediately the boatswain's mate passed a call +that sent a thrill of anticipation through us. It was: + +"All hands clear ship for action!" + +[Illustration: "CLEAR SHIP FOR ACTION!"] + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CLEAR SHIP FOR ACTION. + +The boatswain's mate's shrill piping and the long drawn out cry, "All +hands clear ship for action!" was not entirely unexpected. An unusual +activity on the part of the signal men on the flagship "New York" had +not escaped our notice, and when the summons to prepare for battle +echoed through the "Yankee's" decks it found us in readiness for prompt +obedience. + +At the time the call sounded a number of us were standing in the port +waist idly watching the fleet and the shore. "Bill," a member of the +powder division, whose father is a prominent real estate broker of New +York, and whose great talent is for practical joking and general fun +making, was telling a story. As we scattered at the summons, he started +below with me. Even the circumstances could not prevent him following +his hobby, and he whispered as we hurried along: + +"Say, Russ, this reminds me of a good story I once heard. There was a +man who was too lazy to live and the neighbors finally decided to bury +him. So they took him out to the village graveyard one morning before +day and----" + +"Here, you men, pass this mess chest below," interrupted an officer, +beckoning to us. "Bill" grasped one end of the object indicated and +lugged it to the hatch. + +"They took the lazy man to the village graveyard, as I was saying," +resumed "Bill," "and they buried him up to his neck in the earth. Then +they hid back of tombstones and----" + +"Less talking there, men," exclaimed the navigator, hurrying past us. +"You 'heroes' do too much yarning to suit me. Get those things below at +once. Shake it up." + +"They are in an almighty hurry," grumbled "Bill." "The forts won't move. +They'll be there to-morrow, I guess. Well, as I was saying, the +villagers concealed themselves behind convenient tombstones and waited +to see what the lazy man would do when he woke up. By and by day broke, +and just as the sun gilded the windows of the old church the fellow who +was buried up to his neck----" + +"Chase those mess chests below, bullies," called out the boatswain's +mate, dropping down the ladder a few feet away. "Lively there; the 'old +man' wants to break a record. When you have finished, hustle to the oil +and paint lockers and help carry all inflammable material to the spar +deck." + +For several minutes "Bill" worked away in silence. Between us we managed +to lower a number of chests into the hold where they would be out of the +way; then we disposed of more objects liable to produce unwelcome +splinters, and finally we started toward the paint locker. + +The gun deck presented a scene of the most intense activity. The process +of clearing ship for action requires the united efforts of the entire +crew. On vessels of the regular service, such as the "New York" or +"Indiana," where everything has been constructed with a view to the +needs of battle, the work is thoroughly systematized and comparatively +easy. The "Yankee," being a merchant steamer hastily converted into a +vessel of war, presented greater difficulties. + +However, the crew was fairly familiar with its duties and the work +progressed at a rapid rate. When "Bill" and I reached the paint locker +we found several others preparing to convey the oil to the deck. It was +a momentary respite, and "Bill" took advantage of it. + +"When the sun rose the fellows hiding behind the tombstones saw the lazy +man open his eyes," he resumed hurriedly. "He looked around and took in +all the details of the scene, the old church with the windows glowing +redly, the weeping willows shaking and trembling in the crisp morning +breeze, the rows of sod-covered mounds, the crumbling tombstones, and on +one side the old rickety fence marking the passing of the road. All this +he saw and then--" + +"Hear the news, fellows?" interrupted the "Kid," suddenly approaching. +"We are going to--what's the matter, 'Bill'?" + +For "Bill" had caught him by the slack of the shirt and one arm and was +hustling him along the deck. The "Kid," looking aggrieved, went his way, +and "Bill" returned. + +"As I was saying," he continued calmly; "the lazy fellow saw all those +things, then he threw back his head and laughed and laughed until the +tears rolled down his cheeks. 'Whoop!' he cried, 'this is the best piece +of luck I've struck yet. Hurray! blamed if it ain't the resurrection day +and I'm the first feller above ground. Whoop!'" + +After I had finished laughing I picked up a can of oil and asked: + +"Where's the similarity, 'Bill'? It's a good story, but you said this +reminded you of it." + +"Humph! aren't we going to see the resurrection of some of these old +Spanish fossils around here to-day?" "Bill" demanded. "And aren't we the +first volunteer force on the spot? I guess that makes the story +apropos." + +As the "Yankee" was the first vessel manned by Naval Reserves to reach +the scene of hostilities, I could not deny "Bill's" claim. Seeing the +success of one story, he was on the point of telling another, when word +came to hasten the clearing of the ship for action, and we were +compelled to devote our energies to the work in hand. + +The decks were sanded--a precaution that made more than one wonder if +the spilling of blood was really anticipated; all boats and spare booms +were covered with canvas to prevent the scattering of splinters, the +steel hatch covers were closed down, hammocks were broken out of the +racks and made to serve as an added protection to the forward +wheel-house, and everything possible done to make the ship fit for +action. + +The time taken to gain this end did not exceed ten minutes, which was +almost a record. Signals were displayed stating that we were in +readiness, then all hands were called to general quarters. As we hurried +to our stations I saw the entire blockading fleet moving slowly +shoreward. + +"We are going to bombard the Dagoes this trip for sure," observed the +first captain of Number Eight as we lined up. "I see their finish." + +"Don't be too sure," said "Stump." "There's many a slip between the +muzzle and the target. Maybe we won't do much after all. Just to make it +interesting I'll bet you a dinner at Del's that we will only chuck a +bluff. What d'ye say?" + +"Done, if you make it for the whole ship's company," chuckled the first +captain. + +"Stump" shook his head. + +"A dinner at Del's for over two hundred hungry Reserves, and on a salary +of $35 per month. Nope. Not on your life." + +"Cast loose and provide," came the order. + +There were a few moments of rapid work, then the battery was reported in +readiness for firing. Through the open port we could catch a glimpse of +the other vessels of the fleet, and the spectacle formed by the +low-lying battleships, the massive cruisers, and the smaller, but +equally defiant gunboats, was one long to be remembered. + +Every ship was cleared for business. On the vessels of the "Oregon" +class nothing could be seen but the gray steel of turrets and +superstructure. The "New York" and the "Brooklyn" were similarly +cleared. On the bridges could be seen groups of officers, but the decks +were empty. Every man was at his gun. + +The ships steamed in to within a short distance of the beach and then +formed a semicircle, the heavier vessels taking the centre where they +could directly face the forts. The little "Dolphin" was on the extreme +right of the line, with the "Yankee" next. + +When within easy range of the guns ashore there ensued a wait. No signal +to fire came from the flagship, and there did not seem to be any move +toward opening the battle by the forts. We stood at our guns in silence, +awaiting the word, until finally patience ceased to be a virtue. + +"Seems to me they ought to do something," murmured "Stump," glancing +shoreward rather discontentedly. "Ain't we fair targets?" + +"Why don't the admiral tell us to sail in?" queried the first captain in +the same tone. "The day is fine and the range is good. There's the +beggars plain enough with their measly old forts. What more is wanted?" + +"Wish they would pipe down and light the smoking lamp," said the second +loader. "It would be a great deal more fun than standing here like a +dummy." + +The sun had passed beyond the top of the hills, but the light was +sufficiently strong to bring out in plain relief the batteries guarding +the entrance to Santiago. Grim Morro Castle appeared almost deserted. +The red and yellow banner of Spain flaunted lazily from the ramparts, +but only here and there could be distinguished the little black dots +representing the soldiers on guard. The earthworks and smaller forts +were equally idle. + +"We won't get anything out of them to-day," remarked "Stump" decisively. +"It must be one of their eternal feast days when they won't even fight." + +"There goes a signal on the flagship," exclaimed the first loader, +pointing out the port. "I'll bet a dollar it's--" + +"The signal to pull out again," groaned "Stump." "Didn't I say so?" + +"The admiral intends to postpone the bombardment for some reason," I +ventured. "Perhaps it's too late in the day." + +Whatever the cause, it was now plain that we would not engage the forts. +In obedience to the signals on the "New York," which were repeated by +the "Brooklyn," the whole fleet returned to the former station several +miles from shore. The word to "secure" was passed and presently the +"Yankee" had resumed its former condition of armed watchfulness. + +That evening after supper there was a gathering of the choice spirits of +the crew in the vicinity of the after wheel-house. "Dye," the chief +member of the "Yankee's" choir, started one of "Steve's" little songs, +which, although rendered very quietly in deference to the rules observed +on blockade, was greatly enjoyed. The air was "Tommy Atkins," and the +words ran as follows: + + "They made us sign our papers for a year, + And dressed us in a natty sailor's suit; + They taught us how to heave the lead and steer, + And how to handle guns and how to shoot. + We fancied we'd be leaving right away + To capture prizes on the Spanish Main, + And be raising merry hades + With the dusky Spanish laddies, + And within a month come steaming home again. + + CHORUS. + + "But instead we ran a ferry + All along the Jersey shore, + And our turns were empty very, + And our hands were awful sore. + We would give our bottom dollar + Just to see a cable car, + Just to hear a newsboy holler, + Just to smoke a good cigar. + + "In times of peace we do not have to sweep + Or carry coal or stand on watch all night; + We do not have to scrub down decks or keep + Our toothbrush chained, or brasswork shining bright. + We never washed our faces in a pail, + We never heard the fog-horn's awful shriek, + We never ate salt horse, + We combed our hair, of course, + And we never wore our stockings for a week." + + CHORUS. + +"Suppose you 'heroes' pipe down there," came from the darkness just +then. "What do you think this is, a concert hall?" + +"It's 'Cutlets,'" muttered "Stump." "He would like to make the ship a +funeral barge." + +We sat in silence for a while, watching the retreating form of the +navigator passing forward; then Tom Le Valley, a zealous member of +Number Nine gun's crew, spoke up. + +"Do you see those two lights twinkling over there about where the +'Dolphin' should be, fellows?" he asked. + +Some one yawned and nodded. + +"Reminds you of a story, eh?" asked "Bill," who was leaning against the +rail. "Well, come to think of it I remember a--" + +"Several years ago I happened to be a patient in a hospital over in +Brooklyn," continued Tom. "I was almost well and about to leave the +place when a man in the upper ward--" + +"I had a cousin once who used to travel a great deal," interrupted +"Bill," taking a seat on the deck with his back against a bitt. "One +time he happened to be in a small town just outside of Dublin, Ireland. +The inn was crowded and he had to take up his quarters with a family who +occasionally rented out rooms. A circus and menagerie was giving +exhibitions in the city, and one night the biggest monkey escaped from +its cage and skipped out. They instituted a search at once, but the +animal could not be found. Well, it happened that the family with whom +my cousin was stopping consisted of father and mother and one son about +ten years old. The boy, whose name was Mike, was a regular limb. Always +in mischief and----" + +"As I was saying," broke in Tom at this juncture, "when I was about to +leave the hospital, a man in the upper ward concluded to depart this +world for a better one. It happened about eight o'clock in the evening, +and, as was usual in such cases, the nurse on watch was supposed to get +several convalescent patients and a stretcher and carry the body down to +a little wooden house a hundred yards from the main building. The nurse, +with whom I was on friendly terms, had an important case to attend to +just then and he asked me if I wouldn't take charge of the stretcher +party. Well, we started down the yard, I leading the way with a lantern, +and we finally reached the little house. We entered and----" + +"Some people think they are the only story tellers in the group," +remarked "Bill" with mild sarcasm at that interesting point. "To tell a +good story with a point to it is an art. Now, as I was saying, this boy +Mike would rather get into mischief than eat a--what's the Irish for +potato?" + +"Spud," suggested "Hod." + +"Murphy," said "Stump." + +"Well, it's immaterial. Anyway the boy was full of mischief. The night +the monk got away he had been sent to bed early because of some trick he +had played. He slept in a little room at the head of the stairs leading +to the second story. His window opened on a lean-to shed, and, as it was +a warm evening, the sash was raised. Shortly after the youngster got to +bed, something slipped over the back fence, and after prowling about the +yard for a moment, climbed upon the shed and through the window into the +room where Mike was just in the act of falling asleep. The thing, which +was about the youngster's size, crept over the floor toward the bed, +and then with a spring, landed squarely upon----" + +"Some people use more wind in telling a story than would fill a +maintop-sail," drawled Tom. "There's nothing like getting at your +subject. Now, when we reached the little wooden house we entered, and +after accomplishing our errand, started back to the main building. While +on the way it suddenly occurred to me that I had forgotten to close the +door between the two rooms of which the house was composed. There was an +open window in the front room, and there was no telling what might get +in. I told the fellows to go on and I tasked back to the little house. I +still carried the lantern, but just as I reached the door, it went out. +I tell you, I felt like letting the whole thing go, but I didn't want to +get the nurse into trouble. So I unlocked the front door, opened it, +and, Great Scott! I saw----" + +"There's everything in choosing a subject when you want to tell a good +story," calmly interrupted Bill. "This story I am trying to tell has a +laugh in it. You don't have to keep your hair down with both hands and +feel the cold chills playing tag up and down your spinal column, like +you have to do when some people are trying to yarn. Well, when the thing +that had crept through the window landed on the bed, Mike let out a +yell that could have been heard in Dublin. 'Ow-w-w!' he whooped, +scrambling to the floor. He caught one sight of the visitor, and then +made a dash for the window and slid clear to the ground, leaving pieces +of shirt and his epidermis on every nail on the shed roof. The noise he +made roused the father and mother below, and the latter started for the +stairs. 'That b'ye 'll be the death av me yet,' she complained. 'I'll go +up and give him a slap.' She lost no time in reaching the little room, +and when she entered she saw the bed with what she thought was Mike +under the clothes. 'Mike, ye rascal,' she exclaimed, 'turn down the +sheet this minute. It's mesilf as'll tache ye to raise a noise at this +time o' night. For shame, ye spalpane! What, ye won't obey your own +mother? I'll show ye. Take that!' She brought her hand down upon the +figure outlined under the sheet with a resounding whack. The next second +the thing leaped from the bed squarely into her arms. 'Wow! Murther! +Mike, what have ye been doing?' she howled, adding at the top of her +voice, 'Patrick, Patrick, come quick! The b'ye has got hold of your hair +restorer. He's all covered with hair and he's gone daft. Murther!' With +that the father made for the stairs as fast as his legs could carry +him. Just as he got to the top--" + +"The sight I saw when I opened the outer door of the little house almost +knocked me silly," broke in Tom, rather excitedly. "There in the other +room gleamed--" + +"When Patrick reached the second floor," interrupted Bill, raising his +voice, "he felt something strike him full in the chest; then two hairy +arms clasped him about the throat and--" + +"In the other room gleamed two--" + +"Oh, give a fellow a chance, will you?" cried Bill. "You want the whole +floor. What do you think--" + +"Sh-h-h! here comes the executive officer," hastily whispered "Stump." +"We've made too much racket. Let's go into the after wheel-house." + +"We must be quiet about it," spoke up the "Kid," warningly. "'Cutlets' +is chasing around to-night, and if he catches us in there he'll raise +Cain." + +"All right," replied Bill. "And I'll finish that story if I have to stay +up all night." + +"Same here," retorted Tom, with evident determination. "Come on." + +And we all followed the twain. + + +CHAPTER X. + +WE BOMBARD SANTIAGO DE CUBA. + +The after wheel-house on board the "Yankee" was a round structure of +steel built on the spar deck directly over the counter. It contained a +steering wheel to be used in case the wheel in the pilot-house should be +disabled. When the chill winds of May and early June were blowing off +the northern coast during the "Yankee's" period of cruising in that +vicinity, the after wheel-house formed a snug and comfortable retreat +for the men of the watch. + +It was freely used for that purpose until the navigator chanced to +discover the fact. He forthwith issued orders forbidding any person to +enter the house, except on duty. His order, like many others, received +respectful consideration--when he happened to be looking. In the present +case we were so eager to hear the conclusion of the stories being +related by the rival yarn-spinners, that we were fain to brave +"Cutlets'" displeasure. Led by Bill and Tom, we piled inside. + +"What I was trying to say," spoke up the former, getting the first +opening, "was that when Patrick reached the top of the stairs, something +struck him full in the chest, and two hairy arms were thrown about his +neck. The sudden shock sent him tumbling backward, and he fell kerflop! +down the steps. Up above, his wife was howling to beat the band, 'Mike, +Mike, ye spalpane! You do be killing your poor father. Och! why did I +live to see this day?' In the meantime the real Mike--for the one inside +was the escaped monk from the menagerie--had scooted for the police. +They came, a half dozen of them, and as they entered the front door--" + +"Time!" chuckled "Stump." "Give Tom a chance." + +"As I opened the front door of the little wooden house where we had +placed the body," said Tom, prompt to take advantage of the opportunity, +"I saw two gleaming eyes glaring at me from the inner room. I tell you, +my heart fell clean down into my boots." + +"Should think it would," muttered the "Kid," peering about the +wheel-house with a shiver. "Ugh!" + +"I dropped the lantern," resumed Tom, "and staggered back. Just then +a----" + +"Half dozen policemen entered the front door just as Patrick and the +supposed Mike reached the bottom of the stairs," broke in Bill, taking +up the thread of his story. "Well, when the Irish coppers saw Pat with +the monk hanging around his neck they thought the old Nick had him. They +started to run, but the old woman reached the lower floor in time to see +both Mike and the monkey. She grabbed a broom, but the monk slipped +through the front door, and----" + +"That's the end of your story. And a good job it is too," remarked Tom. + +"It is better than having no end," retorted Bill. "You spin out a yarn +to beat the band." + +"It's getting late," spoke up "Hod," yawning. "If you fellows are going +to chew the rag all night I----" + +"Only a word more," interrupted Tom. "As I staggered back I fell into +the arms of the nurse, who had come down to see what kept me. I +explained in a hurry, and he lit a match. We both went in and +discovered----" + +"Sh-h-h! Get out of here, you fellows," suddenly spoke up a voice at the +door on the starboard side. "Here comes 'Cutlets'!" + +There was a scramble for the opposite door, and in much less time than +is taken in the telling, the wheel-house was empty. We huddled in the +shadows for a moment; then dodged forward. As we reached the hatch I +heard the "Kid" ask Tom: + +"Say, what was it you saw? Tell a fellow, won't you?" + +"Two brass knobs on an old chest," was the calm reply. + +"Huh!" + +The following day being Sunday, was given over to rest and recreation +and the writing of letters, until late in the afternoon. The day dawned +clear but very warm. There was very little breeze stirring, and the spar +and gun decks, where we spent the most of our time, were almost +stifling. "Corking mats," as they are termed in naval parlance, were +very much in evidence. The sailor's "corking mat" is a strip of canvas +which he spreads upon the deck to protect his clothing from the tarry +seams, when he feels the necessity for a siesta or nap, which is quite +often. + +Toward evening we were put to work at a task which gave welcome promise +of coming action. Under the direction of the executive officer we broke +out a number of bags of coal from the orlop deck and piled them five +deep, and about the same number in height, around the steam steering +engine under the forward wheel-house. This was to give added protection +to a vital part of the ship. + +The work was hard and unpleasant, especially to men who had not spent +the major portion of their lives at manual labor, but it was one of +those disagreeable fortunes of war to which we were growing accustomed, +and we toiled without comment. That night when we turned in, that is, +those who were fortunate enough to have the "off watch," it was +generally rumored about the decks that the fleet would surely bombard +early the following morning. + +About two bells (five o'clock) the different guns' crews, who were +sleeping at the batteries, were called by the boatswain's mates, and +told to go to breakfast at once. + +"It's coming," exclaimed "Hay," joyfully. "The old 'Yankee' will see her +real baptism of fire to-day. 'Kid,' you young rat, you'll have a chance +to dodge shells before you are many hours older." + +"You may get a chance to stop one," retorted the boy. + +After a hurried meal, word to clear ship for action was passed, and the +"Yankee's" boys set to work with a vim. The task was done more +thoroughly than usual. The boats and wooden hatches were covered with +canvas, everything portable that would splinter was sent below, the +decks were sanded, and all the inflammable oils were placed in a boat +and set adrift for the "Justin," one of the colliers, to pick up. + +The day seemed fitted for the work we had in hand. The sky was overcast, +and occasionally a rain squall would sweep from the direction of the +land, and envelop the fleet. It was not a cold, raw rain, like that +encountered in more northern latitudes in early summer, but a dripping +of moisture peculiarly grateful after the heat of the previous day. + +Shortly before seven o'clock, the members of the crew were in readiness +for business. The majority had removed their superfluous clothing, and +it was a stirring sight to watch the different guns' crews, stripped to +the waist and barefooted, standing at their stations. There was +something in the cool, practical manner in which each man prepared for +work that promised well, and it should be said to the everlasting credit +of the Naval Reserves that they invariably fought with the calmness and +precision of veterans whenever they were called upon. + +In the present case, there would have been some excuse for +faint-heartedness. The crew of the "Yankee," made up of men whose +previous lives had been those of absolute peace, who had never heard a +shot fired in anger before their arrival at Santiago, who had left home +and business in defence of the flag--these men went about their +preparations for attacking the fortifications with as little apparent +concern as if it were simply a yachting trip. + +There was no holding back, no hesitancy, no looks of concern or anxiety, +but when the signal to advance inshore appeared on the "New York," at +six bells (seven o'clock), there was a feeling of relief that the time +of waiting was over. + +We were to be in it at last. + +The flagship's signal to advance in formation was obeyed at once. Moving +in double column, the fleet stood in toward the batteries. The first +line, as we saw from the after port, was composed of the "Brooklyn," +"Texas," "Massachusetts," and "Marblehead." The line to which the +"Yankee" was attached, included, besides that vessel, the "New York," +"Oregon," "Iowa," and "New Orleans." When within three thousand yards +from shore, the first line turned toward the west, leaving us to steam +in the opposite direction. + +The batteries ashore could now be plainly distinguished. Morro Castle, +grim and defiant, seemed to ignore our coming, if the absence of life +was any proof. Lower down on the other side of the entrance where the +Estrella and Catalena batteries were located, there seemed to be more +activity. Men could also be seen running about in some new batteries a +little to the eastward of Morro Castle. It was evident to us at once +that the enemy had not anticipated an attack on such a rainy, windy day. + +On swept the two lines of ships without firing a shot until they formed +a semicircle, with the heavier vessels directly facing the forts; then +the "New York" opened fire with one of her heavy guns, the "Iowa" +following immediately. At this moment, 7:45 a.m., the ships were +arranged as follows, counting from the right: "New York," "Yankee," "New +Orleans," "Massachusetts," "Oregon," "Iowa," "Indiana," "Texas," +"Marblehead," and "Brooklyn." Guarding the extreme left were the "Vixen" +and "Suwanee," and doing similar duty on the other flank were the +"Dolphin" and "Porter." + +The shot from the flagship was the signal for a general bombardment. +There was no settled order of firing, but each ship just "pitched in," +to use a common expression, and banged away at the forts with every +available gun. + +The scene on the gun deck of the "Yankee" was one never to be forgotten. +When the word to commence firing reached us, we sprang to the work at +once. Each crew paid strict attention to its own station, and the +routine of loading and firing went on with the regularity of clockwork. +A number of boxes of the fixed ammunition had been "whipped" up from +below while we were steaming into position, and there was no lack of +death-dealing food for the hungry maws of the battery. + +Not much could be seen of the outside at first, as the task in hand +claimed our strict attention, but after a while an occasional glimpse +was obtained of the other ships and the forts. The heavy battleships, +the "Indiana," "Oregon," "Massachusetts," "Iowa," and "Texas," were lost +in the dense smoke of their guns. It was thrilling to see them, like +moving clouds, emitting streams of fire which shot through the walls of +vapor like flashes of lightning athwart a gloomy sky. + +[Illustration: THE BOMBARDMENT OF MORRO CASTLE, SANTIAGO] + +The noise was terrific. It seemed to gather at times in such an +overwhelming, soul-stunning