The Battleship Boys' First Step Upward Part 11

Davis ran through the code, signaling out each letter slowly in order to show the men how the movements were executed.

The wig-wag code, as used in the United States Navy, consists of a series of numbers that represent the letters of the alphabet. They are delivered by a red flag bearing a white square in its center. The code that Dan spelled out is as follows:

A .................. 22 O .................. 21 B .................. 2112 P .................. 1212 C .................. 121 Q .................. 1211 D .................. 222 R .................. 211 E .................. 12 S .................. 212 F .................. 2221 T .................. 2 G .................. 2211 U .................. 112 H .................. 122 V .................. 1222 I .................. 1 W .................. 1121 J .................. 1122 X .................. 2122 K .................. 2121 Y .................. 111 L .................. 221 Z .................. 2222 M .................. 1221 End of word ........ 3 N .................. 11 End of sentence .... 33

The flag with which the numbers are made is attached to a staff just long enough to handle easily. Before beginning the message the flag staff is held perpendicularly in front of the operator. Dipping the flag once to the left, at right angles to the body, indicates the figure two. Dipping it once to the right indicates the figure one.

Dipping it forward once, away from the body means the figure three.

For instance, if the flag be dipped twice to the left, the operator will have made the signal "twenty-two," meaning A.

"I will now spell the words 'Battleship Boy,';' he said, beginning a slow movement of the wig-wag flag, making the following figures:

"2112, 22, 2, 2, 221, 12, 212, 122, 1, 1212, 3, 2112, 21, 111, 212."

"We will now begin practicing the code in groups of three letters,"

said the instructor.

For a full hour he put the young jackies through their paces. By the time the bugle blew his cla.s.s had learned nearly half the signal alphabet.

"If you will practice these movements, using your hands in place of flags, this evening, you will have fixed the numbers and the letters that they represent so firmly in your minds that you will not be likely to forget them. Do it at every opportunity before turning in to-night.

I shall expect each of you to be letter-perfect in the morning. Once more, now, call the letters as I make them. I will give you only what you have had this afternoon. Begin with the first man in line."

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Battleship Boys Swung Into the Chorus.]

The Battleship Boy made the figures, wigwagging slowly. Among the men on the forward deck there were only three who were not quick to read the signals. These Dan ordered to step forward. A few minutes proved, to his own satisfaction, that their minds were too sluggish to enable them to make very good signalmen.

"You three men need not report to-morrow," he said.

"That boy is bound to command, Coates," announced the captain with emphasis. "Davis!"

"Aye, aye, sir," answered Dan, turning and saluting.

"You and your friend, Seaman Hickey, turn to and give an exhibition of wig-wagging. It will be instructive, as well as entertaining, to all of us."

Dan's eyes lighted with pleasure.

"'Red, White and Blue,'" he said, as he pa.s.sed a flag to Sam. "Follow me giving the next lines."

"Will that save my twenty-five?"

"It may."

"All right, I'll take a chance on it. Go ahead."

Dan stationed himself on one side of the deck, while Sam walked briskly to the opposite side.

"Oh, Columbia, the gem of the ocean, The home of the brave and the free,"

wig-wagged Dan.

"The shrine of each patriot's devotion, A world offers homage to thee,"

continued Sam Hickey, his red flag flashing up and down forming the letters of the code with such swiftness that few of the officers were able to follow.

"Thy mandates make heroes a.s.semble, When Liberty's form stands in view; Thy banners make tyranny tremble, When borne by the red, white and blue."

The instant Dan's swift strokes with flag had ended the verse, both the Battleship Boys swung into the chorus,

"When borne by the red, white and blue, When borne by the red, white and blue, Thy banners make tyranny tremble, When borne by the red, white and blue."

"Thirty-three, thirty-three," finished the lads, bringing the b.u.t.ts of their flag staffs to the deck with a click that sounded as one.

A perfect storm of applause from the officers rewarded the splendid performance of the Battleship Boys. The jackies on the deck, though few of them had been able to make out the message, the words of the beautiful anthem, realized that they were watching the work of two masters with the wig-wag flags, so they, too, added their quota to the applause. They did not do so by hand applause. The jackies threw up their hats and set up a loud cheer.

"The most remarkable performance of its kind that I ever saw,"

announced the captain.

"I never saw anything like it myself," agreed the executive officer.

"It's lucky we happened to think of those boys."

"Indeed it is."

"Anything further, sir?" questioned Dan, saluting.

"That will be sufficient. Thank you, my lads."

The boys saluted, then marched from the forecastle, proud and happy, but not forgetting their dignity in their excitement and pleasure.

"Three cheers for the Battleship Boys," shouted one of the bluejackets the instant the officers had left the bridge. "Hurrah for little Dynamite!" That last was Dan's nickname. And the cheers were given with a will.

CHAPTER VII

PUTTING THE ENEMY OUT

By this time every officer and man on the battleship "Long Island" knew Dan Davis and Sam Hickey by name as well as by sight. But the lads bore their honors well. Neither of the boys sought to take advantage of the favor he had gained. If anything, the boys toiled harder than ever. They worked with the formidable seven-inch gun during all the hours that were allotted to this work.

During the rest hour Dan and his companion would ordinarily be found in the turret, examining the gun and its carriage, quizzing each other to test their knowledge, committing to memory the name and use of every part of these complicated instruments of war.

Late one afternoon, when the men were supposed to be at play on the forward deck, the captain was pa.s.sing through on his way to his quarters, when he heard voices in the turret and peered in there.

He saw Dan and Sam stripped to their undershirts, working the big gun and going through with their own examination. Dan was trying to explain to his companion the theory and practice of range-finding--learning the distance and location of the enemy. From that they drifted into the question of sighting the big guns, elevation and other technical subjects beyond their years and experience.