CHAPTER XXV
IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT
The methods of strategy by which the German Navy, or a large part of it,was tolled out of its impregnable hiding place the Navy boys did notlearn till long afterwards. But Phil, at least, half realized that theGerman High Command believed that the way to shelling the British coastby her great naval guns was at last opened.
The Allied fleet moved on a certain day and at a certain hour, and withthe open sea as its destination. It was a calm and utterly peaceful seathrough which the _Kennebunk_ sailed with her sister ships.
The high bow of the superdreadnaught crashed through the seethingwaters. Her lookouts traced the course of each tiny blot upon thedistant sea-line.
Suddenly, out of the north, appeared a scout cruiser, her funnelsvomiting volumes of dense smoke that flattened down oilily upon the seain her wake. Her stern guns spat viciously at some craft of lowvisibility which followed her.
Immediately everybody aboard the _Kennebunk_ forgot the other ships ofthe squadron. The enemy was in sight, and the work would be cut out forevery man aboard the superdreadnaught.
The cruiser came leaping toward the fleet, her signal flags flutteringmessages. A gun boomed on the flagship. Bugles shrilled from every deckof the _Kennebunk_.
Messages were wigwagged from ship to ship. But aboard the _Kennebunk_there was just one order that interested every one.
"Clear decks for action!"
The divisions responded to the notes of the bugle with a snappiness thatdelighted the officers on the bridge. As they had gone through themanoeuvres a thousand times in practice, so now they faced the enemywith the same precision.
Ventilators, life-lines, parts of the superstructure and deck woodworkcame down and were stowed in their proper place. Boats dropped fromtheir davits, were hurriedly lashed together, their plugs pulled, andleft to sink, riding attached to sea anchors formed of their own sparsand oars. "Cleared for action!" when reported to the commander meantexactly that! Not a superfluous object in the way of the activities of afighting crew.
"Battle stations!"
The four friends from Seacove knew exactly where they were to be allthrough the battle--if they lived. Whistler knew that he was to stand inthe corridor of the handling-room for Turret Number Two, until he wascalled to relieve some wounded or exhausted member of his gun crew. Hisimmediate order was to "stand by."
Every other individual aboard the _Kennebunk_ had his station, from thefiremen shoveling tons of coal into the fiery maws of the furnaces tokeep the indicator needles of the steam-gages at a certain figure, tothe range-finders high up in the fighting-tops, bending over theirapparatus.
In the turrets the officers fitted telephone receivers to their heads.The gunners, literally "stripped for action" to their waists, theirglistening, supple bodies as alert as panthers, crouched over theenormous guns.
Up from the sea appeared the great fighting machines of the enemy. Theycould not run away this time. Inveigled into range of the Allied ships,the Hun must fight at last!
A word spoken into a telephone from the conning tower to one of thefighting tops! Then, an instant later, to Turret Number One! A roar thatshook the ship and seemed to shake the very heavens, while the flash ofthe fourteen-inch rifle blinded for a second the spectators!
A cheer rose from all parts of the ship, even before the tops signaleda hit. After that the men fought the ship in silence.
Alone in the corridor, Whistler Morgan felt that it would be easier tobe on active duty in this time of stress. Yet he had been taught thathis station was quite as important as that of any other man or boyaboard.
Through the half open door of the handling room he heard other menloading powder bags and shells upon the electric ammunition hoist thatled to the turret above.
Suddenly the whole ship staggered. A deafening explosion, different fromthat of the guns, shocked him. An enemy shell had burst aboard the_Kennebunk_!
"Relief!"
Whistler sprang through the corridor and up to the gun deck. Was thecall for him?
He stopped to look at a perspiring gun crew. They worked the gun withthe precision of automatons. Wherever the shell had burst it had notinterfered with the firing of the huge guns of Number Two Turret.
Another enemy shell burst inboard of the _Kennebunk_. There was a hailof bits of steel and flying wreckage. Whistler stood squarely on hisfeet and began to breathe again.
If he was afraid he did not know it!
One of his mates fell back from position. It was not Torry, as Whistlerimmediately saw. The man's shoulder dripped blood from a raking wound.Had it been Torry, Phil knew he would still have stepped forward, justas he was doing, and have calmly taken the place of the wounded man.
"Keep it up, boys!" grinned the wounded one. "I'll be back soon's thedoc gives this the once over."
The work went on. Shell, powder, breech! Ready all! A moment while thecaptain's finger trembled on the trigger button. Then the hiss of air asthe breech swung open, yawning for another charge.
The thousand-pound shell, hurtling through the smoke-filled air, foundthe vitals of the _Kennebunk's_ immediate enemy. It scarcely shockedWhistler when he peered out to see that vast mountain of steel burstopen amidships. She sank in seconds, and the _Kennebunk_ steamed on toattack a second monster of the deep.
