CHAPTER XIII
THE BATTLE OF THE DINGHIES
"Man overboard, off the port boom!"
"Stand by the falls. Whaleboat number one!" cried the officer of thedeck.
"What's this, what's this?" shouted the captain, running to the deck inhis pajamas.
"Two men leaving ship in the port dinghy, sir," answered the officer ofthe deck.
"Step lively there, lads. What does all this mean, Mr. Officer of thedeck?"
"I don't know, sir. The anchor watch discovered that there wassomething wrong. He's gone after them, sir."
By this time the captain was leaning over the port rail, training hisnight glasses on the dark sea.
"I make them out. Who is the anchor watch?"
"Seaman Davis, sir."
"You say the lad went after them?"
"Yes, sir, so it seems."
"How?"
"He must have gone over the side, for someone just called manoverboard."
"The boy will be drowned! Have you ordered any one after him?"
"Yes, sir."
"Hurry, lads. The man may be drowning."
Meantime, Dan was doing his best to overtake the fugitives. The momenthe struck the water he threw out his hands to check his descent. Thisprevented his going under very far. He shot up, and, shaking the waterfrom nose and eyes, struck out for the dinghy that was still moored tothe port boom.
He was clambering into the boat within the next minute. His knife,attached to the knife lanyard, was in his hands almost the instant hepulled himself into the boat. One swift stroke severed the line thatheld the dinghy to the boom.
Dan sprang to the oars; throwing them into place in the locks, he sentthe little boat through the water with long, swift strokes.
"Dinghy number two, there!" shouted a voice from the deck.
"Aye, aye, sir," answered Dan.
"You all right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Better come back. The whaleboats will overhaul the other dinghy."
"The whaleboats are on the other side of the ship. By the time theyget around here the men will be out of sight. I'm under orders to getthem, sir," answered the plucky lad, putting more force into hisstrokes.
His frail little boat cut the water with a swish and a splash, as theswells slapped its sides, sending showers of spray over him.
Dan now and then turned in his seat, to get the location of the otherboat. He could but faintly make it out in the gloom of the night. Hewas unable to say, as yet, whether he were gaining on the fugitives ornot. If he were gaining, it was but slowly.
The whaleboats had not yet rounded the bow of the "Long Island." Itseemed to take the boat crews a long time to launch the boats. Thecaptain thought so too, for he was now shouting out his orders withexplosive force, having taken command of the operations himself.
"Have an officer go in that boat," he commanded. "Here, ensign," as anofficer came up from below on the run, "take charge of those two boats.If you don't make haste there you'll lose the dinghies and the men.Remember, one man is out there in a little boat chasing two, perhaps,desperate characters."
"Shall we hail Seaman Davis, and order him back to ship?" asked theexecutive officer.
"That boy would not hear us, even if we were to blow the siren for him.He is obeying orders, Coates. He'll do what he was sent to do, nomatter what the cost to himself. But the whaleboats should catch upwith him in time to be on hand if he comes up with the others. I lethim go on because, in that way, we shall keep track of the other boat.If he does that he will be doing his full duty."
Dan was keeping the other dinghy in sight very well, indeed. He wasdoing more than that, he was gaining rapidly now. He could hear thesplash of the oars in the other boat. The lad smiled grimly, for heknew that the others were rowing badly, perhaps because they wereexcited. Dan himself was an expert oarsman and every stroke in therace was made to tell.
"Dinghy ahoy, there!" he called when within hailing distance.
The fleeing men made no reply to his hail.
"They are bound to get away. I wonder what it means? It may be thatsome one has been on board from the shore to steal. No; that cannot beit. It must be men from the ship, for they took a ship's boat. I'llbet they are deserters."
He was now within a boat's length of the other dinghy, directly in itswake. Observing this, the Battleship Boy swung out a little, so as tocome alongside of the other boat with several feet of water between thetwo boats.
"Halt!" he commanded. "You're caught. I demand that you surrender andcease rowing."
"No surrender. You go back if you know what is good for you."
The voice sounded strangely familiar to Dan Davis.
"I know you!" he shouted exultingly. "I know you now. You're Blackie.I'll bet that's White in the boat with you. Boys, stop rowing and goback to the ship. It's the only thing that will save you. I do notknow why you have done this thing, but your punishment will be muchless severe if you turn about and return at once."
A jeering laugh answered him.
"Then I shall have to take you back, and somebody is liable to get hurtin that operation, I am thinking."
The boy gave his dinghy a sudden quick turn, and with one powerfulstroke sent it dashing up to within half a boat length of the othercraft.
As he neared it he caught the swing of a body in the first dinghy. Danducked, flattening himself in his own frail craft just in time to avoida vicious swing of the other's boat hook. The gunwales of his boatsaved him from the blow.
Quick as a flash Davis grabbed the boat hook. He gave a violent, sharppull and the boat hook was in his possession.
"So that's your game, is it? I'll show you that two can play that sortof game. You look out, or you'll get the pole over your own heads."
He drove his boat right alongside the other. At that moment Blackiestraightened up with an angry exclamation. At the same time he grabbedan oar from the hands of his companion, making a vicious swing at Dan,who, by this time, was half standing in his own boat.
But Dan had been on the watch for just such villainy. He parried theblow with the captured boat hook.
Dan Parried the Blow With the Captured Boat Hook.]
