“You see I was right about his asking you up on the bridge, Jack. What
sort of luck did you have?” demanded Amos, when his chum joined him on
deck.
“Good enough in some ways, though he couldn’t tell me positively
whether there would be an aviation camp ashore,” Jack replied. “He did
mention one on an island quite some ways off, where the injured war
vessels are taken for temporary repairs. I made up my mind that since
we had the chance we’d better go ashore first. If it turns out that
there are no aeroplane pilots in camp we can find a way to come back
again; and he says he’ll see we get to the island all right.”
“I felt it in my bones you could get nearly anything you wanted out of
the Vice-Admiral,” boasted Amos.
“As far as that goes,” the other told him, “I rather believe it was the
paper we carry, signed by Kitchener, that did the trick. Every British
officer on sea or land we’ve let look at that signature has acted as if
he couldn’t do too much for the boys K. of K. wanted to help.”
“But how about getting ashore, and when can we go, Jack?”
“Here’s the way it stands,” came the reply. “Some time late tonight,
after twelve, he said, there will come up a dispatch boat that is
expected to run over to the peninsula, and make a landing, carrying
orders, and other things, too.”
“And we can go aboard that, can we?” questioned Amos.
“Yes, the kind Vice-Admiral will have it all arranged for us. He also
means to give us a document that will help us when we want to leave the
peninsula again, no matter whether we’ve found Frank or not.”
“Good for him, Jack. One of the best things we seem to run up against
is this finding a friend when in need. It’s all cut and dried now,
then, and we can count on getting ashore before morning breaks.”
“Barring accidents, Amos.”
“Just what do you mean by that?” asked the other, curiously.
“Stop and think how much risk hangs over a landing on the rocky
peninsula, when sharp-eyed Turkish soldiers are on guard everywhere by
tens of thousands, and all sorts of barbed wire entanglements have been
set to trap the unwary. These landings are mighty dangerous affairs at
the best, I understand.”
“They must be,” Amos admitted readily enough, “when any minute you
may find yourself made a target for a quick-firer that shoots bullets
as fast as you can wink, and cuts men down like ripe grain. But the
darkness is in our favor, Jack.”
“Yes, and in spite of the danger some thousands of British soldiers and
Territorials are ashore right now, ready to fight to the last gasp so
as to hold the bit of enemy land they are squatted on. When the sun
comes up I count on being with them.”
“And then we may know if Frank is there or not,” added Amos, fervently,
for that one consideration was ever foremost in his mind.
The two comrades had been seeking the missing one so long now, and met
with so many disappointments just when success seemed within their
grasp, that Amos could hardly be blamed for feeling terribly despondent
at times.
That was where having a cheery chum came in, for Jack had buoyed his
spirits up many a time when Amos felt that the outlook was “as blue as
indigo.”
As the afternoon wore away and the sun sank to rest, the boys took
note of the fact that all signs seemed to promise a good day on the
morrow. This counted for considerable with them; for according to all
reports there had been a season of fogs and even storms recently that
had held up the work of reducing the forts defending the waterway to
Constantinople.
“In spite of the stars we’ll have overhead,” said Jack, “I think the
night will be a dark one.”
“All the better for our landing, I should say,” was Amos’ comment.
They had been watching the preparations made by some of the battleships
to meet the constant danger from a submarine, for of late it had been
rumored that the Germans had succeeded in shipping an undersea boat in
sections through Bulgaria, and that it might be heard from any day.
Since that time one of the larger submersibles is said to have made
the long water trip past Gibraltar, and the entire length of the
Mediterranean, arriving unexpectedly in time to do terrible damage
among the Allied fleets; but earlier in the summer even the threat of
hidden peril gave the commander of the flotilla grave concern.
In some cases nets were used to protect a vessel lying to or drifting;
but as a rule their greatest protection lay in an utter absence of
lights aboard. Like grim shadows the floating batteries lay here
and there on the sea, ready with steam up to move at any time. The
destroyers hovered near by, constantly on guard; and from time to time
brilliant searchlights would sweep the surroundings so thoroughly that
not even a rowboat could escape their penetrating ray.
It can be easily understood that these arrangements so deeply
interested the two boys that they could not bear to leave the deck
until told by a steward that supper was waiting in the mess-room.
That appealed strongly to Amos, whose appetite, always fair, had been
considerably sharpened by the salt sea air.
The officers whom they met at supper were a very kindly set. They had
heard enough about the American lads to feel considerable interest
in their fortunes. Besides, being men who knew what it was to take
chances, they could admire pluck no matter where found.
The daring feat of Jack and his chum in capturing the notorious
blockade runner, Captain Zenos, and his entire crew, without any
outside assistance, made the boys heroes in the eyes of the British
officers. Hence they paid them constant attention, and stood ready to
extend a helping hand whenever asked.
