ed by the
propeller it turned to the color of turquoise.
"I really believe," said "Bill," as he joined the group, "that we could
use it to turn our whites blue."
It was a delight and marvel to us all; we would have liked nothing
better than to have spent hours gazing at these wonderful colors.
As we stood absorbed in the sight before us, we were interrupted by the
short, sharp ringing of the ship's bell--a dozen or more strokes given
in quick succession followed, after a short pause, by two more strokes.
Some one shouted "Fire, boys!" and all hands rushed for their
stations--some to the hose-reel, some below to the gun deck to close the
ports, and some to the berth deck to receive the hose when it came down.
We did not know whether it was drill or actual fire, but the skipper's
talk of the night before gave us unusual energy, and the preparations
were made in record time. The canvas hose was pulled along the deck with
a swish, the nozzle grasped by the waiting hands below and carried with
a run away aft on the berth deck. The fire was supposed to be raging at
this point, as was indicated by the two last strokes of the alarm
signal.
While the hose was being led out, sturdy arms tugged at the port
lanyards and pulled them to. Others battened down the hatches, to keep
the draught from adding fury to the flames.
All this was done in less time than it takes to tell it, and the men
stood at their posts, perspiring and panting from the quick work.
We had hardly time to catch our breath when the order "Abandon ship" was
heard. Immediately there was a scurry of feet, and a rush for the upper
deck; but some stayed below to carry ship's bread and canned meats to
the boats--two cases of bread and two cases of meat for the large boats,
and one case of each for the smaller. The crews and passengers of each
boat gathered near it. Every man had been assigned to a boat either as
crew or passenger, and when the order "abandon ship" was given, every
one knew instantly where to go for refuge.
Though we had already gone through this "fire drill" and "abandon ship"
(one always followed the other), it had then been done in peaceful
waters and in a perfunctory way. Now that we were entering "the theatre
of war," we felt the seriousness of it all, and realized that what was
now a mere drill might become a stern reality.
The order "Secure" was given; the hose was reeled up, the ports opened,
and the provisions returned to thei
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