"Smack, smack, smack!" boat hook and oar came together again and again.The battle waged so furiously that for the moment the lad forgot allabout the other man in the boat. White was stealthily rising to hisfeet, watching the Battleship Boy with keen, menacing eyes.
All at once he swung his oar. Dan heard it as it cut the air, but atthat instant he was powerless to dodge the blow, being busy parryingone from Black.
White's oar caught Dan on the head. The Battleship Boy wavered for abrief instant, seeking vainly to catch his balance; then he toppledover backwards into the sea.
Fortunately for him, the blow had been a glancing one.
"Row, row!" cried Black. His companion fell to the oars. The men, asthey well knew, were now in a desperate situation.
Dan twisted his body about in the water, his fingers closing over thegunwale of his own boat. The blow had dazed him, though he still hadplenty of fight left in him.
He clambered back into his own boat with no little effort, for hisclothes were soaked and weighed him down, this being the second wettinghe had had within a very short time.
The other dinghy now had a slight start of him, but when the Hawaiianslooked back a moment later, they saw Dan again in their wake.
The Battleship Boy's jaws were set. His fighting blood was up. Hewould give no quarter now.
"I'll get those heathens at any cost," he growled.
He had forgotten all about the whaleboats that had been sent for themen. Perhaps they had lost their quarry on the dark waters.
"I'm after you," shouted Dan. "This time I'm going to get you, youmiserable deserters! Things like you deserve to be drowned without theformality of court-martial. Do you surrender?"
"No."
No sooner were the
words out of the Hawaiian's mouth than Dan drove hisdinghy bow-on against the other boat. So sudden and unexpected hadbeen the movement that the islanders were taken wholly off their guard.Black fell forward, nearly going into the sea, while White, who was atthe oars, lost his grip on them for the moment.
A crunching sound accompanied the collision. The bow of Dan's boat wascrushed in the thin planking of the other dinghy. The hurt was notdeep enough to sink the little craft, but it made an opening throughwhich the seas slopped persistently.
Dan sought to swing his boat alongside the other, when a seaunexpectedly threw him off. A full minute of valuable time was thuslost. Still Dan persisted. He was working at high speed now.
This time he drove his boat right up beside the other, so close thatthe two boats smashed together with a force that threatened to break intheir gunwales.
Black, in the time that it took Dan to get closer, had recoveredhimself and grasped an oar from his companion. Ere the Battleship Boycould ship his oars the enemy had swung an oar. It caught Dan aglancing blow on the forehead, the sharp edge of the oar cutting a deepgash there. The blood was in the lad's eyes instantly. He brushed hiseyes clear with an exclamation of impatience.
The oar was raised for another blow. Davis did not stand still to waitfor it to land this time. With a bound he was in the other boat. Hehad jumped from the seat of his own dinghy, measuring the distance well.
Black was taken by surprise. He had no time to dodge. Dan landed fullupon him, the two falling to the bottom of the boat with a crash and ajolt that threatened to overturn the little craft.
For a few seconds the men struggled desperately, Black squirming andtwisting in his efforts to get his hands up.
"He's trying to get his knife," was the Battleship Boy's swiftconclusion. "I hate to do it, but I've got to, or they will have me inthe sea."
He raised Black's head, giving it two sharp thumps against the ribs ofthe boat. That settled Black for the time being. The Hawaiianstraightened out and lay still. But Dan had been none too quick.White was standing over him with raised oar ready to bring it down atthe first opportunity. He had not dared to strike before, not beingable to make out his enemy as the two figures struggled at the bottomof the dinghy.
The instant that he saw Dan scrambling up he brought the oar down. Dandodged the blow cleverly, the blade of the oar landing on the side ofBlack's head, thus finishing the work that the Battleship Boy had begun.
The two men sprang at each other at the same instant. This time theboy found that in White he had a far different antagonist. White methim with a swift blow which barely grazed Dan's head. Dan countered asbest he could, planting a blow on the Hawaiian's chest, staggering thefellow and at the same time well-nigh upsetting the boat.
Blow after blow was struck in the rocking boat, now and then each ofthe contestants landing a staggering punch on his adversary's head.All at once Dan lost his footing and fell. As he did so, he stretchedforth a hand, and by desperate effort succeeded in fastening his holdupon the Hawaiian's arm.
White lost his balance and pitched forward.
Both men fell half over the side of the dinghy with heads and shouldersin the sea. For the next few seconds a desperate struggle followed.Dan held to his man, knowing full well that, were his adversary to getthe upper hand now, it would go hard with Dan Davis. Using their freehands, the men managed to pull themselves back into the boat.
By this time both were well-nigh exhausted. Their efforts wereattended with little success compared with what they had done earlierin the battle. White was struggling to get his adversary overboard,while Dan was seeking to overcome the Hawaiian without doing himserious injury.
All at once the men stumbled over a seat. Dan fell prone upon theprostrate Black, with White on top of him. And there the gladiatorslay, breathing hard, gasping for breath, half suffocated with the saltwater that was dashing into their faces.
Everything about him seemed to Dan suddenly to grow blacker thanbefore. He felt his head swimming.
"I'm going to faint," he gasped.
With one final supreme effort he threw the weight of White's body fromhim, and, rolling over, wrapped his arms about the Hawaiian, crushingthe fellow down with all his strength.
Battleship Boys' First Step Upward; Or, Winning Their Grades as Petty Officers Page 13