The Battleship Boys' First Step Upward Part 39

"Abandon ship, sir!"

Without an instant's hesitation the commanding officer reached up over his bed, pulling down a bra.s.s lever with a violent jerk.

Gongs began to crash all over the ship, from the stoke hole to the navigating bridge.

"Abandon ship!" bellowed boatswain's mates and masters-at-arms.

"Abandon ship!" sang voices in the forecastle, the cry being taken up from lip to lip from one end to the other of the great battleship.

Men tumbled from their hammocks, and, without waiting to pull on their clothes, dashed for the open decks. From far below black-faced stokers ran up the companion ladders and burst out on the topside.

"Man the lifeboats! Everything overboard!" sang an officer through a megaphone.

The signal gongs were clanging automatically all through the ship.

They would continue to do so for full five minutes, giving no excuse for any one to be left on board. Boats and rafts were going over at a rapid rate, the great cranes swinging out the heavier boats with speed and precision. Most of the men were working coolly while others--the newer men on board--were showing signs of excitement.

A red-haired boy came dashing up to the top of the superstructure.

"What's the matter--what's the matter?" he shouted.

"Oh, the ship's on fire," answered some one.

"On fire--where?"

"Over there. She's going down. You'll have to hurry or you'll get caught in the suction. Look over the side and you'll see the fire coming right up out of the sea."

Sam Hickey dashed to the side of the ship and leaned forward to peer over. He did not know that the rope railings had come down at the first alarm in order to facilitate putting over the rafts and other deck equipment.

When Sam leaned, there was nothing to lean upon. The result was that he toppled right on over.

"Man overboard!" came the familiar cry. "Cast the life rings."

"Look out below there. Man overboard!" roared an officer through his trumpet.

"Where away?" answered a voice from the boats down in the darkness.

"He fell over from topside," answered another.

"Who is the man?"

"Seaman Hickey."

"Find him, find him! What are you doing down there, you lazy lubbers?

You stand there letting a man drown without making an effort to save him!"

"Who's drowning?" demanded a voice over the heads of the men in the small boats.

"Hickey; Seaman Hickey!"

"Pshaw! Seaman Hickey isn't drowning, and I don't believe the ship's on fire, either. What's the matter with you fellows! Whole ship's been having bad dreams, I guess."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Hickey. I guess I ought to know."

"Where are you?"

"I'm sitting on top of the steamer's awning just now, but if you wiggle around much more below there, I'll be in the foaming brine."

"Is that you, Hickey?" called an officer from the quarter-deck.

"Yes, sir."

"How did you get there?"

"Fell here, sir. I didn't jump, sir. Honest, I fell off the ship. I might have been going yet if----"

"That will do," commanded the officer in a stern voice. "Get off the steamer's hood, and be quick about it!"

Sam slid down a stanchion, causing the small steamer to careen dangerously. Two sailors grabbed him by the legs and hauled him aboard, Hickey's head and shoulders being plunged into the sea as they did so.

Sam came aboard choking, sputtering and threatening to thrash the whole steamer's crew.

"Silence in steamer number one!" roared an officer.

"Aye, aye," answered Sam.

"You shut up!" ordered the c.o.xswain. "Do you think you are running this boat?"

"I nearly ran my head through the roof of the confounded thing,"

retorted Sam, wringing the water out of his red hair. "What's all this row about, anyway? I don't see any fire or anything else worth getting out of bed for at this time of night."

"Sam, is that you making all that noise?" questioned Dan Davis, from a whaleboat that had pulled alongside.

"I don't know about the noise. I'm in steamer number one, if that's what you mean."

"What happened to you?"

"I didn't change my mind this time, and I fell overboard, that's all."

"Did you fall in?"

"No, I fell on--and that's worse."

"On what?"

"I fell on top of the steamer. I was headed all right, but the steamer got in my way. I'd have made a beauty dive into the salt sea if the steamer hadn't got in the way. But what's all this ruction for?"

"It is a drill."