clamor of sound, that the very air was rent +and split and shattered, and the senses refused further burden. There +was no possibility of hearing the human voice, save at odd intervals +when a brief cessation occurred in the firing. Orders were transmitted +by gestures. + +The smoke was thick and stifling, the saltpetre fumes filling the throat +and lungs, until breathing was difficult. The dense bank of vapor +enveloping the ship also rendered it almost impossible to aim with any +accuracy. We of Number Eight gun were early impressed with this fact, +and "Hay," the second captain, exclaimed during a lull: + +"It's that fellow in charge of Number Six. He won't give us any show. +Just look how he's working his crew. Did you ever see the beat of it?" + +The captain of Number Six, a broker of considerable note in New York, a +member of the Calumet Club, and the son of a distinguished captain in +the Confederate navy, was fighting his gun with savage energy. Under his +direction, and inspired by a running fire of comments from him, the +different members of Number Six crew were literally pouring a hail of +steel upon the batteries. The firing was so rapid, in fact, that it kept +our port completely filled with smoke, much to our sorrow. + +Notwithstanding that fact, "Hay," the second captain of Number Eight, +did such marvellous shooting, that word presently came from Captain +Brownson on the bridge, publicly commending him. We were correspondingly +elated, and worked all the harder. + +It was not until we had been firing some time that we began to take +particular note of our surroundings. At first the novelty of the +situation and a state of excitement, natural under the circumstances, +kept us absorbed in our duties, but when it became apparent that the +engagement was to be a matter of hours--and also that the Spaniards did +not aim very well--we commenced to look about. + +One of the first things to strike me personally, and it was rather +humorous, was the appearance of "Stump," the second loader. Orders had +early been given to avoid exposing ourselves to the enemy's fire as much +as possible. "Stump," than whom no more daring and aggressive man could +be found on board, thought it wise to obey, so he crouched behind the +gun-mount and compressed himself so as to be out of range. From this +position he had only to reach out one hand to train the gun, which was +his special duty. Meanwhile, he continually urged "Hay" to keep on +firing. + +"Doesn't make any difference whether you can see or not," he exclaimed. +"Shoot anyway. Give it to the beggars! That's the ticket, old chap. Now +another. Whoop! did you see that land? Ah-h-h! we are the people." + +As the novelty of the scene gradually wore off we began to enjoy it +hugely. We pumped away at the guns, commenting freely on the enemy's +marksmanship. We felt more like a party watching a fireworks display +than the crew of a warship engaged in bombarding a number of forts. + +The two lines were steaming back and forth in front of the batteries, +firing as the guns would bear. At first, Morro Castle and the smaller +forts maintained a spirited fire, but finally their response to our +fusillade slackened considerably, and it became evident that they had +been driven from their guns. + +The difference in aim between the Spanish gunners and ours was very +perceptible. Their shells invariably passed over the ships or landed +short, and at no time during the engagement were any of the American +vessels in imminent danger. This was not due to length of range either, +as the lines were maintained at from two to four thousand yards. As Bill +put it, "Any Dago that can't hit a flock of barn doors like this fleet, +had better go back home and hoe onions." + +The ships of our fleet also made better targets than did the batteries +ashore. It was certainly easy to distinguish the position of each +vessel, but as the Spanish batteries were nearly all situated a short +distance back from the crest of the ridge with a background little +different in color from that of the battery, we found it difficult to +locate them at times. Our elevation had to be perfect, as with an inch +or two below or above, the projectile would either vanish in the +distance or take effect on the cliffs below the batteries. + +We of Number Eight gun, when the "Yankee" was steaming with the +starboard broadside bearing, managed to slip across the deck and watch +the firing from the ports and deadlights. It was really beautiful to see +the landing of the great shells upon the forts and surrounding earth. +Some battered into the soft spots on the cliffs, sending huge masses of +dirt and débris high into the air; then when the explosion came, there +would follow a great cloud of dust resembling the wavering smoke over a +city fire. + +Others struck the harder portions of the cliff, bursting into a shower +of fragments, each kicking up its own pother of dirt and shattered rock. +At times a shell would land in a crack in the face of the hill, and +immediately following would come an upheaval of stones. These boulders, +many of them of immense size, would roll down the slope and splash in +the water at the base, creating a series of fountain-like cascades. + +Accompanying the display was a continuous roar of explosion and +detonation that echoed and reechoed across the water like the pealing of +tropical thunder. In fact, it was these noises, mingled with the fierce +reports of our guns, which impressed us the most. Taking it all in all, +the scene was spectacular in the extreme. + +"Boys," remarked No. 7 of our crew--"Morrie," we called him--"this sight +is worth all the coaling and standing watches and poor food we have had +to put up with. I would experience it all over again just to see this +bombardment." + +And we heartily agreed with him. + +After a time it seemed as if the admiral was determined to plump shells +into the vicinity of Santiago until there was nothing left to fire at. +There had been a continuous outpouring of projectiles from the guns of +the fleet for over an hour, yet that grim line of gray steel fortresses +still passed and repassed in front of the forts. + +It was really growing monotonous, when something occurred at the gun to +which I was attached that served to give us an exciting minute or two. +"Hay" had just fired a shot which caught one of the new batteries +directly in the centre. The shell was extracted, and another inserted, +but when the second captain pressed the electric firing lanyard, there +was no report. The shell had missed fire. + +"Long Tommy" reached forward to open the breech, but was stopped by a +sharp order from the divisional officer. + +"Don't open that breech till I give the word," he said. + +The electrical connections were examined and the contacts scraped +bright. + +"Stand by," said "Hay" finally; "let's try her again." + +The great gun moved slowly on its pivot while "Hay" worked the elevating +gear. The orders came sharp and clear through the roar of the cannon and +the shriek of the shells. + +As we watched our young gun captain, we saw his set face grow even more +determined, and we knew that he had got his sight to suit him and that +he was about to fire the gun. + +With a gesture of disgust he threw down the firing lanyard. + +"It's no go," he said, "that cartridge will have to come out." + +We looked at one another; it was a serious moment. The bombardment was +now at its height, and the thunderous roaring of the guns was increasing +with every passing second. Above and around us the vicious reports of +the "Yankee's" five-inch rapid-firers seemed like one continuous volley. +A hoarse cheer came from a nearby ship, proclaiming the landing of some +favored shot. + +"Hurry, fellows," shouted "Hay" in an ecstasy of impatience. "Lively +there; we're missing all the sport." + + +CHAPTER XI. + +A PERILOUS MOMENT. + +The scene on the gun deck of the "Yankee" at that moment would have made +an eloquent subject for the brush of a Meissonier. It was the deck of a +warship in battle, and the spectacle enacted was accompanied, by an +orchestra of the mighty guns of a fleet in action. + +Imagine a compartment of steel, a compartment filled with smoke that +surged and eddied as the ship lunged forward or rolled upon a heavy +swell. + +Imagine scattered about in this pungent vapor many groups of men, men +half-naked, perspiring; their glistening bodies smeared and stained with +the grime of conflict. + +Imagine in the centre of one of these groups a wicked, menacing gun--a +five-inch breechloader, its long, lean barrel raised shoulder-high upon +the apex of a conical gun-mount, near the base of which are significant +wooden cases, some empty and others filled with elongated, formidable +cartridges; and pails of black, dirty water ascum with powder; and other +objects each significant of war. + +Imagine these things, and then understand that this gun, made to be +turned against an enemy, has now turned against its workers. In the +bore, pent in by the polished breechblock, is a cartridge which has +failed in its duty. It is apparently defective. + +The tide of battle is surging on; other ships of the bombarding fleet +are still pouring their shot and shell upon the grim array of forts +ashore; other guns of this ship are pursuing their duty with savage +energy. But this gun is silent. + +The men wax impatient. It is the height of the conflict. Many shots have +been fired, and many more will yet be required to subdue the enemy. To +be "out of action" will mean passiveness in the face of the enemy. +Anything but that. + +There is a rivalry between the guns' crews. It is a rivalry as to which +shall make the best shots and create the most damage. The members of +Number Eight--the after gun on the port side--are proud of their record. +Their second captain--he whom they call "Hay"--has received the public +commendation of the captain himself, sent down from the bridge in the +midst of the battle. It is a mark of distinction not given freely, and +Number Eight is eager for more honors. + +But the men have not forgotten a similar case, occurring on the voyage +down the coast, when another cartridge failed, and on being extracted +from the breech chamber, exploded, killing a marine corporal and +wounding others. + +The men of Number Eight have not forgotten that tragedy, and that is why +their gun is now to them a menacing creature of steel, whose breath may +be the breath of death. They stand in groups, they eye it, they +speculate, and they feel that a desperate and perilous duty is before +them. + +The risk must be taken. The cartridge must be extracted. It is a fortune +of war which all who enlist must expect. But it is one thing to fall +before an enemy's blow, and another to lose your life at the stroke of +your own weapon. + +The officer of the division steps forward. + +"We will see if we can't take it out without much danger," he says, +briefly. "Bring a rope." + +One is hastily procured, and the first captain--a great, brawny, +good-natured fellow, who has spent years at sea--deftly fastens the +bight of the rope to the handle of the breechblock. He then retreats a +short distance and signifies his readiness. + +"When I give the word," calls out the officer, "pull handsomely. +Ready--pull away!" + +From out the smoke-filled compartment men lean forward, +eagerly--anxiously. They instinctively shrink back as the breech plug +slowly moves. Then, when it finally opens, revealing the brass head of +the cartridge inside the firing chamber, a sigh of relief comes from +all. + +But the danger is not yet over. + +The defective projectile must be taken out and tossed into the sea. The +second loader steps forward at a signal from the gun captain. This +second loader is "Stump." He shows no fear, but draws out the heavy +cartridge, handling it as he would a harmless dummy, and passes it to +another man and myself. Carrying it between us--and carrying it +gingerly--we hasten to the side, and with a powerful swing, launch the +hundred-pound projectile through the open port. + +It barely clears the port sill, coming so close to it, in fact, that for +one breathless second we think that it will strike. As the shell passes +from view, another sigh of relief comes from the spectators. "Hay" +passes a grimy towel over his perspiring face. + +"Whew! that was a ticklish moment," he said, solemnly. "I'd just as soon +not handle any more defective shells." + +Which exactly represented our sentiments. + +Three minutes later Number Eight was barking away at the forts ashore, +and the episode of the cartridge that missed fire was a thing of the +past. + +The bombardment of Santiago had now lasted over an hour. As yet not one +of the American vessels had been reached by a shell, nor had the forts +suffered any perceptible damage. The fleet, roaring and thundering, was +swinging back and forth through the great semicircle, the smoke from the +guns was banking along the beach, and from Morro Castle and its +attending batteries came sharp, defiant answers to the interminable +volleys fired by our squadron. + +"It's a good thing Uncle Sam's shot locker is pretty capacious," +remarked Flagg, as we shoved another cartridge into the yawning breech +of our five-inch gun. "If we haven't fired over three hundred rounds +since seven o'clock I can't count." + +"It'll be double that before we get through," grunted "Long Tommy," as +we stepped back from the loaded gun. "Steady, there. Stand by!" + +A motion to "Hay," who held the firing lanyard, and almost instantly +came the sharp, vicious report of the breechloader. Each man sprang back +to his station, and the process of reloading went on without delay. The +battle smoke from Number Six, which had filled our port for some time, +cleared away just then, enabling us to see "Hay's" last shot strike +squarely upon the outer line of earthworks of the Punta Gorda battery. + +"Splendid shot, 'Hay'!" exclaimed our division officer, briefly. + +"Bully, that's what it is--bully!" cried "Stump," patting the second +captain upon the back. + +"Hurray! it's knocked out a gun," reported "Dye," from nearer the port. +"I saw the piece keel over backward." + +There was no time for further comment. When a gun's crew is firing at +will, and the excitement of combat has taken possession of the +individual members, the task in hand requires all one's attention. We of +Number Eight had suffered one delay, and we really felt that the lost +time must be made up. + +Personal impressions in battle have been described in prose and poem +until the subject is hackneyed, but it may be of interest to note that +the impressions experienced by the novices in naval warfare manning the +"Yankee," during the bombardment of Santiago, consisted mainly of one +feeling. It was well-voiced by "Hod," who said many days later: + +"I felt just as I did one time when I attended Barnum's circus in +Madison Square Garden. They had three rings, two platforms, a lot of +tight-ropes and trapezes and other things all going at the same time. +Before I had been in the place three minutes I was wishing for a hundred +eyes. And that is the way I felt at Santiago." + +What we saw of the bombardment was limited to the range of our gun port, +but that little was worth all the hardships and toil and discomforts of +the whole cruise. The spectacle of the fleet itself was almost enough. +To see the great ships ploughing through the water, each enveloped in a +shroud of smoke, shot here and there with tinges of ruddy flame; to see +that mighty line swinging and swaying in front of the enemy; to see the +shells land and explode in fort and battery; to see the great gaps torn +in cliff and earthworks; to see the geyser-like fountains of water spout +up here and there as the Spanish shells struck the surface of the +bay--to see all this, and to hear the accompanying thunder and +booming of the guns, was payment in full for coal handling and +standing watch and "Government straight." Not one of the "Yankee" boys +would have missed the spectacle for anything earth could offer. + +[Illustration: ON THE GUN DECK DURING THE BOMBARDMENT] + +During the second hour of the attack we were enabled to observe the work +being done by other vessels of the fleet. Near us was the gallant "New +Orleans," the ship purchased from Brazil. Her foreign build made it easy +to distinguish her, and, as she was the only craft using smokeless +powder, she presented a prominent mark. The guns on board the "New +Orleans" were being served rapidly and with precision, and we saw a +number of shots strike well within the limits of the batteries. + +At our end of the line the flagship "New York," the "Iowa," and the +"Oregon" were pouring an appalling fire into some new earthworks near +Morro Castle. It was seen that but very few shots were sent in the +direction of the latter, and it transpired that Admiral Sampson had +issued strict orders to the fleet to avoid endangering Lieutenant Hobson +and his brave companions, who were supposed to be imprisoned in old +Morro. Before the end of the second hour the "New York" and the "New +Orleans" had succeeded in completely silencing Cayo Battery, +dismantling the guns and wrecking the outer fortifications. + +At the other end of the line Admiral Schley's division was doing +splendid work. We could see the "Massachusetts," "Brooklyn," and "Texas" +move in toward shore and open fire at close range. It was a stirring +sight, this mighty duel between warships and forts. As compared with the +cliffs and hills of the land, the ships seemed veritable pigmies, but in +this strife the pigmies were all powerful. + +The guns of the fleet were working havoc in the forts ashore, and we +could see the Spanish artillerymen abandon battery after battery. Cayo, +Punta Gorda, Estrella, and Catalena were rapidly being vacated. The +former was entirely out of the fight, and the others were replying only +at intervals. Presently the "Massachusetts" and "Marblehead" advanced +within two thousand yards of the Estrella fortification and began such a +terrific firing that within a few minutes a great cloud of smoke +appeared above the works. The Spanish guns became quiet at once, and a +rousing cheer went up from the fleet. + +"Hay," in his exuberance, wanted to send a five-inch shell from our gun +at the burning fort, but the distance was too great and he was +compelled to be content with a couple of well-aimed shots at the +nearest battery. + +"I wish we had thirteen-inch guns and the range was about ten feet," +grumbled "Stump." "I'd like to smash the whole outfit in a pair of +minutes. By Cricky! we have poured enough good old American steel into +those forts to build a bridge across the Atlantic, but the dagoes are +still giving us guff." + +"It won't last much longer," said Tommy reassuringly. "From the looks of +those batteries they haven't much fight left. I'll bet a hardtack +against a prune we haul off at four bells." + +"Licked?" queried Flagg. + +"Nope." + +"Will the Spaniards give up?" asked "Dye." + +Tommy hesitated before replying. It was a brief lull and we were resting +at the gun. The crew, grimy, dirty, battle-stained and tired, was glad +to lean against the side of the deck or a convenient stanchion. Tommy's +long service in the regular navy as apprentice and seaman made his +opinions official, and we were always glad to listen to his +explanations. + +"Will the Spaniards give up?" repeated "Dye." + +"Yes, and no," replied the first captain thoughtfully. "You see, it's +this way. Those dagoes are not fools by any means. They have selected +good places for their batteries, and they know earthworks are hard to +destroy. They aren't like the old-style stone forts that could be +knocked to pieces in no time. When a shell, even a thirteen-incher, hits +a mound of earth it tears up the dirt and spoils the look of the +parapet, but it really doesn't do much harm. To completely ruin an +earthwork battery, you must dismantle every gun in it. And that's pretty +hard to do. Mark my words, those fellows will give us a shot of defiance +after we quit." + +"What's the idea of all this bombarding then?" asked "Stump." "We'd be +much better 'caulking off,' seems to me." + +"And think what it costs the Government," I suggested. "The cost of the +projectiles and the wear and tear to guns and ships must be something +enormous." + +Tommy's answer was drowned in the thundering roar of the "New York's" +battery, which opened fire just then a short distance away, but it was +evident he agreed with me. A moment later Number Eight went into action +once more, and we worked the breechloader without cessation until the +conclusion of the bombardment, which came a half hour later. + +The fortifications ashore had entirely ceased firing, and at ten +o'clock a signal to stop bombarding appeared on the flagship. It was +obeyed with reluctance, and it was evident the crews of the various +ships were anxious and eager to continue. As the fleet drew off there +was a puff of smoke in one corner of Punta Gorda battery and a shell +whizzed over the "Massachusetts." A second shot came from one of the +earthworks, and still another from Punta Gorda; then the firing ceased +again. + +"Didn't I tell you so?" quietly remarked Tommy. "The beggars ain't +licked yet." + +"But they got a taste of Uncle Sam's strength," said Flagg. + +"And I'll bet anything they haven't enough whole guns left to equip one +small fort," added "Stump." + +"I heard the skipper say the destruction of life must be enormous," +spoke up the "Kid," stopping on his way aft to deliver a message. "He +watched the whole thing with his glass. He told 'Mother Hubbub' the +moral effect was worth all the trouble." + +"That's an expert opinion," observed "Hay," wiping off the breech of the +gun. "Now you've had your little say, youngster, so just trot along." + +The fleet presently reached its former station several miles off shore, +and the bombardment of Santiago was at an end. + +No attempt was made to clean ship until late in the afternoon. The men +were permitted to lie around decks and rest, smoke, and discuss the +fight, which they did with exceeding interest. When dinner was piped at +noon, the shrill call of the boatswain's whistle was welcome music. A +sea battle is a good appetizer. + +About four o'clock in the afternoon the fleet was treated to a spectacle +both novel and humorous. The little "Dolphin," a gunboat of not fifteen +hundred tons displacement, which was keeping guard close in shore, began +to use her guns. A battery near the channel returned the fire, but the +plucky little craft maintained her position, and from the series of +rapid reports coming from her four-inch breechloaders and six-pounders, +it was evident she had something important on hand. + +The "Yankee" was signalled to run in to her assistance, but before we +could reach a position, the "Dolphin" had accomplished her task. It was +not until then that we discovered what she had been doing. + +"May I never see home again if the gunboat hasn't corralled a railway +train in a cut!" exclaimed "Patt." "Just look there, fellows. See that +ridge of earth on the other side of the channel? Just under it is a +track running into a cut and--" + +"The 'Dolphin' has closed up both ends," interrupted "Stump," with a +laugh. "She's knocked down a pile of earth and débris on the track and +the, train can't get out. What a bully trick." + +Flagg produced a glass, and after a careful scrutiny reported that he +could see part of the train lying on its side at the eastern end of the +cut. He could also distinguish a number of bodies, and it was plain that +the Spanish loss had been heavy. It was not until later that we learned +the details, which were as follows: + +After the bombardment the "Dolphin" remained at her station, firing +occasionally at the batteries ashore. She was directly opposite a cut in +the cliff, through which runs a little railway connecting the iron mines +with the dock in Santiago harbor. During the bombardment, a train loaded +with Spanish troops remained in the cut, and at its conclusion attempted +to leave. It was espied by the "Dolphin" and driven back. It tried the +other end with like results, and for an hour this game of hide-and-seek +was kept up, to the discomfiture of the train. While waiting for the +train to appear at either end, the gallant little gunboat shelled a +small blockhouse, and in time disabled it. Then she steamed back to the +fleet and reported that she had "wrecked a trainload of troops and +dismantled a blockhouse." When she left for her station again she was +applauded by the whole squadron. We learned later that one hundred and +fifty men were killed on the train. + +Shortly after supper the "Yankee's" whaleboat was called away and sent +to the flagship, returning an hour later with sealed orders from the +admiral. + +At midnight we quietly steamed from our station and passed out to sea, +our destination being unknown to all save the commanding officer. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +IN SEARCH OF ADVENTURE. + +When a man-of-war sails from port under what are called "sealed orders," +which means that the orders given to the captain by the admiral are not +to be opened for a certain number of hours, or until the ship reaches a +certain degree of latitude, there is a mystery about the affair which +appeals strongly to the crew. + +We of the "Yankee" felt very curious as to our destination when we left +Santiago that night, and the interest was greatly stimulated by the +discovery, before we had gone very far, that the "St. Louis" and +"Marblehead" were following us. + +The "Rumor Committee" went into active session without delay. + +"Bet I can guess it," said "Stump," as a half dozen of us met in the +gangway. "We are bound for a cable station somewhere." + +"To cable the news of the fight?" said Flagg. + +"No. That was done by one of the other ships." + +"What then?" + +"To get permission from Washington to go ashore and reclaim all that +steel we wasted in the bombardment." + +There was a laugh at this sally. + +"I have been figuring on the cost of the fight," remarked "Hay," after a +pause. "A five-inch shell is worth $60, and as we fired about two +hundred and fifty, it means just $15,000 worth of five-inchers alone." + +"Then there are the six-pounders." + +"They cost $20 a shot," resumed "Hay," reflectively. "I guess we must +have fired about a million of them." + +"Hardly that," smiled Tommy, "but we expended enough to bring the total +up to $18,000 at the very least. War is a costly thing, boys." + +When the quartermaster on duty came off watch he joined us in the +gangway, and reported that we were steering a straight course to the +southward. + +"If we keep it up we'll land somewhere near the Antarctic Ocean," +remarked Kennedy, doubtfully. "I wonder--" + +"I know, I know," broke in the "Kid," eagerly. "We're going for ice." + +The burning question was solved at daybreak. The morning sun brought +into view a stretch of highland which proved to be Cuba. We had steamed +out to sea on scouting duty, and had doubled on our tracks, as it were. +The port we found to be Guantanamo, a small place some forty miles to +the eastward of Santiago. + +The town itself lies on a bay connected with the sea by a tortuous and +winding channel. The entrance is protected by a fort and several +blockhouses, and when we steamed inshore we espied the "St. Louis" and +"Marblehead" laying to, waiting for us outside. + +The "Marblehead" preceding us, we entered the harbor, and the two ships +began a lively bombardment, while the "St. Louis" lay outside. Shortly +after the firing began, a Spanish gunboat was seen steaming out past the +fort. A few shots in her direction sent her scurrying back again, and +that was the last seen of her during the fight. After the battle of the +previous day, this affair seemed insignificant, and aroused little +interest. + +The blockhouses were destroyed and the fort silenced after a short +period of firing, and the "St. Louis" proceeded with the duty which +evidently had caused our visit. It was the cutting of a cable +connecting Guantanamo with the outer world. + +Our little fleet steamed to sea in the afternoon, returning just before +dark. The fort, showing signs of reanimation, was treated to another +bombardment, which effectually settled it. A small fishing hamlet +composed of a dozen flimsy huts of bamboo was set on fire and burned to +the ground. When we left Guantanamo shortly after dark, bound back for +Santiago, we had the satisfaction of knowing that one more blow had been +struck against Spanish rule in the fair isle of Cuba. + +At dawn the following day, Santiago was sighted. The fleet was still +lying off the entrance like a group of huge gray cats watching a mouse +hole. As we passed in, the flagship began signalling, and it soon became +noised about the ship that we had received orders to leave for Mole St. +Nicholas after dark. + +"It looks as if the 'Yankee' will come in handy as a messenger boy," +said "Stump." "When the admiral wants 'any old thing' he tells his flag +officer to send the Naval Reserve ship." + +"It's a good thing to be appreciated," grinned "Dye." "To tell the +truth, though, I'd rather be on the move than lying here watching the +land." + +"We don't want to be away when Cervera comes out," remarked Flagg. + +"When he comes out," retorted "Stump," emphasizing the first word +meaningly. "The old gentleman knows when he is well off and he'll stay +inside." + +"Which, as the Texan said when he was accused of stealing a horse," put +in Tommy, "remains to be proved. Just you keep your eye on the gun and +wait." + +"There goes another string of signals on the 'New York,'" exclaimed +"Dye," pointing toward the flagship. "Whiz! I'd hate to be a signalman +aboard of her. They are always at it." + +The flagship of a fleet like that assembled in front of Santiago during +the blockade, is certainly kept very busy. In the naval service, +everything in the way of routine emanates from the flagship. Every ship +in the squadron, for instance, takes the uniform of the day from her. +The number of sick each morning must be reported by signal; all orders +(and they are legion) are transmitted by wigwag or bunting; scores of +questions are asked daily by each ship, and it is indeed seldom that the +signal yards of a flagship are bare of colored flags. + +In the American navy the present methods of communication are by the +use of flags representing numerals, by the Meyer code of wigwag signals, +and by a system of colored electric bulbs suspended in the rigging. The +latter system is called after its inventor, Ardois. + +In the daytime, when ships are within easy distance, wigwagging is +commonly used. A small flag attached to a staff is held by the signalman +in such a position that it can be seen by the ship addressed. A code +similar to the Morse telegraph alphabet is employed. By this system the +flag, when waved to the right, represents 1, or a dot; and 2, or a dash, +when inclined to the left. Each word is concluded by bringing the flag +directly to the front, which motion is called 3. Naval signalmen, +generally apprentices, become very expert, and the rapidity with which +they can wigwag sentences is really remarkable. + +The Ardois system of night signalling consists of electric lights +attached to the rigging. There are four groups of double lamps, the two +lamps in each group showing red and white respectively. By the +combination of these lights letters can be formed, and so, letter by +letter, a word, and thence an order, can be spelled out for the guidance +of the ships of a squadron. The lamps are worked by a keyboard generally +placed on the upper bridge. + +The "flag hoist" system, as it is termed, consists of the displaying of +different flags at some conspicuous place like the masthead. There are a +great many flags and pennants, differing in color, shape, and design, +each having its own particular meaning, and when three or four are shown +aloft together, a number is formed, the significance of which can only +be determined by referring to a code book. Each navy has a private code, +which is guarded with great care. So particular are Governments in this +respect, that the commanding officer of every ship has instructions to +go to any length to destroy the code book, if capture is imminent. +During the late war with Spain it was reported at one time that the +Spanish code had been secured. This means that the Dons will be +compelled to adopt an entirely new code of signals. + +Besides the above systems, signalling in the navy includes various other +devices. For instance, the fog whistle can be utilized in connection +with the Meyer system of numerals. One toot represents 1, two short +toots 2, and a long blast the end of a word. In a fog, this is the only +means practicable. Similar sounds can be made by horn or gunfire. At +night searchlights are often used by waving the beam from the right to +the left, thus forming an electric wigwag, or by flash like the +heliograph. On small ships not fitted up with the Ardois system, the +Very night signal is used. This consists of a pistol made for the +purpose, which discharges lights similar to those found in the ordinary +Roman candles. The colors are red and green, and they are fired in +combinations expressing the numbers from 1 to 9 and 0, so that the +numbers to four digits contained in the signal book may be displayed. + +The "Yankee" was rigged with the Ardois lamps, and she also carried all +the necessary signal flags and other paraphernalia required to +communicate with other vessels of the fleet. The signalmen on board had +been drilled in their work as members of the Naval Reserve prior to the +beginning of the war, and they were experts to a man. + +On the evening of June 8th, while we were idling about decks awaiting +the order to get under way, a small boat came alongside, having as a +passenger a captain of the army. He proved to be a special agent who had +succeeded in visiting the vicinity of Santiago, and was on his way to +Mole St. Nicholas for the purpose of cabling to Washington. The +mysterious manner in which he boarded the ship, and the quickness with +which we steamed from port, created some excitement, and we felt the +importance of our mission. + +The night was dark and muggy--an ideal time for torpedo-boat work, and +extra lookouts were posted by order of the captain. Nothing of interest +occurred, however, until early next morning. The ship was ploughing +along at a steady gait, and those of the watch who were not on actual +duty were snatching what sleep they could in out-of-the-way corners, +when suddenly the call to "general quarters" was sounded. Long practice +caused prompt obedience, and the various guns' crews were soon ready for +action. + +Very few of us knew just what was on foot until the "Kid," in passing, +contrived to convey the interesting information that a big Spanish fleet +had been sighted dead ahead. + +"That's funny," remarked "Stump," trying to peer from the port. "We are +not changing our course any. Surely the 'old man' doesn't intend to +tackle them alone." + +"I guess the 'Kid' is 'stringing' us," observed Tommy, sagely. "He's up +to that trick every time. We're not chasing Spanish fleets alone. The +captain knows his business all right, all right." + +Word was brought from the upper deck presently, that we were in pursuit +of a strange steamer which had been discovered lurking on the horizon. +She failed to respond to our signals, and chase was made forthwith. The +"Yankee's" speed soon proved superior to that of the stranger, and +within an hour we had her close aboard. + +"It's an English tramp from the looks of her," reported "Hay," who had a +choice position near the gun port. "She's got a dozen people on the +bridge and they are badly scared." + +A blank six-pounder was fired, but she did not heed it, so a shot was +fired across the stranger's bows, and she hove-to in short order. + +"Steamer ahoy!" came faintly to our ears from on deck. "What steamer is +that?" + +The answer reached us in disjointed sentences, but we heard enough to +set us laughing. Tommy smacked his hand upon the breech of the gun and +chuckled: "It's one of those everlasting press boats. The sea is full of +'em." + +"What in the deuce did they run for, I wonder?" exclaimed Kennedy. + +"Afraid of us, I suppose. It's ticklish times around here, and I don't +blame them. Press boats are not made to fight, you know." + +"That idea doesn't carry out their motto," drawled "Dye." + +"How's that?" asked Flagg, innocently. + +"Why, they claim that the pen is mightier than the sword, don't they?" + +After the laugh had subsided, "Morrie," one of the Rochester detail, who +acted as a shellman in the crew of Number Eight, said seriously: + +"I am a great admirer of the press representatives down here, fellows. +They are capable, good writers, and there is not a branch of the whole +outfit that has been more faithful to duty. They were sent here to get +the news, and they get it every time. There has never been a war more +ably reported than this, and, although the correspondents have to hustle +day and night, they still find time to keep us informed, and to give us +an occasional paper from home. They are good fellows all." + +"Amen!" said "Hay." + +After a time, the press boat sheered off, and we continued on our +course. Later in the morning another steamer was sighted. The "Yankee" +was sent after her at full speed. The chase crowded on all steam, but +she was soon overhauled, and found to be a Norwegian trader. After a +satisfactory explanation she was permitted to go. Three hours later the +"Yankee" dropped anchor off Mole St. Nicholas, a Haytian seaport +brought into some prominence through the location of a cable station. + +Mole St. Nicholas is a little collection of tropical-looking houses set +among palm trees at the foot of a large hill, which in places aspires to +the dignity of a mountain. The town itself is rather picturesquely +situated, the foliage-covered background and beautiful inlet of pure +clear water giving it a natural setting very attractive to our eyes. + +After we had been anchored an hour or so, a bumboat came out, manned by +a crew of two coal-black negroes who spoke a French patois, intermingled +with comical English. The boat itself was a queer, stubby craft +propelled by home-made oars. Before the morning was well advanced the +ship was surrounded by boats carrying shells, limes, prickly pears, +green cocoanuts, bananas, fish, and "water monkeys." The latter were +jugs made of a porous clay, and they were eagerly purchased. The "water +monkey" is a natural cooler, and when placed in a draught of air will +keep water at a temperature delightful in a warm latitude. + +We parted with our mysterious passenger, the army officer, and weighed +anchor just as the sun was setting. Lookouts were posted early, and +special instruction given by the captain to maintain a vigilant watch. +The fact that we were in the very theatre of war, and that several +Spanish cruisers, including the Spanish torpedo boat "Terror," were +reported as being in the vicinity, kept a number of us on deck. + +"It is one thing lying off a port with a lot of other ships and +bombarding a few measly earthworks, and another to be sneaking about in +the darkness like this, not knowing when you will run your nose against +an enemy twice as large," said Flagg, as several of Number Eight's crew +met on the forecastle. "I tell you, it feels like war." + +"Reminds me of a story I heard once," put in "Stump," lazily. He was +lounging over the rail with his back to us and his words came faintly. +The deck was shrouded in gloom, and the vague outlines of the +pilot-house, only a dozen feet away, was the length of our vision aft. A +soft, purling sound came from over the side where the waves lapped +against the steel hull. A shovel grated stridently now and then in the +fire room, and occasionally a block rattled or a halliard flapped +against the foremast overhead. The surroundings and the strange, weird +"feel" of the darkness were peculiarly impressive. + +"I don't know whether we care to hear any story," observed "Hay." +"Better keep it until later, 'Stump.' The night's too wonderful to do +anything except lounge around and think. Whew! isn't it dark?" + +"This story I was going to tell you requires a setting like this," +replied "Stump." "It is about a ship that started from England years and +years ago. She had as passengers a lot of lunatics who were to be +experimented upon by a doctor about as crazy as they. He bought the +ship, fitted it up with a number of little iron cages, and set forth +with his queer cargo. Ten days out, the lunatics broke from their +quarters and captured the vessel. One of them, who had been a sea +captain in his time, took charge, and proceeded to carry out a little +idea of his own, which was to make sane people crazy." + +"That was turning the tables with a vengeance," drawled "Dye," from his +perch on an upturned pail. "I wonder if he was any relation to +'Cutlets'?" + +"A lineal ancestor, I'll bet a biscuit," chimed in "Hay." "Don't you +remember the quotation, 'By these acts you will know their forefathers,' +or something like that?" + +"Well," resumed "Stump," "the crazy captain put the doctor and the crew +in the cages and began to feed them hardtack and berth-deck scouse and +salt-horse and--" + +[Illustration: THE SEARCHLIGHT "SWEEPING BACK AND FORTH ACROSS THE +BLACK OF THE HORIZON"] + +"Must have been a Government naval contractor in his time," murmured +"Morrie." + +"I bet I know the rest," exclaimed the "Kid," coming up in time to grasp +the situation. "The captain set his prisoners to carrying coal from the +after hold forward and then back again, didn't he?" + +"If you fellows think you can tell the story better than I can, go +ahead," retorted "Stump," in disgust. "You are like a lot of old maids +at a sewing circle. I give--" + +"What was that?" suddenly cried "Hay," springing to his feet. "If it +wasn't a flash of light I'll eat my--" + +A figure hastily emerged from the gloom aft. + +"Go to your stations at once, you men," called out a voice. "General +quarters!" + +As we scurried toward the hatch a great shaft of light appeared off the +port beam, and began sweeping back and forth across the black of the +horizon. + +"Good heavens!" exclaimed "Hay," "it's a searchlight on some man-of-war. +We're in for it now!" + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A NARROW ESCAPE. + +The finger of light sweeping the heavens above the distant horizon meant +to us the presence either of friend or foe, and the question was one we +had little desire to solve at that moment. Rumors of Spanish warships +lurking in the waters adjacent to Cuba were rife, and it had even been +stated that another squadron inferior only to Cervera's fleet was +somewhere in the neighborhood. + +We of the "Yankee" were willing, and I may say, without undue boasting, +eager to meet any vessel of equal size or even larger, but to give +battle to a whole fleet was a little too much. Nevertheless, when the +word was passed to go to "general quarters," there was no sulking nor +hesitancy. + +The battery was ready in record time. + +Our gun was placed in trim, ammunition hatches opened, cartridges +whipped on deck, and the piece prepared for instant use so rapidly that +the officer of the division, Lieutenant Greene, gave us warm praise. + +Then we waited. + +It is difficult for a layman--a citizen who has not experienced the test +of action and danger in battle--to understand or appreciate our feelings +that night. It is hard to describe them, to paint with mere words the +intense seriousness and gravity of the situation. You can imagine a dark +night at sea--a night so black that the senses feel oppressed. You can +add to these a thrill of impending danger and a vision of capture by a +cruel enemy and the thought that the very next second will sound the +signal for an uproar and outbreak of combat, but your impressions will +fall far short of the reality--that must be experienced to be +appreciated. + +As we stood at our stations surrounding Number Eight gun, I tried to +read the faces of my companions, to see if I could find in them traces +of worry or anxiety, or of fear. The situation warranted even the latter +emotion. The dim light cast by the nickering battle lanterns sent +fantastic shadows dancing over deck and bulkhead, and caused the men at +the guns to resemble, in their stained white working clothes, so many +gaunt spectres. + +But they were spectres with a grim purpose in view, and as the officer +of the division strode back and forth, alert and watchful, they followed +his movements with their eyes, eager for the word that would set them in +action. They were not veterans, and their experience in war could have +been measured by days, but they were honestly ready to fight and to shed +the last drop of their blood for the flag waving over the taffrail. + +It was a ticklish situation. Even the "Kid," with his careless, +happy-go-lucky mind, would have admitted that; but as time passed +without bringing a break in the monotony of waiting, we began to feel +restless. The tension was still great, but the first sense of +apprehension was gone. + +"I do wish something would happen," muttered "Hay," after a while. "Can +you see anything from that port, 'Morrie'?" + +"A wall of blackness, that's all," replied the Rochester man. + +"We've changed our course several times," spoke up Flagg. "I think the +'old man' is scooting for cover." + +"Fool if he didn't," growled Tommy. "They have a pretty habit of +court-martialling naval officers when they risk their ship +unnecessarily. If Captain Brownson should fail to do all in his power +to escape from what his judgment tells him is overwhelming odds, he'd +find himself in trouble. Discretion is the better part of valor, even in +the navy." + +Suddenly we began to notice a peculiar glow tinging the darkness, and +reflecting from the polished parts of the gun. It came suddenly and with +a spurt of ruddy light unmistakable. + +"It's a fire somewhere," exclaimed Flagg. "Look! it's getting brighter." + +"It comes from this ship," cried "Stump," edging toward the port. "Is it +possible the old hooker is on fire?" + +We waited for the ringing of the alarm bell, or the call to "fire +quarters," but the minutes slipped by without the summons. Outside, the +ruddy glare tinged the surface of the sea, sparkling from foam-crested +waves, and forming a circle of dancing light through which the "Yankee" +speeded on in her flight for safety. + +Our curiosity increased apace, and we watched eagerly for passing +messengers or for some stray word that would explain the peculiar +phenomenon. It was Kennedy who finally solved the mystery--Kennedy the +luckless, he whom we dubbed "Lucky Bag," because of his propensity to +allow his wearing apparel to find its way into the clutches of "Jimmy +Legs." Kennedy had slipped near the port and was trying to perform the +difficult feat of scanning the upper deck from the opening. + +"Come back here and stop that 'rubber-necking,' No. 7," called out +Tommy. "Do you want to get on the report?" + +"For the hundred and 'steenth time," added "Stump," with a grin. + +"Perhaps he's seasick," suggested "Dye." "It's about due. He hasn't +heaved up his boots since noon." + +"Did you hear what 'Cutlets' said to him yesterday?" spoke up "Hay." "He +was 'wigging' Kennedy, and he remarked in his tender way, 'Look here, +you hero, why don't you brace up and be a man? You are continually sick +or on the report, and you aren't worth your salt. Get down below now, +and fill your billet.' Poor devil! he tries to do his best, I guess." + +Just then Kennedy faced around toward us and we saw that he was +laughing. + +"What do you think?" he said. "It's a fire after all." + +"A fire? Where?" we gasped simultaneously. + +"In the furnaces. I saw a big flame leaping from the funnel. Gee! they +must be whooping her up below to beat the band. Coal piled up to the +top of the flues." + +"It's oil," exclaimed Tommy, gravely. "They are feeding the fires with +crude oil. That means the last resort, fellows. The 'old man' is trying +to get every ounce of steam possible." + +Our curiosity satisfied, we felt more at ease, and we lounged at our +stations and listened to the banging of furnace doors and grating of +shovels in the fire room below. Occasionally one of us would venture an +opinion or try to exchange views, and "Stump" even started a story, but +in the main we were quiet and watchful. + +From the swaying and trembling of the hull it was evident the "Yankee" +was being pushed at her utmost speed. Mess gear rattled in the chests, +the deck quivered, and from down in the lower depths came the quick +throb-throb of the overworked engines. Presently the red glare caused by +the upleaping flames from the funnel died away, and darkness settled +down again. + +"I guess we are making it," observed Tommy. "We have been a good two +hours racing at this gait, which means a matter of almost forty miles." + +"They might let us take a run on deck," grumbled Flagg. "What's the use +of holding up this gun all night? It's getting monotonous." + +"Here comes the 'Kid,'" exclaimed "Dye." "He may have some news." + +The youngster brought a message to Lieutenant Greene. As he started off, +he whispered: + +"We are going to 'secure' in a few moments. It has been a great scoot. I +heard the captain say to 'Mother Hubbub' that it would go down in +history as a masterly retreat." + +"Was it a Spanish fleet?" queried "Hay." + +"They are not certain. The skipper now thinks that it was a convoy of +transports bringing the army of occupation. He didn't stop to find out, +though. Say, you fellows look tired. Why don't you 'pipe down'?" + +He scurried off with a laugh, and we were just settling back for another +siege of it when the welcome order came to "secure." The order was +executed in a jiffy, and then those who had the off watch piled into +their hammocks with a celerity seldom equalled. Santiago was reached +early the following morning, and before the day was over we heard that +our neighbors of the night before were, as the captain had suspected, a +fleet of transports bringing troops from the United States. + +"Which doesn't alter the fact that we displayed wisdom in taking a +'sneak,'" commented Tommy, grimly. "It's a clever chief who knows when +to retreat." + +The great gray ships still tossed idly on the rolling blue sea when we +took our station at the right of the line. + +It seemed more like a panorama, arranged for the amusement of an +admiring crowd, than a fleet of floating forts ready at a moment's +notice to pour out death and destruction. + +The flagship "New York," gay with signal bunting, was the centre of a +fleet of launches and small boats. The boats' crews, in white duck, +lounged in their places, while the captains were aboard conferring with +the admiral. + +The torpedo boat "Porter" flashed in and out between the grim +battleships in an almost playful way. + +A signal boy on the "Brooklyn" held a long wigwag conversation with the +flagship, the bit of bright color showing sharply against the +lead-colored turret. + +It was hard to realize that only a few days ago these same ships, that +now rested so calmly and majestically, were enveloped in clouds of +smoke, their great guns spitting forth fire and a fearful hail of steel. + +We looked at picturesque old Morro on the bluff, and there, close to +the lighthouse, still floated the Spanish colors. It was aggravating, +and we would like to have shot the hateful bunting away. + +We had no sooner reached our station than the boatswain's call echoed +from one end of the ship to the other, "Away gig." Whereupon the gig's +crew rushed below and "broke out" clean whites. No matter what happens, +the gig's crew must always be clean, both in person and apparel. + +Our gig soon joined the fleet of waiting boats at the flagship's +gangway, and lay there while the captain went aboard. + +The skipper returned about noon and went forward. Immediately, we heard +the cry "All hands on the gig falls." Then, before the boat was fairly +out of water, we heard the engine bell jingle. + +We were off again. + +Some active member of the "Rumor Committee" said we were bound for +Jamaica. And after consultation with a signal boy, who came aft to read +the patent log, we found that we were heading for that island. + +The wind was dead ahead and blowing fresh and cool, but the sun was hot, +and the boatswain's mates were instructed to keep the men in the shade +as much as possible. + +The stress and strain of the night before made the few hours of +"caulking off," that we now enjoyed, particularly grateful. + +We lay so thick on the windward side of the spar deck under the awning, +that it would have been difficult to find foot room. + +Every hour a signal boy came running aft to read the log, which was +attached to the taffrail on the starboard quarter. The log worked on the +same principal as a bicycle cyclometer. It had two dials that indicated +the miles and fractions of miles as they were reeled off. A long, +braided line, having what we called a "twister" attached, trailed behind +in the water and made the wheels go round, a certain number of +revolutions to the mile. + +Hour after hour the ship rushed through the water. The engines throbbed +in a regular, settled sort of way, that reminded one of a man snoring. +The wind blew softly and caressingly. The ship rolled easily in the long +swell. It was soothing and restful, and we felt quite reconciled to life +in the navy. We almost forgot that we were on an engine of war; that +there was enough ammunition below to blow up several "Maine's," and that +we were cruising in the enemy's country. + +The men talked cheerfully of home, pursuits, and pleasures, for it was +too fine, too bright, to be depressed. + +Finally the sun went down in a blaze of glory, dropping suddenly into +the sea as it is wont to do in the tropics. + +In a few minutes it was dark. In these latitudes there is practically no +twilight; the sun jumps into his full strength in the morning, and +quenches his glory in the sea before one realizes the day is gone. + +Soon after dark the lookouts began to report lights, and before long we +found ourselves steaming into a fine harbor, which we learned was Port +Antonio. + +A delightful feeling of security stole over us. We were at anchor in a +friendly port, the inhabitants of which spoke the same tongue as we did +and sympathized with us. We turned in at the earliest possible moment, +and as we lay in our "elevated folding beds," as "Hay" called them, we +could hear unmistakable shore sounds--the barking of dogs, the crowing +of cocks, and according to some active imaginations, even the bell of a +trolley car. + +At one o'clock we were wakened by the call, "All hands on the cat +falls." We slipped out of our "dream bags" with the best grace we could +muster, and went forward to pull up the anchor to its place on the +forecastle deck. + +So we gave up the pleasant idea that we were to spend the night +undisturbed, and the guns' crews of the watch on deck made themselves as +comfortable as possible under the circumstances, on their wooden couch +around the guns; viz., the deck. + +When the sun rose next morning, we found that land was plainly visible +from the port side, and we soon learned that we were still in Jamaican +waters and would arrive at Montego Bay about ten o'clock. + +The programme was carried out to the dot. + +The "Yankee" steamed into the beautiful bay, the crew "at quarters," in +honor of the English man-of-war "Indefatigable," which lay at anchor +there, and we had hardly let down our anchor when a fleet of "bumboats" +came chasing out to us. + +Though an American warship had never visited this port before, we seemed +to be recognized by these enterprising marine storekeepers as easy prey. + +The native "bumboat" is a dugout affair very narrow for its length, and +seemingly so cranky that we marvelled at the size of the sail carried. +They brought fruits of all kinds, and tobacco, so we didn't stop to +criticise their rig, but showed plainly that we were right glad to see +them. + +The boatmen and women were all colored people and, like the race the +world over, were most fantastically and gaily clothed. The