Jack, always looking ahead, asked many questions as he ate his supper.
In this way he managed to pick up much information concerning things
that bore an intimate connection with the enterprise he and Amos had in
view.
He had explained to him how those dangerous night landings were
effected, so as to take as few chances as possible. One of the officers
had been ashore, it happened, and was able to tell something concerning
the nature of the rough ground likely to be encountered, cut up in
large and small gullies that would make any advance on the part of the
troops a difficult proposition indeed.
Later on the boys once more sought their favorite place on deck to
spend some time in talking matters over.
Night had now settled down over the sea, though it was hardly as dark
as might be expected later on. They could make out the shadowy outlines
of one or two fighters of the fleet not far away. Few sounds were
heard, as silence had been impressed upon every crew; and such labor as
could be left until morning was suspended.
“We must get to our bunks before a great while,” Jack suggested,
“because we can only count on a few hours’ sleep if that dispatch boat
comes a little after midnight, as the commander told me it would.”
“Did you get that little paper from him he promised you?”
“Yes, it was handed to me while we were at the table,” Jack replied.
“Even in the midst of the weighty matters that are holding his
attention these days the kind-hearted Vice-Admiral, who has taken such
an interest in your hunt for Frank, didn’t forget his promise.”
“We were certainly born under a lucky star, to have such good friends
raised up for us right along,” laughed Amos.
“If we fail to find Frank on Gallipoli,” Jack declared, “we can get
aboard the _Thunderer_ again and make a fresh start. You understand
the great favor granted to us, for as a rule no civilian is ever
allowed on British battleships in war times, and especially in the
midst of work like that we’ve seen today.”
“It’s a mighty fine thing to have a smooth tongue, and a convincing way
about you, let me tell you, Jack, old chum.”
“But,” protested the other, “from my way of looking at it all my
abilities would have counted for very little if we hadn’t been
fortunate enough to capture that gun-running vessel and turn the stuff
over to the Allies. You see that old rascal of a Captain Zenos has
something of a name as a sharp character. They have never been able to
catch him, even though they knew he was carrying explosives and guns to
the Turks right along. And they think we have earned all we are getting
from the Vice-Admiral.”
“Well, all I can say is that it feels good to be appreciated,” Amos
concluded.
They found themselves getting sleepy before long. Of late their rest
had been sadly broken, and besides they expected to be aroused before
many hours. So when Jack proposed that they say good-night to the
outside world and seek their little quarters where they had already
passed one comfortable night, Amos offered no objection.
The last look around showed them only a few vivid lanes of white light
traveling this way and that, and which would keep up all through the
weary watches of that long night--searchlights seeking signs of a foe
that might try to creep out and spread consternation and destruction
among the numerous warships of the fleet. All else was by this time
swathed in the utter gloom that had come as the night deepened.
Whoever the unfortunate officer was who had been invalided home, the
boys considered themselves very lucky to be given his comfortable
quarters. If they were a little crowded for space that did not matter,
and they were used to bunking together, so this fact gave them no
concern.
They made themselves ready so that little time might be wasted when the
call came; for they had been told that someone would arouse them when
the dispatch boat arrived.
In fact, the boys lay down just about as they were, never going to the
trouble of even removing their leggings or shoes.
Amos called it “turning in all standing,” though he must have picked up
the phrase from some seafarer; sailors often have to throw themselves
down wet and just as they are, only too glad to get an hour’s sleep in
the midst of a storm that by its violence has utterly worn everyone out.
The battleship was very steady, partly because of the stillness of the
sea at that particular time; had the waves been running high it would
doubtless have proven far less pleasant to “land-lubbers” like Jack and
Amos.
“Wake me early, mother dear,” said Amos as he turned in, “because
tomorrow will be the first of May. Seriously speaking, Jack, if I’m so
sound asleep I don’t hear the pounding on the door, give me a kick,
will you?”
“You can depend on me to do the same,” laughed Jack. “But there’s
small danger of you not waking. A cat couldn’t walk across the floor
without you bobbing up your head and asking ‘who’s there?’ We can have
about four hours’ nap, and that will have to do us for the night.”
Both boys were soon asleep. There were hosts of things they might have
allowed themselves to think about, but neither of them had ever fallen
into the bad habit of doing all their worrying when in bed.
They were aroused by a rap at the door, not a loud summons, but quite
boisterous enough to cause two heads to rise from the pillow, while
Jack called out:
“Hello! there, what is it?”
“Lieutenant’s compliments, sir, and he says the dispatch boat is coming
on, and will you please come on deck as soon as you can,” a man’s voice
replied.
“Ay, ay, our compliments to the lieutenant, and tell him we’ll be with
him in two shakes of a lamb’s tail,” and with these words Amos was on
his feet.