ON GIBRALTAR'S PEAK
That afternoon the Battleship Boys got leave to go ashore. Their good conduct always earned a quick shore leave for them when many others were denied it.
The quaint old semi-Moorish town at the base of the great mountain appealed to the lads and impressed them deeply. Red-coated British soldiers were everywhere about, wearing their jaunty caps tilted to one side, carrying their swagger-sticks airily, and now and then deigning a glance at the Battleship Boys.
"Do you know what those fellows remind me of?" questioned Hickey.
"Not being able to read your mind, I cannot say," answered Dan.
"That cap, at least, reminds me of the organ grinder's monkey that passes the hat for pennies. But they are the real thing, aren't they?"
"The caps?"
"No, the monk—I mean the soldiers."
"Boom!" roared a gun.
There was no answer to it, and Dan, wondering, asked a citizen what the meaning of the shot might be.
"One o'clock, me lad," was the answer.
Sam laughed aloud.
"Do—do they announce the hours here by firing guns?" he questioned.
"They do."
"Then—then I guess I would prefer to sleep at sea. What do you think of that?"
"It certainly is a curious custom," agreed Dan.
The boys wandered about the quaint town, peering into out-of-the-way places, talking with a soldier here and there, when they found one who was willing to unbend sufficiently to answer their questions.
What impressed them most was the tremendous masses of masonry, parapets and guns. In whatever direction the boys glanced their eyes rested on the frowning muzzles of big guns.
"How would you like to have all those guns turned on a ship in which you were?" asked Dan.
"If they all shot straight it would be all day with us. But, Dan, don't you think that rock is a pretty good mark itself?"
"Yes. And if it is all like what it is here at the bottom, I think a shot from a seven or eight-inch would crumble it. I——"
"Look!" cried Sam.
What appeared to be a basket of some sort was rising in the air far above their heads.
"What is it?"
"It looks like some kind of air-ship. But that cannot be possible."
"There's some one in it!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," answered the red-headed boy, now all excitement.
"I know now what it is," cried Dan. "I've read about that—no, I haven't read about it either. A jackie on the 'Long Island' told me about it. That is a metal basket in which the signal men and watchmen go up to the lookout station that you see on top of the mountain."
"You don't say," muttered Sam in amazement. "How does it soar through the air that way?"
"It doesn't. It is on a cable that is pulled up by some sort of power."
"Let's go over and look at the thing," urged Sam.
Dan was willing. He was as curious as was his companion, and even more enthusiastic, for all this was new and full of interest.
It was after making numerous inquiries that they found their way to the landing platform from which the basket started on its way upward. By this time the metal basket had returned. There was room in it for four men. The boys looked it over curiously and enviously.
"How would you like to take a ride in it?" questioned Dan, smiling into the solemn face of his companion.
"I'd give a dollar and a half," answered Sam earnestly. "Let's get in and look the thing over."
"I am afraid strangers are not allowed to do that. Yes, we'll get in. We can imagine we are going up to the top of the mountain, anyway."
Both boys climbed into the basket, gazing up into the air, where the thread-like cable grew smaller and smaller until it was lost to view entirely.
"I wonder how it works?" questioned Sam, turning to the mechanism of the basket.
"Perhaps by electricity. Sh-h-h!"
"What is it?"
"Some one is coming," whispered Dan.
The boys crouched down out of sight in the basket, laughing delightedly as they nudged each other.
"They'll be surprised, if they find us here," said Sam.
"Keep still. He's going away now, whoever he is." Peering over the basket, Davis saw that the man, a soldier, was walking rapidly down to the engine house, just below the landing platform. The man disappeared within.
"Look out! We're moving!" howled Sam.