women wore +bright-hued calico dresses, and brighter bandana handkerchiefs on their +heads. The men wore flaming neckties, gay shirts, and, in some cases, +tall white or gray beaver hats. + +The boats were filled with yellow, green, and red fruits and +brightly-colored packages of tobacco, the whole making a most vivid and +brilliant display of color. + +The crew bought eagerly, regardless of price. Limes, oranges, mangoes, +bananas, and pineapples came over the side in a steady stream, while an +equally steady, though smaller, stream of silver went back to the boats. + +It was a harvest day for the Montego Bay "bumboatmen." + +Though we bought the fruits without hesitation, we bit into them +gingerly, for, to most of us, many of them were strange. + +Tom LeValley brought me a mango and said that I could have it if I would +sample it and tell what it was like. I accepted, for I had not been +lucky enough to get near a boat to buy for myself. + +He handed me something that looked like a pear but was of the color of +an orange. I was just about to bite into it when I chanced to look up. I +saw that I was the target of all eyes. Putting on a bold front, I sunk +my teeth in the yellow rind. I found it was pleasant to the taste, but +unlike anything that I had ever put in my mouth before. Still the +fellows gazed at me. Was it a trick mango I had tackled so recklessly? I +determined not to be stumped, and took a good big bite. In a moment, I +discovered why I was the "observed of all observers." The last bite +loosened a good deal of the peel, and the thing began to ooze. It oozed +through my fingers and began to run down my sleeve; it dripped on my +trousers and made an ineradicable stain; my face was smeared with it, my +hands were sticky with it, my mouth was full of it, and still the blamed +thing oozed. + +Then the unfeeling crowd laughed. Some one shouted "get under the hose." +Another yelled "Swab ho," whereupon a none too clean deck swab was +brought and applied to my face and hands, protests being unavailing. + +I afterwards remarked to Tom that he had better try experiments on +himself, or present me with a bathtub along with the next mango, and I +have since learned that a Distinguished Person came to the same +conclusion when first introduced to this deceitful fruit. + +We enjoyed our stay in this beautiful island port very much, and it was +with great reluctance that we obeyed the order to "haul on the cat +falls." As we were walking away with that heavy line, we saw a liberty +party from the English warship start for shore in the ship's cutters, +and we envied them with all our hearts. + +The town looked very attractive, set as it was on the side and at the +base of a high hill, the red-tiled roofs of its houses showing against +the graceful, green palm trees. On our left, a grove of cocoanut palms +flourished, and beneath grazed a herd of cattle. + +Soon the ship began to back out, and then, as the bay grew wider, she +turned slowly and headed for the open. + +"Lash your mess chests," said messenger "Kid" to the berth deck cooks. +"Orders from the officer of the deck," he added. + +He turned to us, who were standing by the open port. "I guess we'll have +a lively time of it, for I heard 'Cutlets' say the barometer is dropping +at a terrible rate." + +The "Kid" scurried further aft to give the order to the boatswain's +mates and master-at-arms. + +We looked out to seaward and noted the black sky and the rising wind. + +"I guess you 'heroes' will have a chance to show what right you have to +be called seamen," said "Stump," mimicking "Cutlets." + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +WE ENGAGE IN A SEA FIGHT. + +"Watch on deck, put on your oilers," shouted the boatswain's mates. + +The order came none too soon, for as the last man ran up the +companion-way ladder, the rain began to drop in sheets. + +The rising wind drove the rain in our faces with stinging force, and we +were soon wet as drowned rats. + +The white-capped seas raced alongside, and the "Yankee" heaved and +tossed like a bucking bronco. The lookouts at the masthead swayed +forward and back, to and fro, dizzily, and the officer of the deck on +the bridge had difficulty in keeping his feet. The pots and pans in the +galley banged noisily, and ever and anon the screw was lifted out of the +water, and for a few turns shook the ship from stern to stem with its +accelerated speed. + +A number of men who had partaken too freely of tropical fruits manned +the rail and seemed too much interested in the seething water below to +notice the rain that was dripping down their necks. + +For a time, things were very lively aboard the old hooker, and, though +in the main unpleasant, the grandeur of the sea in the tempest made up +for all discomforts. The flash of the lightning, the roar of the +thunder, the hum and whistle of the wind through the rigging, and the +swish of the seas as they dashed themselves to spray against the sides +of the ship--all this made an impressive chorus, more stirring even than +the roar of cannon and the shriek of shell. + +When "hammocks" was blown by the ship's bugler at a quarter to seven, we +found it difficult to make our way forward to the nettings. One moment +we were toiling up the deck's steep incline; the next, the ship would +bury her prow, and we were rushing forward pell mell. The boat seemed to +be endowed with diabolical intelligence that night. A man might, +perchance, stoop to tie his shoe or examine a freshly stubbed toe, when +the ship would seem to divine that she had him at a disadvantage, and +would leap forward so that he would immediately stand on his head, or +affectionately and firmly embrace a convenient stanchion. "Pride cometh +before a fall," and the man who thought he had caught the swing and +could walk a chalk line on the deck, soon found that the old boat knew a +new trick or two, and in a twinkling of an eye he was sawing the air +frantically with his arms, in his efforts to keep his balance. + +Though the force of the tropical storm was soon spent, the sea continued +high, and locomotion was difficult. + +The hammocks were given out by the "hammock stowers" of the watch on +duty. They called out the numbers stenciled on our "dream bags," and the +owners stepped forward and claimed them. As soon as a man secured his +hammock he immediately slung it in place, unlashed it, and arranged the +blankets to his liking. + +A group gathered around the capstan aft, after the hammock ceremony had +been completed. + +Some one said, "I'm glad I can sleep in a hammock a night like this; the +heave of the ship will be hardly felt." + +"Yes," responded the "Kid," "I wouldn't swap my 'sleeping bag' for the +captain's bed, to-night." + +"That reminds me," said "Stump." "Speaking of beds--when we were in New +York a friend of mine came aboard to see me. He had a sister, but left +her at home." + +"You can thank your lucky stars he did. If she'd seen your weary, +coal-covered visage, you could not even have been a brother to her," +interrupted "Hay." + +"I guess you're right," responded "Stump," with an appreciative grin. +"Anyhow, she did not come. So when her brother got home she plied him +with questions--this he wrote me afterwards--wanted to know how I +looked, asked what the ship was like, inquired about our food, and then +she questioned him about my stateroom. Was it prettily decorated? Whose +photograph occupied the place of honor on my dressing table? + +"Billy, my friend," explained "Stump," "is a facetious sort of chap, so +he told her that of course such a large crew could not _all_ have +staterooms, but _I_ had a very nice one, that could be folded when not +in use, and put to one side out of the way. It was made of canvas, he +said, so constructed that it would always swing with the ship, and so +keep upright in a rolling sea. + +"She listened intently, and finally broke out enthusiastically: 'How +nice!' + +"Billy almost had a fit at that, and I nearly had, when I read his +letter." + +We all laughed heartily and trooped below to enjoy a few hours' sleep +in our "folding staterooms." + +The next day dawned bright and clear, and warm; with nothing to remind +us of the storm of the night before except the seedy look on the faces +of some of the "heroes" who were prone to seasickness. + +The sun had not been up many hours when the masthead lookout shouted, +"Sail ho!" To which the officer of the deck replied, "Where away?" + +"Dead ahead, sir. Looks like one of the vessels of the fleet, sir." + +And so we joined the squadron again, after an absence of twenty-four +hours. + +Nothing had occurred while we were away. Cervera's fleet was still +"bottled up" in Santiago harbor, and the American fleet held the cork so +effectively that even a torpedo boat could not get out. + +After preparing the ship for the usual Sunday inspection, and arraying +ourselves in clean whites, polished shoes, and stockings, we thought we +had done all the work that would be required of us for the day. But when +the gig returned, bringing the skipper from the flagship, we learned +that we were to get under way right after dinner, and steam to the +westward. + +After "turn to" was sounded at 1:15 o'clock, we noted a long string of +signal flags flying from the signal yard, which we found requested +permission from the flagship to proceed at once. As the affirmative +pennant on the "New York" slowly rose to its place on the foremast, the +"Yankee's" jingle bell sounded, and the ship began to gather headway. + +At "afternoon quarters"--1:30--a drill, new to us, was taught; called by +the officers "physical drill," and by the men "rubber-necking." We +hardly felt the need of exercise. The swinging of a swab and use of sand +and canvas, to say nothing of "scrub and wash clothes" before breakfast, +seemed to us sufficient work to keep our muscles in good condition; but +it is one of the axioms in the navy that "Satan finds some mischief +still for idle hands to do," so the men were soon lined up--sufficient +space being given each man to allow him to swing his arms, windmill +fashion, without interfering with his neighbor. + +A regular calisthenic exercise was gone through, such as may be seen in +gymnasiums all over the country; but instead of a steady, even floor, +upon which it would be quite easy to stand tiptoe, on one foot, or +crouched with bended knees, it was quite a different matter to do these +"stunts" on the constantly rolling deck. + +At the order, "Knee stoop, one," we bent our knees till we sat on our +heels. "Heads up, hands on the hips, there!" said Mr. Greene of our +division, as some one obeyed an almost irresistible impulse to keep his +balance by putting out his hand. The man obeyed, but at that instant the +ship gave a lurch, and the poor chap fell over on his head and almost +rolled down the berth-deck hatch. + +The laugh that followed was promptly suppressed, and though the exercise +was not carried out with a great deal of grace or ease, Mr. Greene +seemed to be satisfied with the first attempt. + +We steamed along all the afternoon past the coast of Cuba and within +plain sight of the beautiful, surf-rimmed beach. We looked for signs of +the enemy, but not a living thing could be seen. Not a sign of human +habitation; not an indication that any human being had ever set foot on +this desolate land. So beautiful, so grand, so lonely was it that we +longed to go ashore and shout, just to set a few echoes reverberating in +the hills. + +Toward night, we turned seaward, and the land was lost to view; at the +same time the "Yosemite," manned by the Michigan Naval Reserves, who +had accompanied us thus far, dropped out of sight in the haze. She was +bound for Jamaica. + +A ship painted the "war color" now in vogue in the United States navy, +will disappear as if by magic when dusk comes on. The lead color makes +any object covered with it invisible in half light or a haze. + +There had been much speculation during the day and evening as to our +probable destination, but we remained in ignorance until the next +morning, when it became known that our orders were to call at the port +of Cienfuegos, a prominent city of southern Cuba, some three hundred and +thirty miles from Santiago. + +It was reported that the object of our visit was to intercept and +capture a blockade runner said to be aiming for that port. The news +received an enthusiastic welcome fore and aft. The billet of "fleet +messenger" was becoming tiresome. + +The land had been sighted at two bells (nine o'clock), and all hands +were looking for Cienfuegos, but it was past one before the mouth of the +harbor was gained. The "Yankee's" crew were at regular quarters at the +time, but a hurried order to dismiss and clear ship for action sent the +different guns' crews scurrying to their stations. + +To add to the interest, word came from the bridge to train the guns aft +and to do everything possible to disguise the cruiser. + +"We are to masquerade as a blooming merchantman," chuckled "Dye." "This +reminds me of my boyhood days when I read pirate stories. Do you +remember that yarn about Kydd, where he rigged painted canvas about his +ship and hid all the ports, 'Stump'? It was great. The whole piratical +crew, with the exception of a dozen men, kept below, and when a poor +unfortunate ship came along, the bloodthirsty villains captured her." + +"I wish they had caught you at the same time," retorted "Stump." "Then +we wouldn't be bothered with your infernal cackle. Here, give me a hand +with this mess chest." + +By this time the task of preparing for action was an old story, and we +made short work of it. The call to "general quarters" followed without +delay, and, as we prepared the battery for action, word came from above +that a large gunboat, showing Spanish colors, was leaving the harbor in +our direction. + +"Which means a scrap of the liveliest description," muttered Tommy. +"They evidently take us for a trader without guns, and they'll attack +us sure." + +Boom! + +A six-pounder gave voice from the spar deck, instantly followed by a +five-inch breechloader in the waist. Number Eight was loaded, and "Hay," +who held the firing lanyard, snatched another sight, then stood erect +with left hand in the air. + +"Ready, sir," he called out to the officer of the division. + +"Fire!" came the reply promptly. + +With the word a vicious report shook the deck, and the gun muzzle +vanished in a cloud of smoke. Eager hands opened the breech, others +inserted another cartridge, there was a shifting of the training lever, +a turn of the elevating wheel, then "Hay" stood back once more, and +coolly made the electrical connection. + +Following the second report came a dull, booming sound, apparently from +a distance. We eyed one another significantly. + +"It's a fort," quoth "Dye." "We've got to tackle both sea and land +forces." + +Presently, while we were hard at work sending shots at the Spanish +gunboat, which was in lively action a short distance away, we became +aware of a peculiar whirring noise--a sound like the angry humming of a +swarm of hornets. It would rise and fall in volume, then break off short +with a sharp crash. Suddenly, while glancing through the port, I saw +something strike the surface, sending up a great spurt of water. It was +followed by a dull, muffled report which seemed to shake the ship. + +It was a shell! + +"Whiz! they are coming pretty fast," remarked Flagg. "That last one +didn't miss us by a dozen yards." + +"This isn't Santiago shooting," put in Tommy. "These beggars know how to +aim." + +During the next ten minutes the fighting was fast and furious. It was +load and fire and load again without cessation. There was the old +trouble in regard to the smoke, and half the time we had to aim blindly. +Notwithstanding that fact, "Hay" did so well that word came from Captain +Brownson complimenting him warmly. + +The "Yankee" seemed to be the centre of a series of eruptions. The +Spanish shells kept the water continually boiling, and with the +splashing of each projectile there would arise a geyser-like fountain +accompanied by a muffled explosion which could be plainly felt on board +the ship. + +[Illustration: "THERE WAS TEMPORARY CONFUSION"] + +It was the first real naval battle experienced by us--the bombardment of +Santiago being of an entirely different calibre--and it needed only the +grewsome setting of surgeons and wounded and blood to make it complete. +That soon came. + +We of Number Eight gun were working at our stations, so intent on our +duties that the uproar of shot and shell outside claimed little +attention, when suddenly there came a louder explosion than usual +directly in front of the open port. + +There was a blinding flash, a puff of stifling smoke, and then Kennedy, +who was just approaching the gun with a shell, staggered back, and +almost fell to the deck. Tommy, the first captain, made a gesture as if +brushing something from his breast, and then leaped to the injured man's +assistance. + +"It was a piece of shell," cried "Stump." "It came through the port." + +There was temporary confusion. The surgeon and his assistants came on a +run, but before they could reach the spot, Kennedy recovered and +advanced to meet them. He presented a horrible spectacle, with his face +and neck and body spattered with blood, and we who were nearest saw that +he had been frightfully wounded in the left shoulder. + +Notwithstanding that fact, he remained cool and steady, and never made +the slightest indication that he was suffering. When he finally +disappeared down the berth-deck ladder we exchanged glances of surprise +and sympathy. + +"That isn't Kennedy," murmured "Stump," softly. + +"We didn't know him after all," said "Hay." "Poor devil! I hope he isn't +badly injured." + +"He has been in the hardest kind of luck since we left New York," spoke +up Tommy. "Seasick half the time, always in trouble, and bucking against +homesickness and everything else. And now he has to be wounded. It's a +shame." + +Our thoughts were with our comrade as we served the gun, and when word +came a few moments later that he was doing fairly well, we could hardly +repress a cheer. + +There was little time, however, for displaying emotion. We were right in +the thick of the fight, and the "Yankee's" battery was being worked to +the limit. It seemed as if the air fairly reeled with the noise and +clamor of combat. Shells buzzed and shrieked about us, and smoke +gathered in thick, stifling clouds all about the ship. + +While we were laboring, stripped to the waist, and trying our utmost to +disable or sink the Spanish gunboat, an incident was occurring on deck +which seemed more fitted for the pages of a novel than those of a story +of facts. + +It was a display of daredevil courage seldom equalled in warfare. + +The lad whom we familiarly termed the "Kid" was the central figure and +the hero. The diary of No. 5 of the after port gun, from which this +narrative is taken, says of him: "'Kid' Thompson is the ship's human +mascot and all-round favorite with officers and men. His bump of respect +is a depression, but his fund of ready wit and his unvarying good nature +are irresistible. He is eighteen years of age, and is a 'powder monkey' +on Number Sixteen, a six-pounder on the spar deck. This gun and Number +Fifteen were the last to obey the order to cease firing during the +bombardment of Santiago." + +During the fight with the Spanish gunboat it chanced that the port +battery was not engaged for a brief period, so the "Kid," with the rest +of Number Sixteen crew, were at rest. To better see the shooting the +"Kid" climbed upon the after wheel-house roof. The shells from the +gunboat and the forts were dropping all around, fore and aft, port and +starboard; they whistled through the rigging, and exploded in every +direction, sending their fragments in a veritable hail of metal on all +sides. + +The fact that the "Yankee" had so far escaped injury aroused in the +"Kid's" breast a feeling of the utmost contempt for the Spanish gunners. +Coolly standing upon his feet, he assumed the pose of a baseball player, +and holding a capstan bar in his hands, called out tauntingly: + +"Here, you dagoes, give me a low ball, will you? Put 'em over the +plate!" + +As a shell would fly past with a shriek, he would strike at it, shouting +at the same time: + +"Put 'em over the plate, I say. Do you expect me to walk up to the +fo'c's'le to get a rap at 'em? Hi, there! wake up!" + +Then as a shot fell short, he laughed: "Look at that drop, will you? Do +you think I'm going to dive for it?" + +A moment later a shell flew past so close that the windage almost +staggered him, but the daring lad only cried banteringly: "That's more +like it. One more a little closer and I'll show you a home run worth +seeing." + +And so it went until he was espied from the bridge and peremptorily +ordered down. + +In the meantime, while this little episode was in progress, we on the +gun deck were laboring without cessation. A dozen shots had been fired +from Number Eight alone, when suddenly another fort secured the range, +and began a deadly fusillade. + +The situation was becoming extremely serious! + + +CHAPTER XV. + +COALING IN THE TROPICS. + +The well-directed fire of the forts at the entrance to Cienfuegos was +rapidly making the "Yankee's" position untenable, and it soon became +apparent that we would have to give way before overwhelming odds. +Fifteen minutes after the battle began between the Spanish gunboat and +the "Yankee," the former beat a hasty retreat, steaming back into the +harbor. + +It was plainly evident, however, that she had been badly hulled, as she +yawed wildly while passing from sight behind the headlands. This of +itself was victory enough for the present, and at the end of twenty +minutes' firing, we withdrew out of range. + +Our object in the first place was, as we ascertained from forward during +the day, to intercept a Spanish blockade runner, the "Purissima +Concepcion"; so we laid off the harbor and waited for the coming of the +ship, which was supposed to have left Jamaica for Cienfuegos. The day +was spent in cleaning up after our brief but lively battle, and when +night came, we were again shipshape. + +Shortly after daybreak the following morning, the lookout aloft reported +that a steamer, evidently a man-of-war, was emerging from the harbor. +The crew were called to "general quarters" at once, and every +preparation made to give the stranger a lively reception. She proved, +however, to be the German warship "Geier" bound for Santiago. + +"In time of peace prepare for war" is a good adage, but the reverse is +also true. Peaceful pursuits are of a necessity carried out even in the +face of the enemy. + +At "evening quarters" new hammocks were doled out, and all hands were +instructed to scrub the old ones next morning and turn them in. + +By this time we had become quite expert laundrymen, but we had never +tackled a stiff canvas hammock, and the prospect was far from pleasant; +the following morning, however, we learned how to perform this final +feat of cleansing; after which we felt qualified to wash anything--from +a handkerchief to a circus tent. + +As "Hay" said, "I feel equal to applying for the position of general +housework man, if I lose my job. I can sew--you ought to see the +elegant patch I put on the seat of my old blues--I can 'scrub and wash' +clothes, I can sweep beautifully, I can make a bed with neatness and +despatch. And I have been known to get on my knees and scrub the deck." + +"You're not the only one," growled Bill. "Why, even 'Dirty Greene' +escapes the aforetime customary 'calling down.'" + +Greene was a clever fellow, a student at Harvard, the owner of a yacht, +and a good sailor, but his college education did not help him to get his +clothes clean. That was a study that had been left out of his university +curriculum. The consequence was that he, with a good many others, was +"called down" at every inspection. + +"Greene is getting it in the neck now," said his friend "Steve"; "but I +think he will get even some day with his cousin, the lieutenant of his +division." + +"How's that?" we chorused. + +"Why, you see he owns a schooner yacht. And his cousin, the lieutenant, +is very fond of sailing and never fails to accept an invitation to go +cruising on her. Some day when the lieutenant is aboard, Greene will +look him over and discover that his shoes are not polished, that his +hair has not been combed properly, or his white duck trousers are not +immaculate. He will then be sent below in disgrace to repair these +faults, and our friend Greene will have the merry Ha! Ha! on him. 