AN ADVENTURE OFF CHARLESTON
The news that a strange vessel was in sight soon travelled throughout
the ship, and all who could do so, crowded to the spar deck, while the
officers stationed themselves on the forecastle, bridge and other points
of vantage.
There was no necessity to give the order, "Clear ship for action!" for
the _Brooklyn_ was already cleared. Moreover, all the big guns contained
their charges of eight-inch and other shells. The six-pounders and the
Colts were now "provided," as it is termed, and then there was nothing
to do but to lie by the guns and await further orders.
Immediately upon notification that a strange sail was in sight, the
flagship had run up a signal to the _Scorpion_, "Follow the unknown ship
to the southward," and away darted the little gunboat at a rate of speed
which caused the mighty waves of the Atlantic to wash her decks from
end to end. Presently the sea proved almost too heavy for her and she
had to reduce her speed, and the _Brooklyn_ went ahead, her high
freeboard sending the water to port and starboard with scarcely an
effort. Once, however, she did get caught below an unusually high crest
and all on the forward deck received a liberal drenching.
"Fire a shot across her bow!" was the order given, when the strange
craft again emerged from a fog-bank, and boom! one of the smaller guns
belched forth. The echoes of the shot had scarcely died away when the
unknown ship was seen to hoist the British flag.
"Only a Britisher!" sighed Caleb, when the news came down to him. "And I
thought we were going to have the profit of a nice Spanish prize."
Not caring to go entirely by the flag displayed, since the unknown ship
had acted so strangely, the _Scorpion_ was again sent forward to make an
investigation. In quarter of an hour she came up within hailing
distance.
"What ship is that?" was bawled out through a megaphone.
"British steamer _Elsie_. What gunboat is that?"
"The _Scorpion_, of the United States navy. Where are you bound and what
have you on board?"
"Bound for Norfolk, Virginia, with a cargo of phosphate rock."
"Why didn't you show your flag before?"
"Well, to tell the truth we were afraid we had run into some Spanish
warships, and that England might be mixed up in this muss, in which case
we didn't want to become a Spanish prize. How is it? are we in it yet?"
"No, Uncle Sam is running this war without outside help," was the
concluding remark, and then the two vessels separated; and the Flying
Squadron proceeded on its way.
Saturday found the course of the _Brooklyn_ changed to southwest by
south. "We are still hugging the coast," explained Si. "I shouldn't
wonder if we are to make a stop somewhere, say at Charleston or
Savannah."
"Perhaps the commodore has word that the Spanish ships are sailing for
our south-east coast," suggested Walter. "My! what a nasty day it is
going to be." He referred to the mist, which was so heavy that it felt
almost like rain. For May, the weather was raw and cold, and all hands
were glad to stay below decks as much as possible.
On this day another long exercise at the gun was had, and Walter learned
more thoroughly than ever how the charge was raised from the ammunition
hoists to the gun, pushed into place by the mechanical rammer, and how
the gun was moved up, down, or sideways by merely touching this button
or that wheel or lever. "It's wonderful!" he observed. "I suppose it
would be next to impossible to move such a big gun by hand."
"Oh, it can be done," answered Caleb. "In the old navy they used to do
it by hand, and each gun had ten to sixteen men to man it. In those days
they had no device to lessen the shock of the recoil as we have now.
Instead of having a water cushion for the gun to strike on, they used a
heavy rope in the back, and sometimes the rope broke, and the gun did
more damage flying backward than the charge did flying forward."
"They didn't have any breech-loaders in those days, did they?"
"They had some in the Civil War, but not many before that. Everything in
the way of powder and ball had to be put into the muzzle, and was rammed
home by hand. The first breech-loading guns were clumsy affairs, and not
a few accidents were had by guns going off before the breeches were
properly locked."
"And what about sighting the pieces?"
"Oh, they have had dozens of devices for getting a correct aim, some
pretty good and some decidedly bad. In the old navy the guns didn't
carry near so far as they do now, and your old-time gunner was just what
his name calls for, for he sighted the piece and fired it himself. But
the old times are gone, and I expect one of these days all the work
still left will be done by machinery, and a dozen men sitting up in the
conning tower will control the warship from stem to stern."
Walter laughed at this. "I reckon we're some time off from that yet,
Walton. But it is wonderful how much the commander can control by using
his bells, annunciators, speaking-tubes, and electrical indicators. I
guess that is a great improvement on the old way of yelling orders
through a speaking-trumpet and having a dozen middies rushing around
telling this man and that what to do."
"No doubt of it, lad. But when it's all done and said, you must remember
one thing--we have still to prove the worth of our floating forts in war
times. Dewey did well at Manila, but it may be that the Spanish warships
out there weren't in the best condition. Now this Admiral Cervera, whom
we are after, has ships that are thoroughly up to date, and when his
outfit meets ours, then--well, we'll see what we will see," concluded
the old gunner.
