CHAPTER XII.AFTER DARKNESS FELL.
“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 friendwhen 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 squattedon. 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 withsteam 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 constantattention, 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 fleetnot 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 theThundereragain and make a fresh start. You understandthe 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 beforemany 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 hadbeen 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.