'He +who laughs last, laughs best.'" + +We one and all wished we owned yachts and could invite some of the other +officers--"Cutlets" in particular. + +Blockading duty is monotonous work, though the strain on the lookouts is +intense. During the day, a bright lookout must be kept for the lightest +tinge of smoke on the horizon, and at night for the faintest glimmer of +light, or a deeper shadow on the rim of the ocean that would betray a +ship. + +It was Tuesday night, and time hung heavy on our hands. Eight bells had +not sounded, and, though hammocks had been given out, neither watch +could turn in. It was with particular glee, therefore, that we welcomed +the news that "Steve" had composed an up-to-date verse to his "Tommy +Atkins" song. After some persuasion--for he is a modest chap--he +consented to sing it for us. + + "The first two verses of this song were writ + Before we sailed away for Cuba's Isle; + And since that time the Spaniards we have fit, + And chased their gunboats many a weary mile. + We've heard the bullets whistling overhead. + We've heard the shells fly by and called it sport, + And down at Cienfuegos + We proved ourselves courageous + By tackling both a gunboat and a fort. + + CHORUS. + + "Now we'd _like_ to run a ferry, + All along the Jersey shore; + Fighting Spaniards, it is very + Nice, but we don't want--no more. + We would give our bottom dollar, + And of that you need not fear, + Just to hear the masthead holler + Brooklyn navy yard is here." + +"That's very good, 'Steve,'" said Greene, "but I can't quite agree to +that line: 'Fighting Spaniards it is very nice, but we don't want--no +more.' I'd like to have a few more raps at 'em." + +"You are such a bloodthirsty chap," said Flagg, "you slam the charges +into your old Number Seven as if you would like to wipe out the whole +enemy with one fell swoop." + +"Well," replied Greene, thoughtfully, "a man does get awfully excited +when the guns begin to bark." + +And every one of us knew exactly how he felt. + +We maintained a close vigil until the sixteenth of June--two days +later--then sailed for Santiago. Shortly after entering port we were +informed that the Spanish gunboat with which we had been engaged off +Cienfuegos had sunk, sent to the bottom by our fire; a bit of news +highly appreciated. + +Our stay in Santiago was short, the "Yankee" leaving for Guantanamo the +next day at eleven o'clock. On reaching the latter port we found +evidences of a considerable change in the condition of affairs. On our +former visit, as the reader will remember, we had engaged in an +interesting argument with a gunboat, a blockhouse, and a fort, driving +the boat back into the harbor and silencing the fort. The good work done +that day had borne fruit. + +On entering the bay we found several of our vessels quietly riding at +anchor--the "Oregon," "Marblehead," "Dolphin" (of railway-train fame), +the ambulance ship "Solace," the "Panther," "Suwanee," and three or four +colliers and despatch boats. + +But that which attracted our instant attention and brought an +involuntary cheer from us, was the sight of Old Glory, flaunting proudly +from a tall flagstaff erected on the site of the former Spanish +blockhouse. + +"Hurray!" shouted "Stump," "it's the first American flag to fly over +Cuba. And we dug the hole to plant it." + +"That's right," assented "Dye." "We are the people." + +"What's that camp on top of the hill?" queried Flagg, indicating a +number of tents gleaming in dots of white against the background of +green foliage. + +"It is the marine camp," explained "Hay." "Didn't you hear about it in +Santiago? Why, man, it's the talk of the fleet. The marine corps has +been adding to its laurels again. The other day eight hundred of them +landed from the 'Panther' and fairly swept the place of Spaniards, +fighting against three times their number. It was great." + +"The marines have a fine record," put in Tommy. "I've been shipmates +with them for years, and I am free to confess that they always do their +duty." + +"And are always faithful," remarked "Dye." + +"That's their motto, 'Semper fidelis.' They have lived up to it in every +war. They antedate the navy, you know." + +"How's that?" asked the "Kid," who was willing to absorb knowledge at +times. + +Tommy produced an ancient book from his ditty box, and proceeded to +read an extract in a loud, sonorous voice. It was as follows: + +"Resolved, That two battalions of marines be raised, consisting of one +colonel, two lieutenant-colonels, two majors, and other officers, as +usual in other regiments; that they consist of an equal number of +privates with other battalions; that particular care be taken that no +persons be appointed to offices or enlisted into said battalions but +such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be +able to serve to advantage on sea when required, that they be enlisted +and commissioned to serve for and during the present war with Great +Britain and the colonies, unless dismissed by order of Congress, that +they be distinguished by the names of the First and Second Battalions of +Marines." + +"The date of that resolution," added Tommy, with the air of a +schoolmaster impressing a particular point, "is November 10, 1775, which +was before any naval vessel had been sent to sea by the Continental +Congress. So you see the marines can claim priority in point of +service." + +"And priority in point of landing in Cuba," added "Hod." "Here's to +them." + +Our discussion on the subject of marines was cut short by a summons to +coal ship, a task which had come to form the greatest thorn in the flesh +of all on board the "Yankee." The ship was run alongside the collier +"Sterling," and the port watch was set to work at once. + +From four to six and from eight to twelve p.m., and from four to eight +the next morning the port watch shovelled, hoisted, and carried coal. + +Coaling in the tropics is a very different thing from similar work in +northern latitudes. The exertion of shovelling, or lifting the heavy +baskets, added to the intense heat of the weather, makes of it a task +extremely trying even to those of the strongest physique. During the +time thus spent in Guantanamo two of the "Yankee's" crew were overcome +by heat and exhaustion, and compelled to ask for medical attendance. + +Our appearance beggared description. The exertion brought out a profuse +perspiration on our half-naked bodies, to which the coal-dust stuck, +thick and black. The black rubbed off in spots, showing the white skin +beneath, the result being a most ludicrous mottled effect. A dime museum +manager would make a fortune if he could have exhibited some of us as +the piebald wild men from Guantanamo. It was not till afterward, +however, that we could appreciate the humor of our looks. During the +thick of the work we were too busy to note the funny side of things; in +fact, we felt quite sure that there was nothing funny about it. It is +impossible to awaken the sense of humor in a man who is plying a heavy +shovel in the hold of a collier, or lugging a weighty basket, while the +temperature is soaring to unknown altitudes. + +The ship had to be supplied with fuel, however, and as the crew had +neglected to ingratiate themselves with a good-natured fairy to wish it +aboard for them, they had to do the work with the best grace possible. + +During a "spell" of resting, "Hay," who was a bit of a philosopher in +his way, glanced about decks at the groups of panting, perspiring men, +and remarked: + +"It would be an object lesson to some of our friends in New York if they +were to see us now. Just look at those fellows. Not one had ever before +been compelled by ill-fortune to soil his hands with toil, yet when war +threatened, and it was necessary to man ships in their country's +service, they cheerfully took upon themselves the labor's of a common +sailor, and not only fought for the flag, but worked hard for it in +menial tasks." + +"Menial tasks is good," said "Dye," ruefully eyeing the baskets piled +high with coal. + +"Self-laudation is bad form," spoke up Flagg, "but I think the Naval +Reserves who are manning the different auxiliary cruisers--the +'Yosemite,' 'Prairie,' 'Dixie,' 'Badger,' 'Yankee,' and the monitors--as +well as those serving on board the regular ships, should be given credit +for their patriotism." + +"The boys will get it when the time comes," remarked "Stump," +confidently. "And while we are waiting we'll just carry a little more +coal. Get in line there." + +Kennedy, all this time, was bearing up under his trouble splendidly, and +when the launch of the hospital ship "Solace" came alongside to take him +away, we could hardly repress a cheer. He was lowered over the side in a +chair. As the launch steamed away, carrying Kennedy and two other +shipmates who had been overcome by heat, there was a lump in many a +throat. + +It was not until almost dark the next day that the bunkers were filled. +At three bells (half-past five o'clock) we dropped the collier and +steamed to sea en route down the coast. Shortly after ten the "Yankee" +passed the fleet off Santiago. The electric searchlights in use on the +ships nearer shore made a particularly brilliant display. The rays were +turned directly upon the entrance to the harbor, and it was plainly +evident that not even a small boat could emerge without being +discovered. + +All day Sunday we steamed out of sight of land, our course being to the +westward and our speed a good fourteen knots. + +For four hours in the morning we scrubbed the gun deck, washed the white +paint work with fresh water and soap, scrubbed the deck with stiff +"kiyi" brushes, and polished off the bright work. By noon the deck had +its pristine immaculate look. We were in the midst of the sloppy job +when "forecastle Murray" (one of the Murray twins--they looked so much +alike that the invariable greeting in the morning was "How are you, +Murray--or are you your brother?") came aft for a bucket of fresh water. + +"What do you think of this?" he inquired pugnaciously. "Here we are +scrubbing this blooming gun deck to beat the band, cleaning up the dirt +of a two day's coaling, and now, forsooth, we are ploughing through the +water at a fourteen or fifteen knot gait and burning up that coal almost +as fast as we put it in." + +He disappeared up the galley ladder, grumbling as he went. + +"Another county heard from," said "Stump." "It does seem rather tough, +but here goes"--he gave a vicious jerk to the hose he was handling and +the stream caught "Hay" full in the neck, whereupon "Hay" saw to it that +"Stump" had a salt-water bath. + +By the time "mess gear" was piped, the ship was very clean, so during +the afternoon we were left largely to our own devices. Some wrote +letters, though the possibility of sending them or of receiving answers +was very remote. Others gathered in little knots and read or sewed, and +still others took advantage of the time to "caulk off" and make up some +lost sleep. + +And so passed another Sunday. Though we might not have a religious +service we were certainly cleanly, and, therefore, at the worst, not far +from godly. + +Nothing of interest occurred until early Monday morning. Several minutes +before "mess gear" was due, a lookout at the masthead reported smoke in +sight off the starboard bow. The engine room was signalled for full +steam, and the "Yankee" sped away in chase. + +"It's our day for scrapping," said "Stump." "We've had more fighting on +Monday than on any other day of the week. I wonder if it's a Spanish +cruiser?" + +"It is heading for Trinidad, whatever it is," remarked "Hay." "Do you +see that sloping hill just ahead? It marks the entrance to the little +port of Trinidad. If I am not mistaken we'll find a gunboat or two in +the harbor." + +[Illustration: "THE FUSILLADE WAS LIVELY"] + +"Hay" proved to be a prophet. + +An hour later, on rounding a point of land, we came upon a small, armed +launch steaming about near an old-time roofed-in gunboat which was +riding at anchor in the harbor. As soon as we hove in sight the gunboat +and launch opened fire. It was at long range, however, and the +projectiles merely stirred up the water a mile away. + +As the "Yankee's" guns replied, a two-masted steamer made her appearance +from within the harbor and vanished behind the keys. The fusillade was +lively, we firing fully one hundred rounds, but there was little damage +done. After a time, the launch retreated, and we went outside for the +night. + +"It's the last of that scrap," remarked Tommy, the boatswain's mate, as +he piped down. "We haven't any time to devote to such small fry." + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +"REMEMBER THE FISH." + +The following morning, after "all hands," the "Yankee" started westward +along the coast. Cienfuegos was passed, and presently the cruiser was +taken nearer shore. The lookouts were told to keep watch for horsemen +riding near the beach. This order aroused our flagging interest, and the +majority of men on board maintained a careful scrutiny of the white +strip of land just beyond the breakers. + +It was not until noon, however, that our search was rewarded. It was +just after passing a deep inlet that one of the lookouts espied a group +of men gathered near the water's edge. There seemed to be a number of +them, and not far away could be seen a blue and white flag flying from a +small staff. + +The engines were stopped, and a boat officered by Lieutenant Duncan, and +carrying "Hay" as interpreter, went ashore. "Hay" had spent several +years in the West Indies and was thoroughly familiar with the Spanish +language. As he was unique in that respect on board the ship, he often +did duty as interpreter. + +The boat landed in a little cove. After parleying for a while, one of +the landing party was seen to wigwag. A few moments later the boat +returned, bringing three Cubans, one of whom was the Cuban governor of +Matanzas. The others were a captain and commander respectively. "Hay" +was immediately surrounded and asked to describe what he saw ashore. + +"I have had the honor of photographing a detachment of the Cuban Army of +Liberation," he replied, quizzically. "To tell the truth, it looked like +a part of Coxey's army. There were about thirty of them, and the +clothing of the whole outfit wouldn't supply a New England farmer with a +season's scarecrow. They carried guns of all descriptions, some of them +with the barrels sawed off short like cavalry carbines; and not one of +the men looked as if he knew the meaning of a square meal." + +"Like Washington's army at Valley Forge, eh?" observed LeValley, joining +the group. + +"Yes, and they are fighting for their liberty, too." + +"How did they like being photographed?" asked Tommy. + +"Tickled to death. When I asked them to line up they almost fell over +each other. Next to eating, I think the poor devils love to have their +pictures taken. They were just like children, and when I pressed the +button they stood round waiting for the photograph to drop from the +kodak." + +"Reminds me of the Cubans of Puerto Principe when the railway was built +to that place," put in "Zere," the chief quartermaster. "A temporary +roundhouse had been constructed, and when the first locomotive reached +the city and was placed in it to be cleaned, all the natives from miles +around gathered there. They crowded the windows and doors and were +evidently waiting for something. Finally the engineer asked one of them +what he wanted to see. 'We watch for mule to come out,' was the +startling reply." + +"Mule?" echoed Flagg. + +"Yes, that was the only motive power known to them," grinned "Zere." +"They thought even a Yankee engine must have a mule somewhere inside." + +"That's like the natives of Guatemala," spoke up "Hop," the messenger. +"When the street cars were introduced it was the usual thing for a +native wishing to ride, to mount the platform and knock politely on the +door. Some one inside would rise and open it, and then the native would +enter and shake hands all round." + +"Fancy doing that on a Broadway cable car," laughed "Stump." + +Our imagination was not strong enough for that. + +The Cuban guests remained with us for several hours, then went ashore, +together with a boat-load of provisions contributed by the ship. + +The whaleboat returned to the ship when the watch on deck had just been +piped to supper. The other watch, therefore, had the job of pulling her +up. The steady tramp, tramp, began and the boat slowly rose up foot by +foot, till it was level with the rail, then there was a sudden jar and a +crash. In an instant six men of the crew were in the water, while the +boat floated away by itself. + +There was a rush of feet on deck, loud shouts and cries of "Throw them a +rope," "Set adrift the life buoy," "Where's that life belt?" and the +like. + +The men at mess jumped up, overturning cups and plates and dishes of +food. One forecastle man pulled off his jumper and dove in to help. + +The sea ladder was put over the side and "Long Tommy" went down it, +taking with him a piece of line; this he slipped under the arms of +Rowland, the forecastle man, who had struck an oar on the way down, and +was hurt. The man was soon hauled up on deck. The other four were also +rescued. One went floating calmly off on the life buoy and was picked up +by the gig, and the rest caught rope-ends and were safely hauled aboard, +none the worse for their involuntary bath. + +Lines were coiled down again, the sea ladder unshipped and put in its +place, and soon all was quiet and shipshape again--but we discovered +that two spit kits and a monkey-wrench had been thrown overboard to aid +the sinking sailors. + +"It's an ill wind that blows nobody good," quoted the "Kid," who +happened to be sweeper that week. "I won't have to polish the brass on +_those_ kits again." + +Shortly after the return of the last boat, smoke was sighted to seaward. +The crew was called to general quarters without delay, and our ship +steamed out to investigate. After a brief but exciting chase, we +discovered that the supposed enemy was the auxiliary cruiser "Dixie," a +sister ship of the "Yankee." She was manned by the Maryland Naval +Reserves, and her armament was composed of six-inch breechloading +rifles, not of the rapid-fire class. + +It soon became evident that her commanding officer, Commander Davis, was +superior in rank to Commander Brownson, and he took charge of affairs at +once. Captain Brownson was rowed over to the "Dixie" to pay his +respects, and on his return a rumor that we were to be relieved of coast +patrol duty by the "Dixie" and to proceed to Key West, went through the +ship like wildfire. + +Tom LeValley brought the news to a group of us gathered on the after gun +deck. We were just discussing the peculiar, and apparently ridiculous, +degrees of etiquette found among naval officers in general, as +exemplified by the ranking of Commander Davis over Commander Brownson. + +"They are both commanders," Tommy was explaining, "but Commander Davis +happens to rank Commander Brownson by sixteen numbers in the official +list. Both entered the service November 29, 1861, and--" + +"Whoop!" + +Down the ladder charged LeValley, wildly flourishing his cap. He stopped +in front of us and gasped: "Hurrah! we're going--going to the United +States, fellows." + +"What's up?" demanded "Stump." + +"The 'Dixie'--" + +"Yes?" + +"She's to relieve us, and we are ordered to Key West and then to New +York. We're going--" + +"Rats!" broke in "Hay," in disgust. "You can't give us any game like +that. It's a rumor, my boy. We're never going home. The 'Yankee' is the +modern 'Flying Dutchman,' and--" + +At that moment the "Kid" appeared in sight, and his beaming face +convinced us. It was glorious news, but not one of us felt like +cheering. Our emotions were too deep for that. The mere prospect of +seeing home again was enough pleasure for the moment, and we were +content to talk quietly over the welcome possibility of soon meeting +relatives and friends. + +The "Yankee" was destined, however, to experience a little more service +before dropping anchor in home waters. + +For several days we cruised along the coast between Casilda and +Cienfuegos. We came to know it very well; every ravine in the mountains +was familiar, every inlet in the coral-bound shore known to us. It began +to grow monotonous. + +Time lay rather heavy on our hands, but not too heavy, for we were put +to work, two guns' crews at a time, coaling in a new and torrid fashion: +the coal in the after hold had not all been taken out during the +northern cruise, so it was decided to pack it in bags, two hundred +pounds to a bag, carry it forward and stack it in an unused ballast +tank. + +Number Six and Number Eight guns' crews were among the first to engage +in this pleasant occupation. + +We found heat enough below to supply a good-sized house all winter, so +clothing seemed unnecessary. We stripped to the waist, "Cumming," a +member of Number Six gun's crew, remarking that he thought a cool glance +and a frozen smile would be sufficient in such a warm climate. + +The work was hard and dirty and the heat terrific. We saw no necessity +for the transfer. Jack never can see the need of work unless it happens +that some other crew is doing it. + +We cheered ourselves, however, by singing "There's a hot time in the old +ship to-day." + +While we lay close inshore, the "Dixie" cruised outside, and toward +evening the two vessels met, and together we went to Casilda, a port +near Trinidad. We stood by while the "Dixie" threw a few shells into +the fort. Two days later the "Yankee" parted from her consort and +proceeded to the Isle of Pines. + +It was here one of the most laughable incidents of the cruise occurred. +While steaming past one of the outlying islands, a small fleet of +fishing sloops was discovered at anchor inshore. Under ordinary +circumstances such unimportant craft would not have been molested, but +in the present case it was suspected that they formed part of the fleet +supplying fish to the Havana market. To destroy them was our bounden +duty. + +"Man the starboard fo'c'sle six-pounder and fire a shell in their +direction," ordered the captain from the bridge. + +The gun was loaded in short order, and presently a projectile went +screeching across the water, dropping with a splash near the largest +sloop. Several small rowboats were seen to pull away from the smacks, +and it was evident the crews had fled in terror. Directly after dinner, +the "Yankee's" first cutter and the second whaleboat were ordered away, +manned and armed. A Colt machine gun was placed in the bow of the +former, and each carried an extra squad of armed marines. + +When the expedition returned it had in tow five decked sloops, one of +which contained a quantity of fresh fish. Orders were given to attach +the latter to our stern, and to fire the others and set them adrift. +Before this was done, however, enough fish to supply the wardroom and +cabin messes were taken out. + +"The crew can have its share to-morrow," quoth the captain. + +The "crew" waited impatiently, but when the morrow came it was found +that, through some one's blunder, the sloop containing the fish had been +burned, and an empty one towed to sea with us. The joke, if it might be +so termed, was on the crew. + +The watchword heretofore on the "Yankee," as on every one of Uncle Sam's +ships, had been "Remember the Maine." Hereafter it was "Remember the +fish." This was done so persistently that the officer who was +responsible for the blunder was dubbed "Fish," and whenever he went near +any member of the crew he was likely to hear, in a low tone, "Remember +the fish." + +After leaving the Isle of Pines the eastern shore of Cuba was rounded +and a straight run made for Key West. At noon on the 27th of June, just +twenty-nine days after the "Yankee" sailed from New York, we again +entered a home port. The time was brief as time goes, but our varied +experiences in foreign waters made the sight of the stars and stripes +flaunting over American soil particularly pleasing. + +As we neared our anchorage the most entrancing rumors were rife. We were +to get shore liberty without doubt, and the ship was to be coaled by +outside labor. We took no stock in the latter rumor till an officer +voiced it--then we believed. Our clean blues were furbished up, lanyards +scrubbed, and money counted. We understood that there was little to see +at Key West; that it was a dull and uninteresting place. Still it was +land, and we had not set foot ashore for almost three months. + +If we had not been so anxious to get ashore we might have been able to +appreciate the marine picture. + +The harbor, if it could be called a harbor, was full of war vessels, +prizes, and colliers. Three grim monitors tugged at their anchor chains, +apparently impatient at the restraint, while a few graceful, clean-cut, +converted yachts swung with the tide. + +The gunboat "Wilmington," and the cruisers "Newark" and "Montgomery," +floated with a bored air. In ship's language they said, Why are we +loafing here? Why not be up and doing? + +The "Lancaster," a fine old frigate, the flagship of the commodore, had +a fatherly air and seemed to say: "Be good and you will all have a +chance." + +Once more we got our shore-going clothes ready, only to be disappointed, +and again the promises made to us proved elusive. The day following our +arrival, we were told that no shore liberty would be given at Key West, +and while the reasons were all sufficient, a man who has set his mind on +an outing ashore after a hundred days at sea, finds it somewhat hard to +reconcile himself to the inevitable. + +One of the hardest, if not the hardest, thing we had to bear was the +lack of letters and news from home. When one has been deprived of all +tidings from his own people for so long the longing for word of them +becomes almost unbearable. + +In the midst of our toughest work we felt that a letter from home would +act like a strong tonic and brace us for the effort, and it would have +done so. But no such balm came, though we eagerly scanned every incoming +vessel for the signal "We have mail for you." Now at last, though there +might be tons on tons of coal to be put in at Key West, though the ship +might have to be scrubbed and painted from truck to water line, we felt +certain we would get letters from home. Letters that we ached for. And +so when we sighted the fleet and old fort, and realized that we had +reached Key West and mail at last, our joy was too great for utterance. + +The whaleboat went ashore and brought back two bags of precious +missives, with the sad news that eight bags had been sent on a despatch +boat to the "Yankee" at Santiago. + +We were glad enough to get two bags, yet we almost gnashed our teeth +when we thought of the eight fat pouches that were chasing us around the +island of Cuba. + +The mail was brought to the wardroom and dumped out on the table for the +commissioned officers to sort and pick out their own letters. A +news-hungry group stood the while at the doors, watching and mentally +grumbling that such an awfully long time was being taken to accomplish +so simple a thing. + +Finally the master-at-arms was sent for and the worth-its-weight-in-gold +mail turned over to him to distribute. To the gun deck poured the eager +throng. The master-at-arms backed up against the scuttle-butt for +protection, then shouted out: "Let one man from each mess get the mail; +the rest of you stand off, or you won't get any till to-morrow." The +rest of us stood to one side then, realizing that time would be thus +saved. + +"Jimmy Legs" called out the names, and the representatives of the +different messes took them. We heard Kennedy's name called, and a murmur +of sympathy spread around. "Poor chap," said one, "he would give the use +of his wounded arm for that letter." + +"Yes," said another; "he has to suffer homesickness as well as pain, and +a letter from home would brace him up as nothing else could." + +Every man took his treasures to a quiet place, a place apart, if such +could be found, to enjoy them alone. The few who got none--well! may I +never see such disappointed, sorrowful faces again. + +The letters read and pondered over awhile, tongues began to be loosened, +and soon all over the ship was heard the buzz of conversation. Chums +told each other the little items of news that to them seemed the most +important things in the world. And after all had been told and retold, +the men gathered in groups and discussed their past months' experiences. + +"Do you know," said Craven (a descendant of that famous line of naval +heroes, a seaman and member of Number Thirteen six-pounder gun's crew), +"I think we are wonderfully fortunate to come through this experience +as well as we have. Just think! We have been under fire five times, and +only one man has been injured. Why," he continued, and his hearers +nodded assent, "I used to have the most awful visions--thought I saw the +men lying round our gun in heaps, while fresh ones jumped to take the +places of the fallen." + +"And they would," said messenger "Hop," who happened to be passing on +his way aft to deliver an order. + +The "Yankee" had seen some spirited fighting, though most of her crew +had anticipated nothing more exciting than patrol duty. + +Moreover, it was almost certain that we had not seen the end of active +service. At present, however, the crew settled down once more to the +monotony of ship life in port--which is about equivalent to garrison +duty for a soldier. + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +IN GOD'S COUNTRY. + +The "Yankee's" stay in Key West was marked by one of the most melancholy +incidents of the cruise. Thomas Clinton LeValley, one of the first of +the New York Naval Reserves to respond to the call for volunteers, died +from appendicitis in the hospital ashore, to which he had been removed +for treatment. "Tom," as he was familiarly called by his shipmates, was +on board the "Yankee" during the five engagements of that vessel, and +proved himself loyal and steadfast on every occasion. He was well liked +by the officers and men of the crew, and his death was deeply regretted +by all. It was his fate to be the one member of the New York Naval +Reserves to lose his life in the service of his country. + +When a big barge heaped high with coal came alongside and was made fast, +we began to doubt the assurances given us, that the coal would be put in +by outside labor. A tug hove in sight shortly afterward that caused our +gloomy faces to light up with gladness, for it carried a gang of +negroes. The tug made fast to the barge, and its living cargo was soon +hard at work filling the ship's bunkers. + +All that afternoon we "lingered in the lap of luxury," as "Bill" put it. +At six o'clock our dusky (doubly dusky) coal heavers went ashore, their +labor over for the day. Though the workmen had left, the work was still +to continue. The crew coaled till twelve o'clock, working in quarter +watches. The following day another barge came alongside and part of the +crew had to turn to and help the hired shovellers. + +"So much," said "Stump," snapping his fingers, "for the officers' +assurances." + +Up to this time we did not _know_ where we were going. Of course the +"Rumor Committee" were ready with news of destinations galore. We were +to return to our patrol duty, to join the Flying Squadron and threaten +the coast towns of Spain, to join the blockading squadron off Havana. We +were to do a dozen or more things just as probable or just as +improbable. + +A coal barge still lay alongside the starboard side of the ship, when a +lighter appeared and made fast to the port side, loaded with express +packages, parts of machinery, pipes, and bags of mail for every