The battle continued. Moments seemed longer than minutes; minutesdragged by like hours. The wonder of it all was that so much damagecould be done in so short a time.
Ships that had cost months of labor to build settled and disappearedbeneath the surface in a few minutes. And their crews? Best not talkabout them.
History will relate in detail and with exactness, the story of thisfight. The superdreadnaught, so shortly off the ways, endured herbaptism of fire, coming through the battle scarred but victorious. Aloneshe sank two of the enemy.
Her own casualty list was small. But it was some hours after the battlebefore Philip Morgan made sure that his three friends were safe. Repairsand other necessary work took up the attention of the crew until longpast nightfall, although the battle itself had lasted just under twohours.
Then Phil found Al first, for they had fought in the same turret. Theywent to look for the younger boys, and came across an agile little chapwith his head done up in bandages, working with a deck-washing crew aftof Turret Number Three, which had been wrecked by a Hun shell.
"It's Ikey!" shouted Torry. "What's the matter with your head, Ikey?"
"Don't say a word," said Ikey, shaking his bandaged head. "The doc usedall the gauze he had left aboard after binding those up that was reallyhurt."
"But you've got some kind of a wound, haven't you?" demanded Whistler.
"Oi, oi! I ought to have, eh? But it's only that boil I had coming onthe back of my neck. You remember? Somehow the head got knocked off ofit and it was bleeding. So the doc grabbed me and bandaged me likethis," he added in a much disgusted tone.
It was Michael Donahue who proudly showed himself later with his arm ina sling. He had actually got a piece of shell through the flesh belowhis elbow. The others were inclined to scorn his wound as they didIkey's boil.
"That'll do for you fellers," said Frenchy proudly. "By St. Patrick'spiper that played the last snake out of Ireland! I've shed me blood forUncle Sam! That is something you garbies haven't done. And, oh,goodness! Ain't I hungry--just!"
* * * * *
Because of the repairs necessary to the _Kennebunk_ she was orderedhome; but to the delight of the four Navy boys they, with Hertig and Mr.MacMasters, were not to go with her.
The _Colodia_ was now one of the destroyer fleet chasing Germansubmarines in the Bay of Biscay. They were ordered to meet the destroyerat a certain English port and would rejoin their old comrades andcontinue their training under Lieutenant Commander Lang.
Much as they disliked leaving their comrades on the superdreadnaught,active service, and of a new kind, was ahead of them, as will be relatedin
the next volume of this "Navy Boys Series."
"We can't kick," declared Torry. "We got into the Navy to work, not toloaf. We've seen a good deal of service, and of several different kinds.But there is always something new to learn."
"Sure!" agreed Ikey. "I've wrote my papa and mama that although I ain'tan admiral yet, I'll be something or other before I get home."
"True for you!" exclaimed Frenchy. "But just what you'll be is hardtelling, Ikey. Even that old witch of the island couldn't foretell yourfinish, I bet."
"That reminds me," said Whistler. "Mr. MacMasters told me he read inan American paper that he just got hold of that they have arrested FranzLinder, the spy. He will be tried for blowing up the Elmvale dam. AndI guess we had something to do to getting evidence that will convicthim. The ensign says we will have to give our testimony about theinfernal machine before Captain Trevor before the superdreadnaughtleaves this port for home."
"Say!" said Torry with energy, "hasn't this been a great old cruise?"
And his three mates emphatically agreed.
THE END
The Young ReporterSeries
By HOWARD R. GARIS
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Fascinating stories of great mysteries and extreme perils--the life of adaring young reporter for a metropolitan daily, written by one who washimself a reporter for sixteen years.
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THE YOUNG REPORTER AND THE BANK MYSTERY Or Stirring Doings in Wall Street
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THE YOUNG REPORTER AT THE BATTLE FRONT Or a War Correspondent's Double Mission
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Vance Barnum is a real treasure when it comes to telling about howmagicians do their weird tricks, how the circus acrobats pull off theirvarious stunts, how the "fishman" remains under water so long, how themid-air performers loop the loop and how the slackwire fellow keeps fromtumbling. He has been through it all and he writes freely for the boysfrom his vast experience. They are real stories bound to hold theiraudiences breathlessly.
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* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Page 47, "swifty" changed to "swiftly" (the swiftly approaching)
Page 62, "swifty" changed to "swiftly" (he described swiftly)
Page 93, "saluate" changed to "salute" (trying to salute)
Page 131, "U-Boat" changed to "U-boat" to conform to rest of text
Page 144, "agan" changed to "again" (again and again)
Page 151, "overwhelmn" changed to "overwhelm" (threatened to overwhelm)
Page 156, "sharts" changed to "charts" (marked on the charts)
Page 157, "finshing" changed to "fishing" (so the fishing boats)
Page 191, "Frency" changed to "Frenchy" (demanded Frenchy excitedly)
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