That afternoon Walter took his first lesson in making knots. He had had
some idea concerning a variety of knots which had been taught to him by
Larry, when he and his younger brother were sailing about Lake Erie, but
those which were now exhibited were truly bewildering.
"The single bend and figure of 8 are easy enough," he sighed. "But when
you come to that sheep-shank and bowline upon the bight, as you term
them, it grows confusing."
"This is only the beginning," answered Caleb. "After you know the knots,
you'll want to learn the hitches--half-hitch, rolling-hitch, and so
on,--and after that you'll want to take up the splices, and then the
different kinds of tackle,--long-tackle, single-whip, and all that. I
reckon those will keep your mind busy for a week or two. To be sure,
those things belong more to a seaman than a gun-hand, but it's good to
know how to do, in case you are called upon at some time."
The night came on with a storm in the air. As before, all the lights
were extinguished, and the different watches took their turns at the
guns. Walter had just turned in when a shout rang out. "Another vessel
in sight!" As rapidly as possible the lad leaped up.
"Is it a Spanish warship?" he asked.
"Don't know," answered Caleb, laconically, but leaped to the gun, with
Walter and the others following.
But it was only another scare, for the vessel in sight proved to be a
merchantman bound for a northern port. The big searchlight of the
_Brooklyn_ was turned upon her, and instantly every light on the
merchantman went out and the ship sneaked away with all sails set. No
effort was made to pursue her.
"The captain of that craft will report falling in with a big Spanish
fleet; see if he don't," said Caleb; and the old gunner was right, as a
newspaper of a few days later proved.
By noon on Sunday Charleston Harbor was sighted, and a few hours later
the squadron came to anchor near Charleston Bar, nine miles from the
city.
"The _Sterling_ isn't in sight," said Walter, as he came on deck and
took a look behind. "I wonder if the heavy sea was too much for the
collier."
"Oh, she'll turn up sooner or later," answered Si. "But a boat loaded as
she was isn't the safest thing to sail around such a point as Cape
Hatteras, I can tell you that." The collier came in before night,
reporting a thoroughly disagreeable trip.
A lighthouse tender was at hand, ready to take the mail ashore, as well
as to deliver letters and special messages. The messages were at once
delivered to Commodore Schley.
"I wonder how long we'll stop here," said Walter. "I wouldn't mind a run
ashore, just to see what the city looks like."
"There goes a signal to the _Texas_," said Si, as the signalman took up
his flag and began to wig-wag. "Wait a moment till I read what he is
saying."
"Can you read it?" asked Walter, in deep interest.
"Certainly, it's easy enough." Si began to spell to himself. "'W-h-a-t,
what--i-s, is--y-o-u-r, your--b-e-s-t, best--r-a-t-e, rate--o-f,
of--s-p-e-e-d, speed--n-o-w, now?' He is asking what the _Texas_ can do
at once, so far as speed is concerned. That means something important.
Hold on, here comes the answer." Again the Yankee youth began to spell.
"Might go fifteen and a half knots." Then the signalman on the
_Brooklyn_ sent another message. "We are off on business now." And the
signal went up for the squadron to weigh anchor again.
"We're off for a fight!" ejaculated Walter. "But tell me about that
wig-wagging, Si; how do they signal the letters?"
"It's easy enough. You take a small flag of some bright color, attached
to a pole six or eight feet long. As soon as you attract the attention
of the other fellow, you begin to use the flag in three motions, to the
right, the left, and down in front. To the right means one, to the left
means two, and down in front means three. Now all the letters are
represented by combinations of numbers, and all you have to do is to
learn the combinations and spell ahead. It's easy enough when one gets
the hang of it. At night you can use a lantern instead of a flag."
"That is easy," commented Walter. "But what about those signals at the
masthead. Can you read those?"
"No. In those, most every flag represents a letter, or a word, or
sentence; but to read the signal you have got to have either the
international signal code-book, or else the United States Navy
code-book. The navy code is locked up in the captain's cabin, and the
book is weighted with lead, so that if anything happens, it can be
heaved overboard and sunk, thus keeping it out of the enemy's hands."
"I declare, signalling isn't so difficult, after all," cried Walter. "To
me it looked like a perfect jumble."
"The trouble with flags is, that when there's no wind they won't
straighten out so you can see 'em," put in Caleb, who had joined the
pair. "Lanterns are more to be depended upon, and they have a new system
now, called the Ardois electric, in which they use four powerful
electric lights, so that the signals can be read at a distance of
several miles. You'll learn all about them if you stay in the navy long
enough."