ship on +the Santiago blockade. + +"Now we will get those eight bags of mail," said a forecastle man, +exultantly. And from that moment we knew we were going back to Cuba. + +But like a good many people who think they know it all--we didn't. + +Bunkers, holds--almost every available space, in fact, was filled with +coal. + +Then began the much dreaded job of painting. Stages were hung over the +side, each manned by two men, and with much reluctance we began to daub +the old "Yankee" with gray paint. + +The men were unaccustomed to such work, though some could handle the +brushes sold in "artist's materials" shops well enough, and they +spattered gray paint all over themselves. It was thought easier to wash +skins than jumpers, so many were decorated in wonderful fashion. + +"You would make a 'professor of tattooing' wild with envy," said Greene +to "Steve," as the latter appeared over the rail. + +"Well, I don't know," retorted "Steve," "I am thinking of reporting you +for misappropriating government property. You've got more paint on +yourself than you put on the ship." + +After a day and a half of dreary work we had the satisfaction of seeing +the vessel's sides one uniform color from stem to stern. It was a big +job for such a short time and our arms ached at the very thought of it. + +The sides painted, our attention was given to the decks. They were +swabbed thoroughly, first with a damp swab, and after they were entirely +dry the spar deck was covered with red shellac, this being applied with +a wide varnish brush. The gun deck was then taken in hand and treated in +the same way. + +By Saturday night the ship was as fine as a "brand new jumping-jack +before the baby sucked the paint off." + +Some of the men still suffered from black-and-blue spots, which, +however, a little turpentine liniment would have banished. + +Rumors were rife that we would be bound for New York shortly, but few +believed them; the circulators themselves certainly did not, of that we +felt sure. + +"The idea!" said "Mourner," who, though ready to swallow most rumoristic +pills, could not manage this one. "Go to New York with eighty bags of +mail for the Santiago fleet! I can see us doing it." + +[Illustration: "THE SPAR DECK WAS COVERED WITH RED SHELLAC"] + +[Illustration: "THE MARINES AIRED THEIR HAMMOCKS ON THE FORECASTLE +DECK"] + +"Taps" sounded at nine o'clock, and we were glad enough to turn in. + +When all hands were called, I rubbed my eyes in astonishment, for as I +glanced out of the deadlight near which my hammock swung, I saw that we +were under way and well out to sea. I put on my togs in a hurry, and +after lashing and stowing my "dream bag," rushed on deck. + +Yes, sure enough, we were at sea. + +"Stump" came and grabbed me round the waist--he could hardly reach +higher. "We're bound for New York," said he. "We met the 'St. Paul' +going in and the signal boys say we signalled, 'We have urgent orders to +proceed to New York.' What do you think of that?" he added, +breathlessly. + +"With eighty bags of mail for the Santiago fleet," said I, thinking of +the poor fellows who were longing with all their hearts for those same +bags. + +"Regular navy style," added "Stump." + +Though it was hard on our friends off Santiago we could not be cast +down, and the near prospect of liberty--of an opportunity to see home +and friends, of again setting foot on shore--transformed the entire +crew. + +Everywhere could be seen smiling faces. Laughter and merry chatter +filled the air, and the rollicking songs written by "Steve" and others +were more in evidence than ever. The daily routine of work seemed +lighter. There was no grumbling, no fault finding; even the interminable +task of shifting coal was carried on with actual cheerfulness. Grimy +hands and blackened faces and tired bodies were forgotten. + +"There's a mighty good dinner waiting for me in the dear old house," +exclaimed "Stump," unctuously. "I can sniff it afar. And say, fellows, +won't we forget--for a few hours at least--that such things as reveille +and scrub and wash clothes and coal humping and salt-horse exist on +earth?" + +"Oh, good Mr. Captain, how long will it be before we hear the welcome +call, 'Shift into clean blue, the liberty party!' and find ourselves +piling over the side," groaned "Hay." + +"You will be glad enough to come back to your Uncle Samuel," grinned +"Steve." "When your time is up you will be waiting for the boat." + +"No doubt," replied Flagg. "We will be ready to complete our time of +service, but there are some, if rumor speaks the truth--" + +He finished with a significant wink. + +He referred to the many threats of "French leave" made by certain +members of the crew--threats which did not materialize except in a very +few cases. The disgruntled members of the "Yankee's" crew were composed +mainly of the "outside" men--men not of the Naval Reserves. Among the +latter, despite the unaccustomed hardships to which they were subjected, +a firm determination existed to remain until lawfully mustered out. + +The trip from Key West to New York was marked by only one important +incident--the celebration of the Fourth of July. It was unlike that +familiar to the majority of the crew. There were no fireworks, no +parades, nor bands playing the national anthem. The day opened squally, +and sharp gusts of rain swept the decks. The usual routine of work was +proceeded with, and it was not until eight bells (noon) that we fully +realized the date. At exactly midday a salute of twenty-one guns was +fired, and those of us who were super-patriotic, took off our caps in +honor of the flag. That ended the ceremony. + +"Never mind," said Tommy, when one of the boys bewailed the meagre +celebration, "never mind, shipmate. There's a good time coming when we +can whoop 'er up for Old Glory as much as we please. Then we'll make up +for to-day. We can't expect to do much under these conditions, you +know." + +The day following (a fine, _cool_, bright one, and how we did appreciate +it!) was spent by all hands in getting the ship spick and span for the +inspection of visitors, who were sure to be on hand to welcome us. + +The semi-weekly ceremony of airing hammocks and bedding was indulged in. +The bugler blew "hammocks," whereupon all hands lined up to receive them +from the stowers. They were then unlashed on the gun deck, and inspected +by the officers of the different divisions, who ordered that they should +be taken up to the spar deck. The blankets and mattresses were spread +wherever sun and breeze could get at them. The rail, as well as the +boats, was covered with them. Red blankets flaunted in the breeze from +the rigging till we resembled an anarchist emigrant ship. + +The marines aired their hammocks on the forecastle deck in the +neighborhood of their guns. + +After an hour or two, the word was passed to "stow hammocks," and soon +all was shipshape again. + +This duty was performed once or twice a week, the frequency depending +on weather and circumstances. + +Wednesday, July 6th, we passed Sandy Hook and entered New York harbor, +just thirty-six days since we left it. + +As we made our way up the channel, a pilot boat hailed us and told us of +Sampson and Schley's glorious victory over Cervera. + +Though our joy was great and our enthusiasm intense, we were greatly +disappointed that we were not in at the death. We felt sure that if we +had been there our skipper would have worked the old craft in near +enough to have given us a shot. + +We steamed on up the bay and through the Narrows, the happiest lot of +Jackies afloat. The captain of every vessel we met pulled his whistle +cord until the steam gave out, and the passengers cheered and waved +their handkerchiefs, or whatever came handy. + +The health officer passed us in a jiffy, and before eight bells struck +we were safely at anchor off Tompkinsville. + +It transpired that we had been sent North on account of a yellow fever +scare. The health officer proved that the fear was groundless. Again we +set to work cleaning, scrubbing, polishing, and painting, so by the time +our friends came crowding aboard, the ship was as neat as a new pin. + +The visitors--how glad we were to see them! Only one who has looked +danger in the face and realized that there might never be a home-coming +in this world, could understand our feelings as our relatives and +friends--bless them--came aboard. + +Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and other fellows' sisters crowded +up the gangway to greet us. + +And all were welcome. + +The second day after we anchored, the port watch was given shore leave +of twenty-four hours. So we donned our clean blues, and for the first +time since May 9th, set foot on solid ground. + +As the port watch came over the side the following day, after its +liberty ashore, they were met with the order "Shift into working clothes +at once and get those shells below." The red ammunition flag was flying +at the foremast head, and all thoughts must be given up of the good +times ashore. + +The starboard watch then went on liberty ashore and the port watch +tackled the ammunition. + +From noon till after ten, we were kept busy storing thirteen-inch +shells for the biggest guns in the navy. They weigh 1,100 pounds apiece +and are dangerous things to handle, not only on account of their weight, +but because of the charge of powder each carries. We also loaded eight, +six, and five-inch shells into the after hold. We turned in at eleven +o'clock, and were roused at 3:30 next morning to begin the same heavy +work. When the starboard watch returned the following noon, we were +still at it, and they, too, had to pitch in and help as soon as they +could get into working clothes. + +Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were spent in the same way--stowing food +for Uncle Sam's mighty guns. + +The thirteen-inch shells were crated in heavy planks, bound with iron; +slings of rope were placed around them and they were lowered slowly into +the hold. The eight, six, and five-inch shells had a lashing of tarred +rope and a loop by which they might be lifted and handled. + +Charges of smokeless powder for thirteen, eight, and six-inch guns, in +copper canisters, were also taken aboard. + +When all was stowed, we carried enough explosives to blow the water out +of the bay. At half-past two on July 12th, the anchor was raised, the +cat falls manned, and we bade New York good-by once more. A brisk +northeast breeze was blowing, kicking up an uncomfortable sea, and when +Sandy Hook was passed it became necessary to close all ports and batten +down hatches. + +The rolling and pitching of the ship soon began to make things +interesting on the gun deck. Immense green seas, shipped at intervals on +the upper deck, sent little streams of water trickling down through +openings as yet unprotected. + +At evening quarters it was all we could do to stand upright. A number of +men left their stations suddenly without permission, and seemed to take +great interest in the sea just over the rail. + +As the sun sank, the wind rose, and with it came rain--rain in +sheets--the "wettest" kind of rain. + +When the port watch was relieved at eight o'clock, even the veriest +landsman among us could tell that the situation was becoming serious. We +turned in at once, determining to get all the sleep possible in that +pandemonium of sound. + +The value of hammocks in a heavy sea was proved beyond all peradventure, +for once we got into them and closed our eyes, we hardly realized that +the ship was almost on her beam ends much of the time. + +From time to time we were wakened by the crash of a mess chest, as it +broke from its lashings and careened around the deck. The mess pans and +pots banged and thumped. At intervals the lurching of the vessel caused +a mess table with the accompanying benches to slide to the deck with a +crash. + +At twelve, we of the port watch were wakened from our much-interrupted +rest and ordered on deck for muster. + +As we slid from our hammocks we realized for the first time the fury of +the storm. It was impossible to stand upright. + +The old hooker rolled so, that it was impossible to keep from sliding +even when one lay prone on the deck. The men on lookout had all they +could do to hang on. One moment the end of the bridge would rise high in +air and the next almost bury itself in the seething waters. + +The wind roared, the lightning flashed, and the thunder rolled. + +The dense fog hung like a curtain round the ship, so the whistle was +blown incessantly. + +The boatswain's mate ordered me to go forward and stand an hour's watch +on the bridge. I obeyed, creeping on all fours most of the time, till I +reached the opening between the deck houses. I escaped, by a hair's +breadth, a sea which came over the side like a solid green wall. + +The man on the port end of the bridge whom I relieved, shouted in my +ear--he could not be heard otherwise--"You want to get a good hold or +you'll be fired overboard in a jiffy." Then he left me. + +It was the kind of a night one felt the need of companionship. I spent a +lonely hour on the bridge, eyes and ears strained for signs of other +vessels, face and hands stung by the pelting rain. Underlying all other +thoughts was the consciousness that we carried several hundred tons of +deadly explosive that might shift any moment or be ignited by a spark +from a lamp and explode. + +The sandbags stored about the steering gear broke loose and were heaped +in picturesque confusion. The scene aft was indescribable. A quantity of +débris of varying nature slid across the smooth surface of the gun deck +with a rush at every roll, making navigation a difficult, if not +perilous, task. Later, to add to the tumult, one man's hammock was cut +down by a falling mess table, but he escaped serious injury. + +It was not until the following morning that the seas subsided, but the +day proved pleasant, and the mishaps of the preceding afternoon were +forgotten in the excitement of reaching Norfolk, which port was reached +by the "Yankee" shortly before dark. Later in the evening the ship was +taken to the navy yard. + +"Which means that we are going to hustle more ammunition," observed +Tommy, as we made fast to a dock. + +"And more stores," added "Dye." + +"And coal," chimed in "Stump," with a grimace. "I am glad of it, too." + +"Glad of it?" echoed "Dye," in surprise. "That's queer." + +"Not at all, dear boy," was the second loader's calm reply. "D'ye see, I +am in training for the billet of chief deck hand on a tramp canal boat, +and this experience is just in my line." + +Four days later the mooring hawsers were cast off and the "Yankee" +steamed out between the capes en route to Santiago. From the hour we +left Norfolk until the sighting of the Cuban coast, our time was taken +up with drills of every description. The following extract from the log +for July 18th, will suffice for an example: + +"Cleared ship for action at three bells along with general quarters. +General quarters again half an hour after turn to at noon. Fire drill +and abandon ship at three bells in the afternoon. General quarters +again at two bells (9 p.m.)." + +Under date of July 19th, one of the crew states in his private diary: +"Clear ship for action again. This is a very pretty drill, and is much +liked by the boys, as it includes sending all the mess gear and +provisions below, where most of them are usually 'pinched.' Clear ship +for action always means an exchange of undesirable mess gear, such as +broken benches, tables, etc. General quarters at 1:30; fired two shots +at an invisible target with smokeless powder. Great success, this new +powder. If we had only been provided with it before, every living +Spaniard would have trembled at the word 'Yankee'!" + +"What are we doing all this clear ship, general quarters, fire drill, +and such business for?" said a forecastle man to Craven, who, besides +being on a deck gun, from which all that was occurring on the bridge +could be seen, was a messenger. + +"Why, don't you know?" said the latter. "We have a war artist aboard, +and all this extra drilling is being done for his special benefit, so he +can work it up for his paper, I suppose." + +"Well, if we ever get that artist aboard the old 'New Hampshire' we will +teach him a few things, so he can describe them from actual +experience," said "Hod" the husky. "He'll be able to describe scrub and +wash clothes, sweeping decks, washing dishes, and all the rest, most +vividly," he continued, vindictively. "We'll show him how we get under +the hose in the morning. Oh, we'll have a bully time with him, and I'll +wager that when we're through the honors of naval battles will seem too +trivial for him to draw!" + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE "YANKEE" ARRIVES OFF SANTIAGO + +On the twenty-first of July the "Yankee" arrived off Santiago. The +"Brooklyn" was the only warship on guard, and the absence of that grim +line of drab-colored ships changed the whole appearance of the coast. +The "Brooklyn" seemed lonely, though she rode the seas proudly. "See," +she seemed to say, "I am monarch of all I survey"; and she looked every +inch a queen, as she swayed slowly in the long ground swell, her ensign +snapping in the brisk breeze and Admiral Schley's flag standing out like +a board. From our proximity to the shore we were enabled to obtain a +better view than before. Old Morro Castle, perched above the mouth of +the channel, seemed battered and forlorn. The Stars and Stripes floated +on high exultingly from the very staff that formerly bore the Spanish +colors, and we thrilled when we saw it. The wreck of the "Reina +Mercedes" could be plainly made out, and beyond her could also be seen +the masts and stack of the "Merrimac"--a monument to American heroism. + +With the U.S.S. "Yankton" (which had run out of coal) in tow, we +proceeded to Guantanamo. While entering the bay, the first fleet of +transports bearing troops for the invasion of Porto Rico was +encountered. Inside the harbor a vast squadron of American ships lay at +anchor--some forty vessels in all. The spectacle of such a mighty fleet +bearing our beloved colors was indeed inspiring. + +We found the "Iowa," "Massachusetts," "Indiana," "Oregon," "Texas," "New +York," "Marblehead," "Detroit," "Newark," "Porter," "Terror," +"Gloucester," the repair ship "Vulcan," several despatch boats and +colliers in the bay. Two gunboats and several steamers captured at +Santiago also bore the American colors. + +Such a fleet many an important port has never seen, and in New York +harbor would draw immense crowds. Here the spectacle was wasted on +unappreciative Cubans. + +The bay presented a lively appearance with the innumerable little +launches and despatch boats darting about from ship to ship. Vessels +went alongside sailing colliers to have their bunkers replenished; other +ships entered or left at all hours; signals were continually flying +from the flagship; occasionally a Spanish launch bearing a flag of truce +would come down from the town, and in the midst of it all the crews of +the different men-of-war worked on in the accustomed routine, as if +peace and war, drills and fighting, were all a part of man's ordinary +existence. + +Over a month ago we had sailed into this harbor with the "Marblehead"; +the ship cleared for action, the crews at their loaded guns, and the +battle ensigns flying from fore and mainmast, as well as from taffrail. +This time we entered the bay with a feeling that we were to take part in +a great naval spectacle. + +As soon as we joined the fleet we became amenable to fleet discipline. +All orders for routine work came from the flagship. "Quarters" were held +but twice a day instead of three times, and then they were short and, +therefore, sweet. + +Each morning at eight o'clock, when a war vessel is in port, the bugler +plays "colors," while the drummer beats three rolls; those of the crew +who are under the open sky stand at attention, silent, facing aft, where +the flag is being hauled slowly to its place. At the completion of the +call all hands salute; then the work is carried on. It is a beautiful +ceremony. + +Saluting the "colors" morning and evening is not merely a mark of +respect for the Government of the nation, but is an act of worship to +the God of nations--a silent prayer for guidance and care and an +expression of thankfulness. + +Shortly after "colors" the morning following our arrival at Guantanamo, +orders were given to "turn to" on the ammunition. Launches and barges +from other warships came alongside, and the charges of powder and the +shells were transferred to them. + +When this cargo of deadly explosive began to come aboard a "magazine +watch" was set. The ammunition was stowed in all parts of the +ship--forward, main, and after holds were filled. A watch was set on +each of the holds. It was their duty to watch the temperature day and +night and to report the same to the officer of the deck every half hour. +Extreme care was taken to guard against fire. In case fire was +discovered, it was the duty of the man on watch to run and turn on the +water--the key for the valve which regulated this being always carried +on his wrist. Then he must notify the officer of the deck, shouting +"fire" as he went, after which he must go back and with the hose +endeavor to put out the blaze. + +Constant, wide-awake, alert watchfulness was necessary. It was hot and +close below, and at night it was almost impossible to keep awake. It is +difficult enough to keep wide awake for an hour's lookout on deck, when +there is much to see and the air is brisk and invigorating, but it is +quite a different matter to be roused in the middle of the night to +stand two hours' watch in a close, hot hold, where nothing more +interesting than cases of powder and the bare, blank sides of the ship +are to be seen. + +At first, the knowledge that the lives of all on board and the safety of +the ship herself depended on the alertness of the watch, kept us wide +awake and anxious, but as time went on, it grew harder and harder to +resist nature's demand for sleep; therefore, when the order was given to +unload the ammunition, none were gladder than the men of the "magazine +watches." + +After evening mess the boatswain's mate--he got his orders from the +bridge--came aft, shouting as he walked, "All you men who want to go in +swimming may do so right away." + +[Illustration: "HE GOT HIS ORDERS FROM THE BRIDGE"] + +[Illustration: "ALL YOU MEN WHO WANT TO GO IN SWIMMING MAY DO SO"] + +There was no doubt as to the popularity of that order. "All we men" +wanted to go in swimming, and that right away. In a jiffy, white figures +began to drop over the side with a splash, and soon shouts of glee +filled the air. The water was warm and clear as crystal, and so dense +with salt that a man diving, came up like a cork. In fifteen minutes the +order "Knock off swimming" was passed, and though we left the water with +reluctance, obedience was prompt, lest the privilege might not again be +accorded us. + +After hammocks had been given out, boats hoisted--all the work of the +day finished, in fact--most of the men gathered aft to hear the band of +the "Oregon" play. It was a volunteer band; that is, the musicians were +enlisted men, not assigned for the band. They played with vim and +precision. + +It was almost dark; only the ships' outlines could be made out. The red +and white signal lights twinkled at intervals at the mastheads of +different vessels, while beams of light showed on the still, dark water +from open ports. The whole fleet lay quiet while the men listened to the +strains of music from the "Oregon." It was more like the rendezvous of a +cruising yacht club than a fleet of warships gathered in the enemy's +country. + +The music from the battleship ceased, and for a moment all was still +save for the lapping of the water against the ships' sides and the +splash of a fish as it leaped out of water. + +Suddenly and together, a shrill piping on all the ships broke the +silence, followed by the hoarse cry, "All the anchor watch to muster." + +On all men-of-war at eight o'clock, the anchor watch is mustered. It +consists of sixteen men--eight on duty from nine till one o'clock, the +other eight from one till "all hands" at 5:30. The first part always +calls its relief at one o'clock. + +The mustering over, all flocked aft to hear the band again, but were +disappointed, for the concert was over. + +However, the men had come aft for music and music they must have in some +shape. + +So "Steve" the modest was dragged out, and after some persuasion sang +the following to the tune of "Lou, Lou, How I Love Ma Lou." "Baron," the +gunner's mate, accompanied him on the mandolin, and Eickmann, the marine +corporal, helped out with his guitar. + + "'Way down at the Brooklyn navy yard, + Where ships are rigged for sea, + Three hundred little 'heroes' + Went aboard the old 'Yankee.' + Oh! we were young and foolish, + We longed for Spanish gore, + And so they set us working + As we never worked before. + + CHORUS: + "Hard-tack and salt-horse every day, + Work, slave, for mighty little pay; + And just before we get to sleep + We hear the bosun pipe like this + (Whistle), + 'Up all hammocks, all hands.' + + "They turn us out each morning, + To scrub our working clothes; + To polish guns and bright work, + To 'light' along the hose. + To wash down decks and ladders, + To coil down miles of rope, + To carry coal in baskets, + To live on air and hope. + + CHORUS: + "Hard-tack and salt-horse every day, + Work, slave, for mighty little pay; + And when we think our work is done + We hear the bosun pipe like this + (Whistle), + 'Turn to.' + + "Way down at Santiago, + We fit the forts one day. + The shells were bursting o'er us, + There was the deuce to pay. + We hid our inclination + To run and hide below, + Because we're little 'heroes,' + They've often told us so. + + CHORUS: + + "Hard-tack and salt-horse every day, + Work, slave, for mighty little pay; + And just as all the fight was over + We heard the bosun pipe like this + (Whistle), + 'Gun-deck sweepers, clean sweep fore and aft. + Sweepers, clean your spit kits.' + + "One Saturday we anchored + Just off the Isle of Pines, + To load up with pineapples, + And look for Spanish signs. + We called away the cutters, + With seamen filled them up, + And captured five small sailboats, + Two Spaniards and a pup. + + CHORUS: + + "Hard-tack and salt-horse every day, + Work, slave, for mighty little pay; + And when we'd like to talk it over + We heard the bosun pipe this + (Whistle), + 'Pipe down.'" + +"That's great!" said one and all. + +"There is just time for the 'Intermezzo' before tattoo, 'Baron,'" said +"Pair o' Pants," the signal boy. "Give it to us, will you?" + +"Baron" obligingly complied. + +The boys lay around in comfortable, though ungraceful, attitudes, a +small but appreciative audience. + +As the last high note died away the ship's bugler began that lovely +call, "tattoo." We listened in silence, for though we had heard it many +times, it was always a delight to us. Then, too, it meant rest (not a +drug in the market by any means). Every ship's crew in the harbor, at +the same moment was listening to the call blown by their own bugler. + +The men tumbled below and began to prepare for the voyage to dreamland. + +Five minutes later, when the sleepy "taps" sounded, the decks were +almost deserted save for the hammocks, which looked like huge cocoons +swung horizontally. + +The following days till Sunday were spent in unloading powder and shell. +The six and eight-inch charges of powder and the shell were lifted by +hand and slid down chutes to the barges alongside. To handle the powder +and shell for the thirteen-inch guns, steam was called into service; the +thirteen-inch charges being lowered into the waiting boat, by the aid of +the cargo boom and steam winch. + +This work was hard and the heat trying, but it was accomplished with +good grace, for we were glad to get rid of the dangerous stuff. + +Sunday, after the usual inspection, several visiting lists were +arranged, the most popular being that for the "Oregon." We all wanted to +inspect that wonderful ship. Visiting is generally conducted on Sunday +or after dark. The word is passed for those who wish to visit a certain +ship to "lay aft and report to the officer of the deck." The party, all +in clean clothes, are taken to the vessel designated and lined up. After +being counted they are allowed to go forward, where they yarn to their +heart's content until the word is given by the boatswain's mate for them +to muster aft again. + +The "visiting party" to Uncle Sam's bulldog was cordially received and +shown all over. The great battleship was as clean and neat as a new pin. +She looked as if she had just come out of her builders' hands. Paint +work spotless, brass work shining, engines fairly dazzling in their +brightness. The crew contented and full of enthusiasm for their ship and +commander--gallant Captain Clark! + +We saw the guns that helped to lay low Cervera's splendid fleet and we +saw "the men behind the guns." + +Our attention was called to a Jacky sewing on a blue shirt. + +"Do you see that man over there?" said our guide. + +We answered "Yes." + +"Well, that's the chap that blew up one of the torpedo boats." + +"Is that so? Tell us about it." We gazed open-mouthed at the gunner as +he sat cross-legged on the deck, sewing with all his might. + +"Yes, that's the chap. You see, the Spaniard was coming in our +direction, and coming like greased lightning. The six-pounders on the +superstructure had not been able to stop her, and things began to be +interesting--" + +"Yes," we gasped, breathlessly, as he stopped to light his pipe. + +"Well, as I was saying, the blooming torpedo boat came nearer and +nearer, and did not seem to mind the hail of six-pounders any more than +a duck does the rain. I dunno why, for she had no protection that a +sixer would not penetrate. + +"It got to be blamed exciting, when the officer of the division said to +that feller over there, who was a captain of an eight-inch rifle, 'Try +your hand at it.' + +"Bill said, 'Aye, aye, sir, give me time and I'll plunk her sure.' All +this time the sneaking craft was coming nearer and nearer. Bill +adjusted his sight and looked and looked, but still did not fire. + +"'For heaven's sake, hurry up!' said the division officer, getting +nervous. + +"'In a minute, sir,' said Bill. 