OFF FOR THE FIGHT
The boys stood leaning on the rail as the stately steamer passed through
the vast array of shipping on either side of the river, slipped by the
colossal figure of Liberty and, bidding farewell to the Sandy Hook
lightship, breasted the waves of the Atlantic. They were ardent
patriots, and, as the irregular skyline of the great city faded from
their view, they felt the pang that always comes to one on leaving his
native land. But in the "bright lexicon of youth" there's no such word
as melancholy, and as they thought of all that lay before them their
hearts swelled with anticipation. Adventure beckoned them, glory tempted
them, hope inspired them.
"We're starting out with colors flying," said Dick. "Here's hoping we
come back the same way."
"If we don't it'll be the first fizzle," said Bert. "This is the fourth
time Uncle Sam has sent his boys abroad and they've never yet come back
empty-handed."
"Yes," added Tom, "they've never had to slink back and spend the rest of
their lives explaining why they didn't win. It has always been the glad
hand and the big eats and the brass bands and the procession down
Broadway."
"I can see Bert already sitting in one of the swell buzz-wagons with the
Marathon prize alongside of him and trying to look unconcerned," chaffed
Dick.
"You've got good eyesight," retorted Bert, drily. "I may be only one of
the 'also rans.'"
"Such shrinking modesty," mocked Tom. "Tell that to the King of
Denmark."
"Speaking of kings," went on Dick, "I suppose we'll see plenty of them
on the other side."
"Likely enough," said Bert. "There were several of them at the last
games. As for princes and dukes, they'll be thick as blackberries.
Perhaps we ought to be overwhelmed at the prospect of seeing so many
high mightinesses, but somehow I can't get much worked up over it."
"Neither can I," said Dick. "I'm afraid I haven't much more reverence
than the old sailor on an American ship that was being inspected by a
lot of royalties. He came up to the captain and touched his cap.
'Beggin' your pardon, capting,' he said, 'but one of them there kings
has fell down the hatchway.'"
"Well," returned Bert, when the laugh had subsided, "some of 'them
there kings' are pretty decent fellows, after all. The German Emperor,
for instance, is all right. Nobody in Germany works harder than he does.
He's always on the job and even if we don't agree with his views we have
to hand it to him. He's the biggest figure in Europe to-day. I like him
because he isn't a mere figurehead like the rest of them. He throws
himself right into the game and he's there all the time from start to
finish. He's taking a lot of interest in the Olympics and I hear he's
going to open them in person. And no doubt he'll be the one to give out
the prizes at the end."
"Well, if he does he'll have a chance to shake hands with quite a bunch
of American sovereigns," said Dick, "for there'll surely be a big raft
of them up there standing in line when the trophies are handed out."
"The Germans are certainly making great preparations for the games,"
said Tom. "I hear that the stadium at Berlin is going to be the biggest
thing in that line that ever happened. They dedicated it the other day
and all Berlin turned out to see it. The Kaiser himself was there and
made a speech, and just as he got through they released thirty thousand
doves who flew in a great white cloud over the field. Rather artistic
idea you see--'the dove of peace,' and all that sort of thing."
"The idea is all right," rejoined Dick, cynically, "and yet you notice
that England keeps building dreadnoughts, and France is increasing her
term of service from two years to three, and Germany herself this year
is raising an extra billion of marks for new troops. The ideas don't
jibe very well, do they?"
"No," assented Bert. "When I hear them talk of doing away with war
altogether, I think of that saying of Mark Twain's that 'the day may
come when the lion and the lamb will lie down together, but the lamb
will be inside.'"
"Don't say anything that suggests eating," chimed in Tom, "for this sea
air is making me feel already as though I were starving to death."
"That's your normal state, anyway," laughed Dick. "Don't try to put it
off on the air. But there goes the steward's gong now. Let's go down and
see what kind of a training table they set."
A very good table they found it to be, despite the absence of luxuries
that are usually to be found on ocean liners. Wines and liquors of all
kinds were banished, together with rich pastries and many kinds of
starchy foods. But there was a royal abundance of meats and fruit
desserts that made them forget the absence of the richer indigestibles.
And the way the food melted away before the onslaught of these trained
athletes made the stewards gasp.
"Let us eat, drink and be merry," quoted Drake, "for to-morrow we get
seasick."
"Don't tell that to able-bodied sailors like us," retorted Dick. "We got
our sea legs long ago on the Pacific. After the typhoon we went through
off the Japanese coast, I don't think that any shindig the Atlantic can
kick up will worry us much."
"Well, you're lucky in having served your apprenticeship," returned
Drake, "but for lots of the fellows this is their first trip and it's
a pretty safe bet that there won't be as many at the dinner table
to-morrow as there are to-day."
"Oh, I don't think it will bother them," said Bert. "It's the fellows
with a paunch who have been living high that usually pay the penalty
when they tackle a sea trip. Our boys are in such splendid shape that it
probably won't upset them."
After dinner they made the round of the ship. Training was not to start
until the next morning, and the rest of the day was theirs to do with as
they liked.
As compared with the _Fearless_, the steamer on which they had made the
voyage to China, the _Northland_ was a giant. Apart from the splendid
athletic equipment that made it unique, it ranked with the finest of the
Atlantic liners. The great prow towered forty feet above the water. The
ship was over seven hundred feet in length and nearly eighty feet wide.
Great decks towered one above the other until it resembled a skyscraper.
