Battleship Boys' First Step Upward; Or, Winning Their Grades as Petty Officers

by Frank Gee Patchin

  CHAPTER VII

  PUTTING THE ENEMY OUT

  By this time every officer and man on the battleship "Long Island" knewDan Davis and Sam Hickey by name as well as by sight. But the ladsbore their honors well. Neither of the boys sought to take advantageof the favor he had gained. If anything, the boys toiled harder thanever. They worked with the formidable seven-inch gun during all thehours that were allotted to this work.

  During the rest hour Dan and his companion would ordinarily be found inthe turret, examining the gun and its carriage, quizzing each other totest their knowledge, committing to memory the name and use of everypart of these complicated instruments of war.

  Late one afternoon, when the men were supposed to be at play on theforward deck, the captain was passing through on his way to hisquarters, when he heard voices in the turret and peered in there.

  He saw Dan and Sam stripped to their undershirts, working the big gunand going through with their own examination. Dan was trying toexplain to his companion the theory and practice ofrange-finding--learning the distance and location of the enemy. Fromthat they drifted into the question of sighting the big guns, elevationand other technical subjects beyond their years and experience.

  The ship's commander smiled proudly. After a few moments of listening,he stepped inside.

  "Well, lads, do you never rest?" he questioned, in a kindly tone, forthe commanding officer of the "Long Island" was a humane man, one whohad the interests of his men at heart to a degree possessed by fewcommanding officers in the service.

  The lads saluted but made no reply, as an answer was not expected tothe question.

  "Are you studying--I mean in books?"

  "Yes, sir," replied Dan.

  "Where do you get your books?"

  "From the ship's library, sir."

  "I am afraid you are in need of some more advanced works than you willfind in the crew's library. If you will come to my quarters, thisevening after your mess, I will see what I can find for you. I think Ihave some books that will be of use to you. By the way, I heard youmention electricity once or twice. Do you know anything about thatbranch?"

  "A little, sir, but we are studying that as well," Dan replied.

  "From books?"

  "Oh, yes, sir. Besides this we are taking a course in electricity witha correspondence school."

  The eyes of the commanding officer twinkled.

  "You are two very industrious boys. I am afraid not many of our boysare following your example."

  "Quite a few of them are, sir."

  "May I ask what you are seeking to accomplish?"

  Dan glanced up inquiringly.

  "I mean as to the future. What do you hope to do with yourself?" askedthe captain.

  "Naturally, sir, I hope to gain promotion when I have earned it," wasDan's answer.

  "Ah, yes; to be sure. You have ambitions to become petty officers.Well, your prospects are good, young men, if you keep on in that wayyou have been going. You will come below for the books as I suggested,will you not?"

  "Yes, sir; thank you, sir."

  "As I have said before, whenever you wish advice or assistance, come tome, through your immediate superiors, and you will find me ever readyto aid you."

  "Thank you, sir," acknowledged the boys, in chorus. The captainsaluted in answer to theirs; then, turning on his heel, left the turret.

  "That's what I call a right smart gentleman," announced Sam Hickey,with an emphatic nod of the head.

  "The captain is a magnificent man. We are lucky, old fellow, in beingunder such a commander. I'd face powder and bullets any day for him."

  "Say, Dan."

  "Yes."

  "He invited us to call on him, didn't he?"

  "Well, yes; something like that, though not in a social sense. Thatwould be impossible."

  Sam pondered.

  "Do you know I'd give a month's pay if the rest of the bunch could seeme sitting in one of those mahogany chairs in the Old Man's quarters,with my feet on his dining room table."

  "Sam Hickey, I am ashamed of you. You ought to be ashamed of yourself,to say a thing like that! Suppose the commanding officer had overheardthose words, instead of what he did overhear. What would you have donethen?"

  "What would I have done? Why, I'd have slipped out through the gunport, and left you to square things with him," answered the resourcefulSam.

  "You're hopeless," muttered Dan. "And, another thing, before you talkof giving a month's pay remember that you have nearly a month's paycharged against you for the loss of the tompion."

  "That's so. I'm going to ask the captain about that. Maybe, when hehears my side of the case, he will remit the fine. It's a shame tomake me pay it."

  "Don't be a baby. Be a man and take your medicine like a man," advisedDan, as he pulled on his jacket and prepared to leave the turret.

  That evening they reported at the captain's quarters, as they had beendirected. While, in this instance, the lads remained standing, theircommanding officer talked with them as if they were really his equals;that is, as if there were no social barriers erected between them.

  The longer they remained in the service the more the Battleship Boyscame to realize that the gulf between officers and men was not nearlyso wide as it had been painted. The officer worked by the side of hismen in the grime and dirt, and at all times made the comfort of thejackies his personal care. Strict forms, however, had to be lived upto for the sake of discipline.

  On the following morning, when the two boys reported to turret numberfour, where they were stationed, the gun captain lined up his men andlooked them over after roll call.