'As soon as I get a good bead.' + +"He was as cool as an ice machine, and as deliberate as an old hen, but +he could shoot, so we held ourselves in as best we could and watched. +After waiting for what seemed an hour, Bill pulled the lanyard and the +old gun roared. As soon as the smoke cleared away, we looked to see the +result of the shot. There was some wreckage floating where the torpedo +boat had been--that was all. Bill's shot went home, and exploded in the +boiler room, and the whole craft went up in an instant." + +We looked again admiringly at the man sitting there so unconcernedly, +and then in obedience to the boatswain's call, went aft and aboard our +cutter. + +All the ammunition for the fleet was unloaded by Tuesday. We still +carried a small quantity of both powder and shell for the +"Massachusetts." + +Tuesday afternoon we anchored alongside the sailing collier "Frank A. +Palmer," and began to coal. The "Yankee's" sister ship "Prairie," +manned by the Massachusetts Naval Reserves, lay on the other side; we +exchanged visits and found them good fellows, and we yarned away to our +heart's content. + +We had now become, in a degree, used to coaling; our muscles were +hardened and some long-needed labor-saving devices had been introduced, +so the work was a little easier. + +Coaling continued till Friday night. During the morning of that day we +were told that if two hundred tons were put aboard, a chance would be +given us on the morrow to see the wrecks of Cervera's once fine vessels. +It was all the incentive we needed, and the coal came aboard in a steady +stream. A little after seven the required amount was in the bunkers, and +by eight o'clock the stages and other coaling paraphernalia were stowed +away and the "Yankee" had cast loose and was anchored by herself. + +The following morning dawned bright and clear. Admiral Sampson came +aboard at 8:30. We manned the "cat falls" and got under way at once. + +On the way down to the wrecks, the ship was cleaned, so by the time we +reached the ruins of the Spanish vessels, the "Yankee" was spick and +span. + +We passed the wrecks of the two torpedo boats, passed the mouth of +Santiago harbor, till finally we came to the "Almirante Oquendo" and the +"Maria Teresa," fifteen miles west of old Morro. + +The two wrecks lay close together. They were a melancholy sight; the +"Almirante Oquendo," badly listed to port, a great rent in her side, +rusted, almost completely demolished. The "Maria Teresa" seemed in +better shape, but many shot holes were visible in her side. + +It was a dreary though gratifying sight. The great green-clothed +mountains looked down serenely on these two examples of man's handiwork +and man's destructiveness; the blue sea dashed itself to foam against +the coral-bound coast; and the bright sun shone over all. + +The admiral went over in our gig, together with the captain and +executive officer. Several other boats went along, carrying, beside the +regular crews, commissioned and chief petty officers. + +As we watched the boats bobbing in the short billows on their way, we, +who were left behind, could not help comparing these battered hulks +before us with our magnificent ships in Guantanamo Bay. + +All hail to the American seamen, "the men behind the guns"! + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +HOPE DEFERRED. + +For a few days there was little to do beyond the never-ending routine +work: scrubbing decks, cleaning paint, and polishing bright work on guns +and equipments. + +We were beginning to wonder if we were to lie at anchor indefinitely, +and if our last chance of seeing any active service had gone by. + +On the morning of Monday, August 1st, we had orders to get under way and +go to sea. Tongues began to wag at once, and before we had fairly +cleared the harbor a dozen different destinations had been picked out. + +It would seem as if there could be no great danger in letting the men +have some knowledge of where they are bound when fairly at sea, with no +beings to whom the secret might be told, save sharks and dolphins, but + + "Theirs not to make reply, + Theirs not to reason why." + +The navy has little use for Jacky's brains; only his trained muscles and +sinews. There is no life that can be depended upon to take the pride of +intellect out of a man like that of a sailor, as Rudyard Kipling has +shown in the case of Harvey Cheyne. We of the crew could think of many a +cad on whom we would like to try the discipline. + +The most popular rumor ran to this effect: we are bound for Porto Rico +to take part with the "Massachusetts," "New Orleans," "Dixie," and other +ships of the fleet in a bombardment of San Juan. + +By the time land had faded from view, we knew that we really were bound +for Porto Rico, but for what purpose we knew not. The rumor was correct +in part, at least. + +We were glad to get to sea again. There is an undefinable feeling of +relief, almost of joy, when the regular throbbing of the engines begins +and the ship rolls and heaves to the swell. + +The spirits of the men rise; smiles lighten up their faces, and snatches +of song can be heard as they work coiling down lines, lashing movables, +and preparing the vessel for the rough-and-tumble conflict with the sea. + +As the sun sank, the waves rose. By the time the first night watch went +on duty, the old steamer was tossing like a chip. + +The guns' crews of the watch on deck were ordered to sleep by their +posts, and all was in readiness for instant action. + +At eleven o'clock we were roused by the call for "general quarters," and +in a minute, all hands were in their places. We looked vainly, at first, +for the cause of this commotion, but finally made out off our port bow +the dim outlines of a steamer. + +It was only when our ship was on the top of the roll that we could make +out our chase at all--nothing but a wall of water could be seen when we +lay in the trough. + +"That boat is certainly doing her best to get away," said "Bill." "And, +holy smoke! see how she rolls." + +"She can't trot in our heat," said "Dye." "We're gaining on her every +minute." + +"She's not a warship," said "Long Tommy," who was lucky enough to +possess a pair of glasses. "I wonder if we're going to get a prize at +last?" + +"You forget the fishing sloops. 'Remember the fish,'" laughed "Hay." + +The two vessels came nearer and nearer, till finally they were within +hailing distance. + +"What ship is that?" called out Captain Brownson, through the +megaphone. "And where are you bound?" + +The answer came faintly over the tossing waves: "The 'Burton,' with coal +for Santiago from Guadeloupe." + +"Ah, ha!" said Tommy, "we get a prize at last." + +"Wait a minute," said "Stump," "he is saying something else." + +A gust of wind came at that moment and carried most of the sound away, +but we gathered that our hoped-for prize had papers from our consul +allowing her free passage. + +There was a universal groan of disappointment, and when the order was +given to "secure," the hose was pulled up with unnecessary violence, +hatches were lowered, and gun closets closed with no gentle hands. Such +keen disappointment must somehow find a vent. + +There was great excitement the following afternoon when the word was +passed for all hands to get out their leggings and to wear shoes to +midday quarters. And when we were arranged into companies, and had +haversacks, canteens, and knapsacks doled out to us, we concluded that a +landing party would be made up for Porto Rico. + +"The 'old man' is going to show the 'Spinache' that the 'Yankee' boys +can fight on land as well as on sea," said Tommy, as he yanked at an +obstinate haversack strap. + +We marched round and round the spar deck to the music of bugle and drum +till we got well into the swing of it, and felt very martial and +formidable indeed. + +The "Dixie" hove in sight at this juncture, and after a long megaphone +conversation, we learned that the "Massachusetts," for which we had some +ammunition, was on her way to Guantanamo, so we reluctantly turned +around and retraced our way, the "Dixie" leading. Porto Rico was not for +us. Alas! + +We felt like + + "The King of France and his hundred thousand men + Drew their swords and put them up again." + +The next morning we hove-to a Norwegian steamer, the "Marie," and before +we realized what was being done, we found that we had a prize at last. A +snug little steamer she was, well loaded down with coal for Cervera's +fleet. + +"Cutlets" went over in a whaleboat, with a prize crew of six men. + +"Well, well! this is almost too good to be true," said an after guard. +"This _is_ great luck. We capture a prize and get rid of 'Cutlets' at +the same time." + +To which we all said, Amen. + +We separated from the "Marie," and, as the "Yankee" was much the faster, +she was soon lost to sight. + +The anchor had no sooner been dropped in Guantanamo Bay than our captain +went over to the "New York," and then signals began to be displayed, and +soon after all hands were hauling on the "cat falls." + +The skipper returned; the gig was pulled up to its place, and very soon +we were ploughing the water in the open. As we went out, our prize came +in. + +It seems the encounter with the "Burton" was told to the admiral, and he +at once ordered us to go out and get her. + +We headed straight out. The black smoke poured out of the funnels; the +ship shook with the pounding of the strained engines. The land faded +from view. + +About two o'clock we sighted the object of our chase, and it only +required a blank shot from the forward six-pounder to bring her to. + +The prize crew, consisting of six seamen, some firemen and engineers, +and officered by Lieutenant Duncan, went over and took possession of +our second prize in one day. + +Captor and captive then turned and headed for Guantanamo. + +The men were in high spirits. Speculation was rife as to the amount of +prize money each would secure, and some even went so far as to plan the +spending of it. + +Every one felt very gay, and as if something should be done to celebrate +our good fortune. We would have liked to spend some money for an +entertainment, but that was impossible. + +"Dick," however, was impressed into service to furnish some amusement. +"Dick," a forecastle man, is a born story-teller, and we knew if we +could get him started, some fun would be assured. + +After some pressure he acquiesced, and began the following yarn: + +"One day a certain Irishman, Mike Dooley by name, departed this life. He +was much respected, and his death caused no little sorrow to his friends +and neighbors. His wife and children were simply inconsolable. The widow +wished to have a handsome funeral in his honor and spent her savings in +furtherance of that plan. She had enough money for everything, except +the silver inscription plate. But that difficulty was easily overcome, +for 'What's the matter wid Pat Molloy painting it nately in white +paint?' she said. + +"Pat, being approached on the subject, expressed his entire willingness, +and soon after called for the casket and took it away. He was told to +letter the following, in neat, white letters: 'Michael Dooley departed +this life in his prime, at the age of twenty-eight.' + +"Pat was a bricklayer by trade, and painting was only a 'side line' with +him. + +"He started to put the inscription on the casket, and got along bravely +till he came to 'age of twenty-eight.' Then he realized that he could +not make the figures. He puzzled over it a long while, for he did not +like to ask and thus show up his ignorance. + +"Finally a bright idea struck him. Four sevens make twenty-eight--why +not put down four sevens--that was easy! + +"The job was finished just in time. + +"The relatives and friends were gathered round to pay their last +respects. One friend was asked to get up and make a few remarks. He did +so and began as follows: + +"'I am glad to be able to say a few words on this sad occasion, a few +words of praise for our beloved friend; for other words than praise +could not be said of him. I am proud to have known him and to have been +numbered among his friends. His virtues need hardly be repeated. You +knew him well. His generosity, his friendliness, and all the rest he +possessed. I knew him from his youth up, and I am well aware of his +goodness, as are you. He was a good husband, a good father, and a good +friend. It is hard to give him up, but it must be. He died at the age +of----' + +"Here the speaker glanced at the casket beside which he stood, and read +the following: + +MICHAEL DOOLEY + +DEPARTED THIS LIFE IN HIS PRIME, +AT THE AGE OF +7777. + +"'Yis, my bereaved friends,' he continued, 'he was a good father, +husband, and friend, and none knows that better than I. He was cut off +in the pride of manhood, you might say--in his prime, at the age of----' + +"He glanced at the inscription again, then, after a painful pause, +blurted forth: 'Well, how the divil did he escape the flood?'" + +The sound of "tattoo" interrupted our laughter at this point, and all +Hands tumbled below. + +The following day we got rid of the last of the ammunition to the +"Massachusetts." A sigh of relief and thankfulness went up as the last +charge of powder was taken over the side. + +The same day we saw some of our prize money vanish into thin air. The +"Burton" was released, and steamed out of the harbor. + +It was about this time that a well-authenticated rumor went the rounds +to the effect that we were to go with a formidable fleet to Spain, +harass her coasts, and do up Camara's fleet. This rumor was so well +founded that many of us believed it, and, consequently, much time was +spent in writing farewell letters. + +The prospect of soon seeing the "land of the free and the home of the +brave" was not very bright. The consensus of opinion at this time was +that we would see our year out in Uncle Sam's service. + +There was considerable gloom. The start once made and the "Yankee" +actually on her way to the land of the Dons, all would be well and all +hands would be cheerful; but the contemplation of the long trip in the +wrong direction was a very different matter. + +The air was full of rumors. All was uncertain. We continued to write +farewell letters, while the invading fleet still lay quietly at anchor, +but ready to sail to the ends of the earth at a few hours' notice. + +The night of August 10th was moonless and dark. There had been no music +from the "Oregon's" band, and none of our men felt inclined to sing. + +The uncertainty had begun to tell, and all were a little depressed. + +I was "it" for anchor watch, and, as is often the case, the anchor watch +manned the running small boat. + +We visited several vessels of the fleet, the crew staying in the boat +while the officers went aboard. When we finally started to return to our +own ship, we carried two of our officers, Mr. Duncan, Mr. Barnard, and +an officer from the "Indiana." As we cleared the wall-like sides of the +"St. Paul," we noted that the general signal call (four red lights) was +up on the "New York." Then, as we watched, the red and white bulbs began +to spell out a message that made us all thrill with joy. The interest of +the moment broke down all barriers of rank, and officers and men spelled +out the exciting words aloud. + +A-S-S-O-C-I-A-T-E-D P-R-E-S-S D-E-S-P-A-T-C-H +S-T-A-T-E-S T-H-A-T P-E-A-C-E P-R-O-T-O-C-O-L +H-A-S B-E-E-N A-G-R-E-E-D U-P-O-N. + +We Jackies would have liked to yell, but our lessons had been too well +learned, and we restrained ourselves. We put the officer from the +"Indiana" aboard his own ship and then returned to the "Yankee." + +As soon as the boat was secured for the night, I went around waking some +of my particular friends to tell them the great news, forgetting that +they could see it quite as well as I. All were too good-natured, +however, to object; on the contrary, they seemed glad to talk about it. +There was some dispute as to the meaning of the word "protocol"; but all +agreed that, whatever its meaning, it must be good, coupled as it was +with "peace." + +As we talked quietly, we heard faintly, softly, a verse of "Morse's" +song: + + "Our fighting cruise will soon be o'er, + Hurrah! Hurrah! + We'll be happy the moment our feet touch shore, + Hurrah! Hurrah! + And 'Cutlets' and 'Hubbub' and all the rest + May stick to the calling they're fitted for best, + But _we'll_ all feel gay when + The 'Yankee' goes sailing home." + +In spite of the peace news we got orders to go out with the "Dixie" and +blockade the Crooked Island Passage. So about four o'clock we hauled up +the anchor and went to sea. All were gay, and many shook their hands in +farewell to Guantanamo Bay. + +We were instructed to keep a sharp lookout for the steamer "Monserrat," +which had gained fame as a blockade runner. It was rumored that she +carried Captain-General Blanco; that she was well armed, and had a +captain noted for his unscrupulousness and for his fighting qualities. + +"I'd like to meet that ship," said "Hay," "have a good 'scrap' with her, +get a couple of shot holes in our upper works and battle flags, and then +bring her triumphantly into Key West or, better still, New York." + +"Want to go out in a blaze of glory, do you?" said Tommy, the long. + +"Sure. I'd like to burn some of that powder we took such trouble to +load." + +This expressed the sentiments of the whole ship's company. + +To have one more good fight--in which we were to come out victorious, of +course--get a few souvenir shot holes where no harm would be done, and +then go home. This would just about have suited us. + +We floated around lazily all day Friday and Saturday with a chip on our +shoulder, as it were, but no "Monserrat" came to knock it off. + +The lookouts at the masthead strained their eyes, and half the men not +actually at work did likewise. All in vain; not an enemy did we see. A +number of transports homeward bound, bearing worn but happy soldiers, +were passed, and some came near enough to exchange cheers and good +wishes. + +The screw revolved but slowly, and the ship moved just enough to give +steerage way. Every passing wave did as it wished with the great hulk, +and she rolled like a log in the long swell. + +Sunday night a change came over the almost quiet ship. The propeller +turned with some energy; the steering engine whirred, and the "Yankee" +changed her course. This time she headed straight for Guantanamo, and +before many minutes we knew that we were returning to our old anchorage. +The orders were to blockade the passage and keep a bright lookout for +the "Monserrat"; if by Sunday at six o'clock she had not appeared, we +were to return to the fleet. + +The men who were so sure that we should never see Guantanamo again wore +a sheepish air, and those who were not so sure lorded over them and +remarked cheerfully, "I told you so." + +Those of us who were sleeping at midnight were wakened and told to come +to the port and look. Sleepily we obeyed, but the moment we reached the +opening we were wide awake. There, not three miles off, rolling in the +ground swell, lay a great fleet, the searchlights sweeping the heavens +and sea; the signal lanterns twinkling. + +As we looked, we saw at the masthead of the foremost vessel the signal +lights spell out A followed by D, the "Yankee's" private night signal. +Then, and our eyes almost started from our heads as we gazed, the lights +continued to spell: + +"Blockade raised; hostilities ceased." + +"Hurrah!" shouted some one behind me. + +"Wait a minute," said "Hay," "that's not all." + +The lights went on spelling: "We are on our way to New York. You are to +proceed to Guantanamo." + +The hurrah, as we spelled out the first sentences, was followed by a +groan, as we read the last. We were glad, indeed, to know that peace had +come, but it was hard to see that great fleet homeward bound, and know +that we must go back to our old post, to stay indefinitely. + +"Hope deferred maketh the heart sick." + + +CHAPTER XX. + +TAPS. + +The days following our arrival at Guantanamo were days of keen +expectation and equally keen disappointment. A rumor that we were to +return home at once would start up from nowhere in particular, and +circulate until it was believed. Then would come a denial and consequent +discontent. The enforced idleness of riding at anchor day after day +became so monotonous at last, that any little incident served to create +excitement. Visiting parties between the ships were permitted +occasionally, and the "Yankee's" crew grasped the opportunity to inspect +some of the other auxiliary cruisers. One or two liberty parties were +allowed ashore at Camp McCalla, from which the men returned, tired and +warm, but full of enthusiasm and interest for the things they had seen. +The amount of "curios" and souvenirs brought aboard would fill a museum. +Pieces of projectiles and Mauser cartridge shells, fragments of an +unusual red wood, and pieces of fossil rock, of which the cliff was +composed, were stowed away in bags and ditty boxes. + +The bay now had a very deserted appearance. All the battleships and many +of the cruisers had gone North. The auxiliary cruisers, "New Orleans," +"Newark," "Marblehead," and a number of converted yachts were all that +remained, besides our own vessel. It was still a goodly fleet, but in +comparison to the great squadron, seemed small. + +For the first time we were at a loss for something to do. Time hung +heavy on our hands. The routine work, including morning "quarters," was +finished by half-past ten every morning, and the balance of the day was +spent as pleased us best, within certain well-defined limits. + +Much time and thought were spent in chasing down rumors, and watching +signals from the flagship. + +Troopships from Santiago, laden with homeward-bound troops, sailed by +the mouth of the harbor, but we, the first volunteers to reach the seat +of war and to see active service, still lingered. The "Resolute" and +"Badger" left at last, and it was rumored that we would follow next day. +But still we lingered. + +Occasionally we got mail that told of home doings, and almost every +letter finished with, "I suppose that you will soon be home, now that +peace is declared." But still we lingered. + +We knew that we could hardly expect to be relieved at once; that there +were many arrangements to be made in the Navy Department; many orders to +be signed, and new plans to be formulated. But the thought carried +little comfort with it. The pangs of homesickness were getting a strong +hold on us. + +Dr. "Gangway" McGowan had the ship's carpenter nail a nice, smooth piece +of board over a hole in the wire netting of his cabin door; some wag +took advantage of the opportunity, and lettered plainly the following, +on its white surface: + +[Illustration] + +He would have done a rushing business if he could have found a sure cure +for homesick "heroes." + +On Tuesday, August 23d, our depression reached its culminating point, +for the word had been passed unofficially that we might lay here +indefinitely--two weeks, a month, three months--there was no telling +when we would get away from what had become a hateful spot to us. The +men went about with a dejected air, and while all were good-natured +enough, there was little inclination to talk. + +As night drew near, we saw several troopships pass the harbor homeward +bound, and the sight did not lighten our gloom. + +When the sun finally sank, we were as melancholy a crowd as ever trod a +deck. + +The men gathered in little groups, bewailing in monosyllables the +decidedly gloomy future, when some one glanced up and saw that Commodore +Watson's flagship, the "Newark," was showing the general signal lights. +Then, as the answering lights blazed on the other ships, the red and +white lanterns began to spell out a message. + +The news spread at once that the flagship was signalling a general +message or one of interest to the whole fleet. + +Soon the rail was lined with signal boys, and signal boys, _pro tem_. + +Those who could read them, spelled the messages aloud, letter by letter. + +"'Y-A-N-K-E-E' A-N-D 'N-I-A-G-A-R-A' W-I-L-L +S-A-I-L F-O-R T-O-M-P-K-I-N-S-V-I-L-L-E T-O-M-O-R-R-O-W. +'D-I-X-I-E' A-N-D 'F-E-R-N' +W-I-L-L G-O T-O H-A-M-P-T-O-N R-O-A-D-S." + +With a single bound all was changed from gloom to gladness. + +No man could say how glad he was, but every man felt his heart grow warm +within him. There was a deep feeling of gratitude for the providential +care we had received, and for the happy release that now had come. + +"Cupid," the ship's bugler, played "Home, Sweet Home," and instead of +mobbing him as we would have done had he played it three hours earlier, +we applauded. He also played "America," and then "Dixie," in honor of +our Maryland friends on our sister ship of that name. It pleased them +mightily, as was evidenced by the cheer that came over the quiet water +to us. Their bugler returned the compliment soon after by playing +"Yankee Doodle." + +There was much good feeling when the men went below, to turn in, but not +to sleep; we were too happy for that. + +As the talk and laughter gradually died down (the order, "Turn in your +hammocks and keep silence," was not very strictly observed that night), +a voice would be heard singing--not always the same voice: + + "But we'll all feel gay when + The 'Yankee' goes sailing home." + +The following morning Scully did not have to repeat "up all hands," for +he had hardly got the words out of his mouth before every man was +scrambling into his clothes as fast as he could. + +Soon after breakfast the order was given to hoist up the catamaran, and +then the rest of the boats were pulled up one by one. The boat's falls +were run away with in a fashion that made the officers smile. The +tackle-blocks fairly smoked. + +The only thing that marred our perfect joy was the departure of some of +the marines to the "New Orleans." We had grown to like them all very +much, and especially a pleasant fellow we dubbed "Happy," because of his +unvarying cheerfulness. We had hoped to bring them all back with us, and +were sorry to see them go. + +We listened with eager ears for the final order before sailing, "All +hands on the cat falls," and just before noon we heard it. In ready +response the men came tumbling up, and in a jiffy the anchor was pulled +up as if it weighed five hundred, instead of five thousand pounds. + +The leadsman stood on his little platform and sang out, as he heaved the +lead, the number of fathoms. It was the last touch we had of Cuban soil. + +As the old ship gathered headway, cheer after cheer rang out from the +ships that were left behind, and in answer to each, our crew, which had +gathered on the forecastle, gave three rousing hurrahs and a tiger. + +So we sailed out of Guantanamo Bay for the last time. + +It was with a feeling of sadness mixed with joy that we watched the +headland, that stands like a guard on one side of the bay, disappear in +the haze. We were one of the first ships to enter its then hostile +portals. We had gained renown there; we had seen the American flag +raised on its beautiful shores, and but a few minutes ago we heard a +ringing American cheer come over its clear waters, bidding us Godspeed +and a joyful home coming. + +The voyage home was like a triumphal journey. All hands were in high +spirits. The gloom of a few hours before was dispelled by the talismanic +words, "'Yankee' and 'Niagara' will sail for Tompkinsville." + +Though we were exceedingly glad, there was a good deal of quiet thinking +going on. + +One and all realized that we had been exposed to no ordinary dangers. +Danger from the enemy's fire; danger from a deadly climate; danger from +the effects of unaccustomed labor; danger from wind and raging sea. We +had been brought through safe and sound by an all-wise God to lead +peaceful, useful, and, it is hoped, helpful lives at home. + +This same thought had been in our minds many times before, and with the +feeling of thankfulness would come a sense of surprise that we should +pass through it all without harm. + +We sped on and on, the ship's prow ever pointed North. We watched the +water to note the change in color; to see when the blue water of the +Gulf Stream should be left behind and the green northern sea should be +entered. + +As we neared New York our impatience grew with every added mile, and +this eagerness was felt by officers as well as men. + +We sometimes forgot that our officers were capable of feeling +disappointment, impatience, and joy; that they also had to stand watch +and get along on short allowance of sleep; that they, too, were subject +to annoyances as well as we. If we had not felt this before, we fully +realized, now, how much _our_ officers had done for us. + +Lieutenants Duncan, Greene, and Barnard, Dr. McGowan, Ensigns Dimock and +Andrews, always treated us fairly and honestly. + +Every man has a deep-seated feeling of loyalty and affection for them +that will last as long as life shall last. + +As the tropical latitudes were left astern the nights became cool, and +the watch on deck had the novel experience of walking post in pea coats. +Shortly after daybreak on the twenty-seventh of August the Atlantic +Highlands were sighted, and, to quote one of the forecastle men, "All +hands shouted to see God's country once more!" + +Though we had seen the Highlands, Sandy Hook, and all the familiar +landmarks of the harbor many times, never had they seemed so attractive. + +The steam vessels we met tooted a welcome, as our identity became known, +and the sailing craft dipped their colors in salute. + +Inside the Narrows, and ranged along the Staten Island shore, we found +our companions of the Santiago blockade, and, as we passed through the +fleet to our anchorage, the crew stood at "quarters" in their honor. + +We heard later of the great reception these tried and true fighting +ships of Uncle Sam's had received, and we only regretted that we were +not present to add our little mite to the applause. + +After two days' stay off Tompkinsville, during which time the ship was +fairly overrun with visitors eager to see the "Yankee" and her crew of +"heroes," we steamed through the Narrows en route for League Island. +Orders had arrived from Washington providing for the paying off and +discharge of the New York Naval Reserves, and little time was lost in +obeying. + +On reaching League Island, the naval station near Philadelphia, we found +the old-time war monitors "Nahant" and "Jason" in port. The crew of the +"Nahant," made up of the New York Naval Reserves, were in readiness to +accompany the "Yankee's" crew back to the metropolis. + +While waiting for the specified date--Friday, September 2d--bags were +packed for the last time, and all preparations made for leaving the +ship. Now that the hour for departure was rapidly approaching, many of +the boys began to express regrets. Despite the hardships attending the +cruise, it had brought many happy days--days made pleasurable by novel +and strange surroundings--and it is not claiming too much to say that +not one of the "Yankee's" crew would have surrendered his experience. + +Friendships had been formed, too--friendships cemented by good +fellowship and mutual peril. Those who have spent many days at sea know +that acquaintances made on shipboard in the midst of calms and storms +and the dangers of the deep, are lasting. And that was now being +impressed upon the boys of the "Yankee." + +While the crews of the "Nahant" and "Yankee" were preparing for the +railway trip to New York, arrangements were being made in that city for +a rousing welcome to the returning Naval Reserve Battalion. + +Shortly after ten the boys were mustered aft to hear Captain Brownson's +parting speech. In his usual brisk manner he said that we were now to go +back to our peaceful avocations; to our homes; to join our relatives and +friends, and to become again private citizens. He ended by wishing us +the best of luck. + +The cheers that followed shook the old ship from keel to topmast, nor +were the cheers for Lieutenant Hubbard any the less hearty. + +A very few minutes after, we piled into a tug and steamed away. Little +was said, for there was a feeling of real regret: we were fond of the +old boat, after all. + +"Patt," the gunner's mate; the marines, and the few men of the engineer +force who stayed on board, waved good-by. + +We boarded a special train with the crew and officers of the "Nahant," +and were soon speeding over the level country towards New York. + +After a very fast trip we reached Jersey City, where we were fitted out +with rifles and belts, and were met by the band that was to lead us +through the city. + +[Illustration: MARCHING THROUGH CITY HALL PARK, NEW YORK CITY] + +The people of New York turned out to give us a rousing welcome. + +It was a welcome we shall never forget--a welcome that made us forget +all hardships, all dangers. Whatever pride we may have had in our +achievements was drowned in that thunderous greeting; we were humbled, +for real heroes could hardly have deserved such a reception. + +The Mayor stood in front of the City Hall and reviewed us, and later we +were reviewed by the President himself, at Madison Square. + +As the head of the column turned down Twenty-sixth Street, heading to +our old receiving ship the "New Hampshire," the band struck up "Home, +Sweet Home." The men still marched with heads erect and eyes to the +front, but many of those eyes were dimmed with a moisture that almost +prevented their owners from seeing the long, homeward-bound pennant that +floated from the masthead of the old frigate. + +As for the greeting given by mothers and sisters and relatives of every +degree and by friends assembled on the "New Hampshire," that is one +experience that cannot be described; it must be felt to be appreciated. +Suffice it that every member of the New York Naval Battalion felt amply +repaid for the hardships endured and the sacrifices made in the service +of Old Glory. And if the occasion should again arise for the calling out +of the Naval Reserves of the First New York Battalion, they, together +with their comrades, the Naval Reserve Battalions of other cities, will +cheerfully don their "clean whites" and respond to muster. + +"Pipe down!" + + +APPENDIX. + +THE NAVAL MILITIA OF THE UNITED STATES. + +The Naval Militia is a volunteer organization made up of certain +patriotic citizens of the United States, who conceived the idea that the +country could be served by its sons as well in the naval branch of the +National Defence as in the military. The subject of a naval volunteer +force had been agitated for several years, but it was not until the +latter part of June, 1891, that the first enlistments were made. + +Since that time the success of the organization has been continuous and +most gratifying, and it has required only the recent war with Spain to +prove that its value to the country at large cannot be overestimated. At +the outbreak of hostilities, the strength of the Naval Militia +throughout the country was 4,445 officers and enlisted men, but the rush +of recruits incidental to the opening of the war vastly increased that +number. + +The scope of the organization is naturally limited to those States +bordering on the seacoast and the Great Lakes, but the interest taken in +it to-day by the people is widespread and emphatic. The existence of +this interest was amply proved by the enthusiastic welcome tendered the +returning crews of the "Badger," "Dixie," "Prairie," "Yosemite," and +"Yankee" by the citizens of the cities more closely concerned, and by +the country at large. + +In a report made to Secretary Long in 1897 by Theodore Roosevelt, then +Assistant Secretary of the Navy, these prophetic words were used: + +"The rapidity with which modern wars are decided renders it imperative +to have men who can be ready for immediate use, and outside of the +regular navy these men are only to be found in the Naval Militia of the +various States. If a body of naval militia is able to get at its head +some first-class man who is a graduate of Annapolis; if it puts under +him as commissioned officers, warrant officers, and petty officers men +who have worked their way up from grade to grade, year after year, and +who have fitted themselves for the higher positions by the zeal and +painstaking care with which they have performed their duties in the +lower places; and if the landsmen, ordinary seamen, and seamen go in +resolutely to do real work and learn their duties so that they can +perform them as well as the regulars aboard our warships, taking pride +in their performance accordingly as they are really difficult--such an +organization will, in course of time, reach a point where it could be +employed immediately in the event of war. + +"Most of the Naval Militia are now in condition to render immediate +service of a very valuable kind in what may be called the second line of +defence. They could operate signal stations, help handle torpedoes and +mines, officer and man auxiliary cruisers, and assist in the defence of +points which are not covered by the army. There are numbers of advanced +bases which do not come under the present scheme of army coast defence, +and which would have to be defended, at any rate during the first weeks +of war, by bodies of Naval Militia; while the knowledge they get by +their incessant practice in boats on the local waters would be +invaluable. + +"Furthermore, the highest and best trained bodies could be used +immediately on board the regular ships of war; this applies to the +militia of the lakes as well as to the militia of the seacoast--and +certainly no greater tribute is necessary to pay to the lake militia. +Many of these naval battalions are composed of men who would not enlist +in time of peace, but who, under the spur of war, would serve in any +position for the first few important months." + +The last sentence of the above extract is of peculiar interest, inasmuch +as it proved true in every particular. The crews of the auxiliary ships +manned by the Naval Militia during the Spanish-American war of 1898 were +composed of men who, in civil life, were brokers, lawyers, physicians, +clerks, bookkeepers, or men of independent means. They sacrificed their +personal interests for the moment, and, in their patriotic zeal, +accepted positions of the most menial capacity on board ship. + +Prior to the outbreak of war they had entered into training with the +utmost enthusiasm. The Navy Department had assigned some of the older +vessels to the various naval brigades, to be used as training ships, and +with these as headquarters the brigades began drilling. In addition to +the regular routine, summer cruising was taken up. + +The First Battalion, New York State Militia, for instance, went in a +body to Fisher's Island, off the eastern end of Connecticut, and there +engaged in landing parties, camping, and sham battles. On another +occasion the battalion embarked on board the battleships "Massachusetts" +and "Texas," each militiaman having a regular bluejacket for a running +mate, and doing just as he did. The two ships cruised in the vicinity of +Fisher's Island, and a programme was carried out which included +instruction in the different parts of the ship in great guns and +ordnance, such drills as abandon ship, arm and away boats, clear ship +for action, general quarters, signalling, and in the use of torpedoes. + +During one of the cruises of the Massachusetts Naval Brigade a +detachment was engaged in locating signal stations on the coast from the +New Hampshire State line to Cape Ann, and it was due to the efforts of +this detachment that the signal stations established during the late war +proved so efficient. + +The Naval Militia of Maryland, Louisiana, Illinois, and other States +were given opportunities for instruction in the handling of guns, the +care of wounded, in infantry drill, limited artillery practice with +rapid-fire batteries, and all the details of naval life, and so well did +they benefit by it that the authorities at Washington announced a +willingness to trust any of the warships in their sole charge. + +It was to reach this pinnacle, as it may be termed, that the Naval +Militia organizations of the United States had striven, and when they +were finally called upon by the Government they proved their worth by +boarding modern warships, doing the work of regular sailors, and +fighting for their country with a degree of skill and zeal that has +earned for them the commendation of their fellow-citizens. + +UNITED STATES NAVAL CODE FOR VISUAL SIGNALLING. + +To signal with flag or torch "wigwag": + +There are but _one_ position and _three_ motions. + +The _position_ is with the flag held vertically in front of the body; +the signalman facing squarely the point to which the message is to be +sent. + + +APPENDIX + +The _first_ or 1 is a motion to the right of the sender. + +The _second_ or 2 is a motion to the left of the sender. + +The _third_ or 3: the flag is dropped in front of the sender and +instantly returned to _position_. + +The entire code is made up of these three motions--1, 2, and 3. Every +letter begins and ends with _position_. + +"WIGWAG" CODE. UNITED STATES NAVAL CODE FOR VISUAL AND +TELEGRAPHIC +SIGNALLING. + +ALPHABET. + +A 22 +B 2112 +C 121 +D 222 +E 12 +F 2221 +G 2211 +H 122 +I 1 +J 1122 +K 2121 +L 221 +M 1221 +N 11 +O 21 +P 1212 +Q 1211 +R 211 +S 212 +T 2 +U 112 +V 1222 +W 1121 +X 2122 +Y 111 +Z 2222 + +NUMERALS. +1 1111 +2 2222 +3 1112 +4 2221 +5 1122 +6 2211 +7 1222 +8 2111 +9 1221 +0 2112 + +ABBREVIATIONS. + +a after. +b before. +c can. +h have. +n not. +r are. +t the. +u you. +ur your. +w word. +wi with. +y why. + +x x 3 = "numerals follow" or "numerals end." +sig. 3 = signature. +3 = End of word. +33 = End of sentence. +333 = End of message. +22, 22, 3 = I understand. + +The complete number opposite each letter or numeral stands for that +letter or numeral. + +Example: The signal sent by Commodore Schley's flagship "Brooklyn" that +memorable 3d of July-- + +T H E E N E M Y' S F L E E T +2, 122, 12 3 12, 11, 12, 1221, 111, 212 3 2221, 221, 12, 12, 2, 3 +L, RLL, RL D RL, RR, RL, RLLR, RRR, LRL D LLLR, LLR, RL, RL, L, D + +I S C O M I N G O U T O F +1, 212 3 121, 21, 1221, 1, 11, 2211 3 21, 112, 2 3 21, 2221 +R, LRL D RLR, LR, RLLR, R, RR, LLRR D LR, RRL, L D LR, LLLR + +H A R B O R. +122, 22, 211, 2112, 21, 211, 333. +RLL, LL, LRR, LRRL, LR, LRR, DDD. + +R = Right = 1. L = Left = 2. D = Drop = 3. + +NIGHT SIGNALLING. + +The lights in the Ardois system--named after its inventor--sometimes +called "shroud lights," are placed well up on the foremast. They are red +and white electric bulbs. There are four of each placed in a line one +above the other, in groups of two--- a red and white bulb together. +Unlike the "wigwag" system, the whole letter is shown at once. + +The code is the same as the "wigwag." One is indicated by a red light, +two by white, and three by the combination, white, white, red and white. + +Both systems may be mastered very easily by a little painstaking +practice, and much amusement may be had through the mystification of +those who do not understand it. A "wigwag" flag may be easily made by +sewing a white square of muslin in the centre of a red bandana +handkerchief. + +The best method of learning this system is to send simple messages, +looking up the letters that there is any doubt about, and correcting +mistakes as you go along. + + +APPENDIX. + +NAVY CODE FLAGS. + +Messages sent by the navy code flags cannot be read except by the aid of +the code book. There are ten numeral flags--1 to 9, and one for 0. All +messages are made up by means of these ten flags headed by the code flag +(whether it be geographical, telegraph, or navy list). + +For instance, a line of bunting is sent up on the flagship's signal +halliards. It is read from the top down. The geographical flag flies +first; then follow 7, 6, 3, 8. It means that the message can be found in +the geographical list, number 7638. + +The repeaters are used to avoid confusion. Instead of putting two number +1 flags together, for instance, number 1 is flown with a repeater under +it; second repeater repeats number 2, and so on. + +PREPARATORY.--Over hoist. Prepare to execute subjoined order. + +INTERROGATION.--Alone. What is that signal? or "I don't +understand--repeat." Above hoist puts signal in interrogative sense. + +ANSWERING.--Flown by ship receiving message indicates that signal is +understood. + +AFFIRMATIVE.--Alone. Yes. Above hoist puts message in affirmative or +permissive sense. + +NEGATIVE.--Alone. No. Above hoist puts message in negative sense. + +MEAL or NUMERAL.--Alone. Crew at mess. Above or below hoist--the numeral +flags are to be taken as numbers simply. + +CONVOY.--Alone at fore, means naval convoy. Above hoist means use navy +list. + +POSITION.--In manoeuvres, hoisted by each ship as it gets into position +ordered; lowered when next ship gets into place. + +GUARD or GUIDE.--As its name implies--flown by guard or guide ship. + +TELEGRAPH.--Use telegraph list. + +DESPATCH or GEOGRAPHICAL.--Alone at fore, indicates that the ship flying +it is carrying despatches. Above hoist. Use geographical list. + +CORNET.--Alone. Ship about to sail. Over number. Official number of +ship. + +GENERAL RECALL.--Recalls all small boats. + +POWDER.--Hoisted alone in port. Taking powder on board. Alone at sea. +Distress. + + +RATING MARKS IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. + +THE INSIGNIA OF RANK OF COMMISSIONED, WARRANT, AND PETTY OFFICERS. + +There are four classes of officers in the United States navy, and each +has its own distinguishing mark. + +The commissioned officers of the line. + +The commissioned corps. + +The warrant officers. + +The petty officers. + +The first two classes are graduates of Annapolis, or regularly +commissioned by the Government. The last two are composed of enlisted +men who have been promoted. + +The rank device of the commissioned officers is worn on the +shoulder-knot of the full dress uniform and on the collar of the service +coat. + +The marks are as follows: + +[Illustration: REAR-ADMIRAL.] + +Foul anchor with silver stars at ends; and one stripe of gold lace two +inches wide, and one of one-half inch wide above it, on sleeves. + +[Illustration: COMMODORE.] + +A star with a foul anchor at either side of it; and one stripe of gold +lace two inches wide on sleeves. + +[Illustration: CAPTAIN.] + +A spread eagle with foul anchor at either side. Four one-half-inch +stripes of gold lace on sleeves. + +[Illustration: COMMANDER.] + +Foul anchor with silver oak leaves at ends. Three stripes of half-inch +gold lace on sleeves. + +LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER.--A silver foul anchor with a silver oak leaf at +either end. Two stripes of half-inch gold lace with a quarter-inch +stripe between. + +[Illustration: LIEUTENANT.] + +Silver foul anchor with two silver bars at either side. Two stripes of +gold lace one-half inch wide on sleeves. + +[Illustration: LIEUTENANT--JUNIOR GRADE.] + +Silver foul anchor with one silver bar at either side. Two stripes of +gold lace, half and quarter-inch, on sleeves. + +[Illustration: ENSIGN.] + +A gold foul anchor on collar or shoulder-knot and one stripe of gold +lace on sleeves. + +THE COMMISSIONED CORPS. + +The commissioned corps' devices are substituted for the anchor by staff +officers, who wear the same rank devices as are prescribed for line +officers with whom they have relative rank. + +THE PAY CORPS.--A silver oak sprig and a narrow band of white cloth +above and below the gold lace on sleeves. + +THE MEDICAL CORPS.--A spread oak leaf of gold with an acorn of silver, +and a band of dark maroon velvet above and below the gold lace on +sleeves. + +THE ENGINEER CORPS.--Four silver oak leaves, and a band of red cloth +above and below the gold lace on sleeves. + +PETTY OFFICERS' RATING MARKS. + +All petty officers wear a rating device on the sleeve of the outer +garment above the elbow. If they belong to the starboard watch the mark +will be sewed on the right sleeve; if the port, on the left. + +[Illustration: QUARTERMASTER.] + +The petty officers' device always has a spread eagle above it. The +specialty mark indicating to which department he belongs is just below +in the angle formed by the chevrons. The chevrons indicate the class. +Three chevrons, first class; two, second class, and so on. The chief +petty officers have an arch of the same cloth connecting the two ends +of the top chevron. + +The specialty marks are as follows: + +[Illustration: MASTER-AT-ARMS.] + +[Illustration: GUNNER'S MATES.] + +[Illustration: SEAMAN GUNNER.] + +[Illustration: CHIEF YEOMAN.] + +[Illustration: APOTHECARY.] + +[Illustration: YEOMAN--1ST, 2D, AND 3D CLASS.] + +[Illustration: SHIP'S PRINTER OR SCHOOLMASTER.] + +[Illustration: BANDMASTER.] + +[Illustration: MACHINISTS, BOILER-MAKERS, WATER-TENDERS, COPPERSMITHS, +AND OILERS.] + +[Illustration: CARPENTER'S MATES, PLUMBERS, AND PAINTERS.] + +[Illustration: BLACKSMITH.] + +[Illustration: BOATSWAIN'S MATES AND COXSWAINS.] + +The seaman class is indicated by the rows of braid on the cuffs. + +Seamen, first class or able-bodied seamen, have three rows of braid. + +Seamen, second class or ordinary seamen, have two rows of braid. + +Seamen, third class or landsmen, have one row of braid. + +The watch mark for the enlisted men not petty officers consists of a +stripe of braid on the sleeve close to the shoulder. For the seaman, +white on blue clothes, blue on white clothes. + +For the engineer force, red on both white and blue clothes. + +The watch mark indicates the watch of which the wearer is a member. The +starboard men wear it on the right arm, and the port men on the left. + +TAKING SOUNDINGS. + +HEAVING THE LEAD. + +The man using the "lead line" (as the sounding-line weighted with lead +is called) stands on a grating that projects over the side. This is +placed near enough so that the steersman can hear the man who "heaves +the lead" when he calls out the number of fathoms of water. This he +tells by the marks on the "lead line" as follows: + + 2 fathoms, twelve feet, 2 strips of leather. + 3 " 3 strips of leather. + 5 " white rag. + 7 " red rag. +10 " leather with hole in it. +13 " 3 strips of leather or blue rag. +15 " white rag. +17 " red rag. +20 " 2 knots. +25 " 1 knot. +30 " 3 knots. +35 " 1 knot. +40 " 4 knots. + 9 " are called mark. +11 " " " deeps. + +The leadsman stands on his little grating and swings the lead so it just +clears the water. When it is swinging well he lets it fly in the +direction in which the ship is moving and then notes the depth by the +strips of leather or rags. The result is shouted out so the steersman +can hear and keep the vessel in the channel. + +THE BOATSWAIN'S CALLS. + +The boatswain's calls or "pipes" are very difficult to reduce to a +musical scale, because the pitch of the instrument depends entirely on +the amount of energy expended by the blower. The novice, after a few +trials, would probably assert that the primitive little whistle had only +one note--and not very much of that; but he would be surprised indeed at +the volume of sound, the range, and the command over the instrument +which a veteran boatswain would soon make everyday matter to him. Not +only do these experts sound the regular calls with ear-piercing +exactness, but actual tunes are often included in their repertoire. + +The pipe or whistle is held with the bulb in the centre of the palm, the +hole being towards the wrist. The lobe to which the ring and lanyard are +attached, serves simply as a handle. + +In the diagram given, the black line indicates the "pipe" or call; the +four faint horizontal lines, the notes, and the vertical bars, the time. + +The roll indicated by the wavy line in the diagram is made by rapidly +opening and closing the hand. The gradual rise and fall is effected in +the same way, but slowly. The rattle is done by a quick movement of the +tongue. + +This diagram is furnished by an old boatswain. As a rule, the calls are +taught entirely by personal instruction, and it is believed that they +have here been put into print for the first time. None of the ordinary +manuals have ever given them, the young sailor having had to learn them +by experience on shipboard. + +Their importance is evident from the fact that every order aboard ship +is preceded by the pipe peculiar to the command; for though the words +may not be heard, the whistle can always be distinguished. Even the most +lubberly landsman, with such continuous practice, soon learns the +meaning of the different calls, and jumps to obey them. + +[Illustration: THE BOATSWAIN'S CALLS] + +[Illustration: STATIONS OR QUARTERS FOR EXERCISE, OR PRECEDING ACTION, +OF FIVE-INCH BREECHLOADING RIFLES.] + +1. First Captain, Second Boarder. 2. Second Captain, First Boarder. 3. +First Loader, Second Boarder, 4. Second Loader, First Boarder. 5. First +Shellman, Pumpman, Port guard. 6. Second Shellman, Fireman, Port guard. +7. First Shellman, Second Rifleman. 8. Second Shellman, First Rifleman. + +1. Stands at elevating gear wheel and sights and fires the gun. + +2. Stands at the right and beside the breech; opens same after firing so +shell can be taken out. + +3. Stands at the left training wheel--i.e., the wheel that moves the gun +laterally. He also loads the gun. + +4. Stands at the right training wheel. He takes out the empty shell +after firing, and wears heavy gloves for that purpose. + +5 and 6. Stand just behind No. 2 to the right of the gun. They may be +termed emergency men. They assist with the shells, carry the wounded, if +any; will be called away in case of fire, and are qualified to sight and +fire the gun in case the first and second captains are wounded or +killed. They provide revolvers and belts for Nos. 1, 2, and 3, and belts +for Nos. 5, 6, 7, and 8. They are also port guards, and defend the ports +in case of close action. + +7 and 8. Carry shells from the ammunition hoist to a position amidships +convenient for quick transport to the gun. They are also riflemen, and +may be called to protect any part of the ship from boarders or from fire +on shore. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13826 *** |