CHAPTER XIX
A TRYING MOMENT
"Keep those engines going full speed astern!"
There was an anxious look on the face of the commanding officer of the battleship "Long Island," for it is a serious matter to run a ship of the Navy aground.
Fortunately, however, owing to Dan Davis' timely warning, the ship had drifted very slowly on the sand bar. Had it not been for that warning the battleship would have dashed full speed into the shoal water, where she would have stuck fast for many a day, even if she did not in the end prove a total loss.
"We seem to be fast and hard, sir," announced the executive officer.
"I am afraid we are, Coates. It's too bad. How's the tide?"
"About at the turn now, sir."
"Is she making any headway astern?"
"I'll ascertain, sir. Chains, there!"
"Aye, aye, sir."
"Is she going astern any?"
"She is standing still, sir. She hasn't moved."
"Keep your lead line out. Sing out the instant the ship begins to go astern," ordered the captain.
"Aye, aye, sir."
"I'm afraid she is swinging to port, sir," announced the executive.
The captain took a shore bearing and glanced along his ship toward the stern.
"Yes, this won't do at all. We'll be on the shoal broadside in a moment. Put out the starboard stern anchor. Draw her up tight. Be quick about it!"
A splash far aft told them that the anchor had gone overboard.
"Is she holding, Coates?"
"I think so, sir."
"Watch her. When the tide turns she may shift the other way, but I think that, by drawing the anchor chains taut, we can hold the ship where she is now."
"I do not think she is very far on. We ought to float at high tide, sir."
"Yes; we should, but you cannot always tell. This is too bad, though we did all we could. I hope this mishap has not injured her in any way."
"I do not see how that could be possible, sir. It is soft ground into which she has poked her nose."
"Yes; I could tell that by the way she went aground. Sandy bottom. Signalman!"
"Aye, aye, sir."
"Send a general recall to the boats. No need to keep them out there any longer. Besides, we shall need the boats here. Boatswain's mate!"
"Aye, aye, sir."
"Have the divers made ready to go down."
"Had we not best stop the engines now, sir?" asked the executive.
"No; keep them going. But watch her closely. In case they pull her off we shall have to be careful that we do not back into the anchor chain and foul the propellers."
"Very good, sir."
"Are the boats returning, signalman?"
"Yes, sir; they are all returning, sir."
The noon hour had arrived, and the crew was piped down to mess just as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. As the captain's motor boat drew alongside the captain called over to the boat to pull up by the starboard gangway. In a few moments he joined the boat there and boarded her.
"Run up under the bow of the ship," he commanded.
A few revolutions of the propeller brought them to the spot indicated.
"Is this the place you signaled about, Davis?" he demanded sharply.
"Yes, sir."
The bottom, shining and white, lay in plain sight. One had only to glance over the side of the motor boat to see it.
"Pass a lead line over the side."
A line was dropped to them and at the captain's command Dan Davis took a sounding.
"What do you make it?"
"By the deep, one, sir."
"As you signaled."
"Yes, sir."
"A close guess. You have a sharp eye, Davis."
The captain peered down. He could, by getting between the sun and the bow of the ship, look down to where the prow of the battleship disappeared in the white sand on the bottom of the bay.
"Do you want the divers over, sir?" called the executive officer.
"I think not, just now. It will be useless until we get her nose out of the sand. They cannot tell us any more than we know now."
The motor boat then made a tour of the ship, the captain surveying her from all points of view. The "Long Island" appeared to be resting easily, and the sea was comparatively smooth. A glance at the skies told the commanding officer that good weather might reasonably be expected for the rest of the day.
"Return to the starboard gangway," he commanded tersely.
The captain forgot to go to his luncheon that day. He paced the quarter-deck, watching the weather, receiving frequent reports from the forward end of the ship and having frequent tests made to determine the state of the tide.
The afternoon was well along before the welcome intelligence was brought to him that the tide was flowing strong and would be high within the next thirty minutes.
"Tell the engineer to stand by to go astern full speed," he said. "All hands not on necessary duty will gather on the quarter-deck, so that we may get all the weight possible aft. Pipe all hands aft, Mr. Coates."
The boatswain's whistle trilled here and there, and was finally lost in the depths of the ship. Soon the sailors began marching to the quarter-deck until that part of the ship was packed with them.
The captain, with his executive officer, went forward to the bridge.
"I think we had better try it now, Coates," he said. "Give orders to have the anchor shipped."
"Stand by the starboard anchor," commanded the executive.
A few minutes of waiting followed.
"Ship the starboard anchor!"
"Signal the engineer to send both engines full speed astern," ordered the captain.
The bridge telegraph clanked noisily, then a quiver ran through the ship. The commanding officer stood stolidly awaiting the result. It was an anxious moment for him, meaning perhaps the loss of his command, were he to fail to get his ship off the shoal on which it was grounded. But he was calm and self-possessed.
For a full moment the screws churned the water, turning it into a sea of suds astern of the battleship.
"Chains, there!"
"Aye, aye, sir."
"Is she going astern yet?"
"No, sir."
Commanding and executive officer exchanged significant glances.
"It looks as if we were hard and fast, Coates."
"Give her time to get a foothold. The next couple of minutes will tell the story, sir."
The next few seconds did tell the story that they were waiting to hear in almost breathless expectancy.
A slight lurch to port occurred. The beating of the engines seemed to be suddenly subdued.
"Going—astern—sir," sang the man in the chains.
"All clear," bellowed the bow watch.
"Coates, we're off!" said the captain, lifting his cap and wiping the perspiration from his brow.
The jackies on the after deck set up a great cheer.
"Mr. Navigator, have you got this shoal down on your chart now?"
"Yes, sir."
"Please see that there is no mistake about it. Have you got the ranges marked on the chart also?"
"Yes, sir."
"Very good. We do not want this thing to happen to us again, or to any one else. We have been very lucky in getting off so easily."
"Are you going to have the bottom examined?" asked the executive.
"Yes, when we get to the other side of the bay. Quartermaster, head her east by south one half."
"East by south one half she is. On the mark, sir."
"Hold her there till you get that point of land abeam, then swing."
"Aye, aye, sir."
"Chains, there, keep the lead going."
The ship swung slowly round, then headed away on the new course, which she followed as the captain had directed. When opposite the point of land indicated a sharp turn was made, the vessel heading for the opposite side of the bay.
After half an hour the battleship had arrived at her first anchorage. At command, engines were stopped. Starboard anchor chains rattled loudly, sending up a shower of sparks as the anchor shot downward. Then the ship swung into the tide and came to rest.
"Do you wish the divers to go down now?"
"No; not until later. Have the hold examined, to see if she is leaking forward and report to me at once."
"Very good, sir," answered the executive, saluting. "Where will you be—here on the bridge?"
"No; I think I shall go to my cabin and have a good square meal. Strange to say, for the first time to-day I have an appetite."