  "What we need in this crew, just now, is gun pointers. Those of youwho have tried that work aren't worth the powder to blow you through aventilator. What we are going to do I'll confess I don't know. Herewe are, within four weeks of battle practice, and not one of you couldsight a gun so that it would send a ball through a barn if the barnwere leaned up against the muzzle. Do any of you who haven't triedthink you can sight a seven-inch gun!"

  "I used to shoot woodchucks with a shotgun, sir," Sam Hickey informedthe gun captain.

  The gun crew laughed loudly.

  "Bosh!" exploded the gun captain.

  "I can shoot, sir," insisted Sam.

  "I'd be afraid to have you get near a bag of powder with that fieryhead. It's a wonder you don't blow up with spontaneous combustion.You will, one of these times, if you don't look sharp."

  A pugnacious look flashed into Sam Hickey's eyes, but he dared not makea retort to the gun captain.

  "Davis, do you think you could learn to sight a gun?"

  "Yes, sir; I think so."

  "You'll get the chance. We will give you a try-out this morning. Allhands line up for dotter practice."

  "What's dotter practice?" asked Sam.

  "Sh-h-h," warned Dan. "Haven't you learned what that is yet?"

  "No."

  "Dotter practice is target work in miniature. Listen! The gun captainis going to explain it to us."

  "Some of you understand the dotter," began the gun captain. "For thebenefit of those of you who do not I will explain. The dotter is alittle contrivance on the gun, which enables you to shoot at a targetand proves your marksmanship. By looking through the finder you willsee a little target that moves up and down like a ship at sea. Whenthe crossed wires of your finder are right on the target you pull thetrigger. A black spot will appear on the target--a dot, showing whereyour shot struck if you have hit the target at all. We call it adotter because it makes a dot where it hits."

  "And the dotter makes you dotty," muttered Sam under his breath, yetloudly enough so that the man next to him heard it. The fellow laughedaloud, bringing down a sharp rebuke from the gun captain.

  "Hickey, try your hand at the dotter."

  Sam climbed up to the little platform on the right side of the gun,winking at his companions as he did so.

  "What shall I do now?" he q
uestioned, taking his place.

  "Sight through the finder. I'll set the target going."

  "Yes, I see it. I'm afraid that thing will make me seasick if I keepon looking at it," declared Hickey, looking up at the instructor.

  "Attend to your practice!"

  "Bang!"

  Sam leaped up into the air. His head came into violent contact withthe deck above him.

  "Ouch!" yelled the red-headed boy, as he collapsed in a heap on thedeck.

  Sam had unwittingly pulled the trigger, firing the cap that bad beenprovided to explode the dotter, thus making the miniature target workthe more realistic.

  "Did something hit me? I--I thought the seven-inch had gone off,"stammered the boy, pulling himself to his feet and rubbing his headwhere it had hit the ceiling.

  "Just like a landlubber," growled the gun captain. "You'll make a finegun pointer, you will."

  "I--I didn't know the thing was going off," complained Hickey.

  "I suppose, if we were to fire the piece in earnest, you would jumpoverboard," sneered the captain. "Get up there, now, and do it right,if you want to stay in this division."

  Sam took his place once more, the gun captain giving him suggestionsand directions as to how to catch the moving target when it was movingupward as a ship does in riding a great swell.

  "Bang!"

  Sam had pulled the trigger, but this time he had done so intentionally.Instinctively the lad jumped, grinning sheepishly as he noted thesmiles on the faces of his companions of the gun crew.

  "Well, what is your score?"

  "Score?"

  "Yes. Did you hit the target?"

  "I don't know."

  "Look at the target."

  "I see a fly speck over by the edge of the target," spoke up Sam.

  "That is where your shot struck. Had you been shooting at a battleshipyou might have raked her stern, but I reckon you would not have doneher very great damage. However, it was not a half-bad shot for alandlubber. Number three, take your place."

  The man indicated made an even worse shot than had Hickey, though hehad been practising with the dotter for three weeks.

  "You never will do at this work," decided the gun captain. "About allyou will be good for will be to clean bright work and pass alongammunition. Davis, let's see what you can do."

  Dan was all expectation. He could hardly wait for his turn at the gun.

  "You understand how to work it?"

  "I think so."

  "Take your time. Make sure of your mark, then let go quickly. Youwill find in actual target work, or in shooting at an enemy, that afraction of a second's delay will ordinarily roll the target out ofyour range. Better to shoot a second too soon than a second too late."

  Dan was peering through the sights, his eye fixed on the pin-headopening. One hand crept slowly to the trigger. It rested there for afew seconds without a tremor. His nerves were steady and true.

  "Bang!"

  "What luck?"

  "Squarely in the center. That's what I should call a bull's eye,"announced Dan Davis triumphantly. "Am I right, sir?"

  "Yes; you hit the mark all right. It may have been a chance shot."

  "I think not, sir. I will see if I can do it again."

  Dan applied his eye to the finder. An instant's hesitation, then therefollowed the sharp report of the dotter.

  "Once more in the center, sir. Shall I fire again?"

  "No. You've sunk the ship, young man. You have put the enemy out ofbusiness. You are not only going to make a splendid gunner, but youare far above the average already."

  Ere Dan could express his thanks the bugle blew, piping gun crews downto other duties.