She was driven by powerful double screw engines of the latest type that
could develop thirty-six thousand horsepower and were good for over
twenty knots an hour. The saloons and cabins were the last word in ocean
luxury. Ample provision had been made for safety. There were enough
lifeboats and collapsible rafts, including two motor boats, to take care
of every one of the passengers and crew in case of need. The lesson of
the _Titanic_ disaster had not been forgotten, and there was a double
hull extending the whole length of the ship, so that if one were ripped
open the other would probably be left intact. There were thirty-two
water-tight compartments divided by steel bulkheads that could be closed
in an instant by pressing a button either from the bridge or the engine
room. The bridge itself was eighty feet above sea level, and it made the
boys dizzy to look down at the great swells that slipped away smoothly
on either side of the prow. Her length enabled her to cut into three
waves at once so that the tossing motion was hardly perceptible. She
rode the waters like a veritable queen of the sea. Her captain was a
grizzled old veteran, who had been thirty years in the company's employ
and enjoyed their fullest confidence.
To the eager boys, always on the lookout for new impressions, their
exploration of the ship was of the keenest interest. They were
constantly coming across something novel. Their previous trip on the
_Fearless_, when Bert had been the wireless operator, had of course made
them familiar with most things pertaining to a ship. But the _Fearless_
had been designed chiefly as a trading craft and the passenger feature
had been merely an incident. Here it was the main thing and as each new
fad and wrinkle came to their attention it awoke exclamations of wonder
and approval.
"It's the real thing in boats," declared Dick, emphatically.
"That's what it is," echoed Tom. "It's brought right up to the minute."
"We're getting a pretty nifty sea education," remarked Bert. "By the
time we get through this cruise, we ought to know a lot about the two
greatest oceans in the world."
"Yes," replied Dick; "there'll only be the two Arctics and the Indian
Ocean left. The Arctics I don't hanker after. There's too much cold for
yours truly, and seal meat and whale blubber don't appeal to me as a
steady diet. The Indian, on the other hand, is too hot, but after some
of those days on the Pacific when the pitch fairly started out of the
deck seams, I guess we could stand it."
"Well, if we never get any more sea life than what we're having, we'll
be way above the average," said Bert. "And now let's get down to the
wireless room."
And here Bert felt thoroughly at home. All the old days came back to him
as he looked around at the wireless apparatus and saw the blue flames
spitting from the sounder, as the operator sat at the key, sending and
receiving messages from the home land that was so rapidly being left
behind. Again he heard the appeal of the _Caledonian_, on fire from stem
to stern, as her despairing call came through the night. Once more he
was sending messages of cheer and hope to the battered liner whirling
about in the grip of the typhoon. And, most thrilling of all, was the
memory of that savage fight with the Chinese pirates when the current
from the dynamo had shot its swift death into the yelling hordes
just when their triumph seemed assured. What a miracle it all was,
anyway--this mysterious force that linked the continents together--that
brought hope to the despairing, comfort to the comfortless, life to the
dying--this greatest of man's discoveries that seemed almost to border
on the supernatural!
The operator then on duty--one of three who worked in shifts of eight
hours each, so that never for a moment of day or night was the key
deserted--a bright, keen young fellow, but little older than the boys
themselves, was pleased at their intelligent interest in his work, and,
in the intervals between messages, fell into conversation with them and
rapidly became chummy. When he learned that Bert himself was one of the
craft, he suggested that he try his hand at sending and receiving a few,
while he sat by and rested up. Bert assented with alacrity, and the
little smile of good-natured patronage with which he watched him quickly
changed to one of amazement, as he saw the swiftness and dexterity with
which Bert handled the messages. Especially was he struck by the
facility which he displayed at writing down the Marconigrams with his
left hand while keeping the right on the key.
"Great Scott!" he exclaimed, "you're a dandy. That two-handed stunt is a
new one on me. It would make my work twice as fast and twice as easy if
I could do it. Where did you get the idea?"
"Old Nature's responsible for that," laughed Bert. "When I was a kid I
found it was almost as easy for me to use my left hand as my right, and
I fell into the habit."
"It's a mighty good habit all right and don't you forget it," said the
operator, emphatically. "I'm going to try to get it myself. If I do, I
may be able to hit the company for a raise in salary," he grinned.
"Here's hoping you get it," replied Bert, and after a little more talk
and a cordial invitation to drop in whenever they could, the boys went
out in the open.
The breeze freshened as night came on and the waves were running high,
but the _Northland_ was as "steady as a church." After supper there was
a concert in the great saloon and there was no dearth of talent. Some of
the fellows were members of mandolin and banjo clubs and had brought
their instruments along. Others had fine bass and tenor voices, and glee
clubs were improvised. The amateur theatrical contingent was not
lacking, and, what with song and sketch and music, the evening passed
all too rapidly. The trainers, however, who never let pleasure interfere
with business, came now to the fore and packed the boys off to their
staterooms to have a good night's rest before real work began on the
morrow.
"Well," said Bert, the next morning, as, after a hearty breakfast, he
sat on the edge of his berth, getting into his running togs, "here comes
one more new experience. There's certainly nothing monotonous about the
racing game. I've run up hill and down, I've run through the woods,
I've run on the cinder paths, I've run round the bases, and, when the
savages chased us last year, I ran for my life. Now I'm to run on a
ship's deck. I'll bet there isn't any kind of running I haven't done.
I've even run an automobile."
"Oh, I don't know," said Dick, flippantly, "you haven't run up a board
bill."
"No," added Tom, "and you haven't run for office."
A well-aimed pillow that made him duck ended these outrages on the
English language, and, as Reddy poked his head in just then to summon
his charge, they tumbled up on deck.