ON THE BLUE MEDITERRANEAN
The boys landed with great force, then shot down the slope that led from the lower landing stage.
The basket, in striking the landing, had been shattered, and it was when the crash came that the Battleship Boys were fired overboard.
By a lucky chance, they had sustained nothing more serious than black and blue spots, torn uniforms and dirty faces.
Dan sprang to his feet, after lying on his face a few seconds.
"Sam! Sam!"
"All present or accounted for," answered the red-headed boy, sitting up and rubbing the dirt from his eyes. Neither of them could see very clearly as yet.
"Well, we are a pair of luck——"
A heavy hand was laid on the shoulder of each.
"Wha—wha—what!" exclaimed Dan, turning sharply.
A file of soldiers confronted them.
"We—we fell down, didn't we?" said Hickey, with a sheepish grin.
A red-coated soldier with a corporal's stripe on his sleeve motioned to his men. They took firm grip on the arms of the Battleship Boys.
"What does this mean?" demanded Dan.
"You are under arrest."
"Arrest?"
"Yes."
"For what?"
"Going where you had no right to go."
"But we meant no harm. And, besides, we are American sailors on board the 'Long Island.'"
"You will explain to the officer of the day."
The boys were taken to the barracks, where they were, after a time, brought before the officer of the day. He wore a white coat instead of a red one, and squinted at the boys through a monocle.
He heard the story of the squad that arrested the Battleship Boys, then, turning to the lads, asked who they were.
Dan stepped forward and explained briefly, telling the officer of their trip up the mountainside. The officer listened gravely.
"You say you are from the 'Long Island?'"
"Yes, sir."
"How long have you been ashore?"
"Not more than two or three hours."
"Have you leave to be ashore?"
Dan's eyes snapped.
"We should not be here if we didn't have leave, sir. You can very easily find out all you wish to know about us, if you will communicate with our ship out there."
"The matter will have to be laid before a higher authority than mine. You have committed a very grave offence. If, as you say, you belong to one of the American ships, your conduct may bring about grave results."
"I am sorry, sir. Perhaps we have done wrong; but if so, it was not intentional. That should count for something."
"Take them away, corporal!"
"May I ask where you are taking us to, sir?" questioned Dan.
"You are going to be locked up."
"What, again?" demanded Hickey.
"So this isn't the first time, eh?" demanded the British officer.
"Will you be good enough to communicate with the ship, sir?" asked Dan.
The officer of the day made no reply, and the boys were led away by the same squad that had picked them up after their thrilling slide down the cable.
They were taken to the barracks, where they were placed in a room and a guard stationed outside.
"Slid right into jail, didn't we?" demanded the red-headed Sam, after they had been left alone. "That was a slide for jail instead of a slide for life. I guess you and I had better stay aboard ship after this, Dan."
"We do have a way of getting ourselves into trouble. I wonder how long the red-coats are going to leave us here?"
Hours dragged on. The boys grew hungry, but no one came near them. They could hear the measured tramp of the sentry on the outside.
In the meantime word had been sent to the battleship "Long Island." Immediately upon receiving the news, Captain Farnham had put off in his motor boat. He was fully convinced that it would be useless to send one of lesser rank than himself to intercede for the Battleship Boys.
Captain Farnham went directly to the office of the Governor-General, before whom he laid the case.
The governor looked serious. He thought he would have to submit the whole case to his own government. Men from a foreign warship had been caught prying into the secrets of the fortification. That was more than serious.
"Nonsense, sir!" exploded the captain. "Mere boyish pranks. I wish them released. I will hold myself personally responsible to your government for your action in releasing them."
The governor shook his head.
"I am afraid the matter is beyond me to settle in that way."
"Governor," said the captain in an impressive tone, "the shore leave of these men expires at nine o'clock to-night. I greatly desire to have them on board by that time. The 'Long Island' sails to-morrow morning at daybreak. I trust that no act of yours will interfere with the movements of United States ships. I bid you good afternoon."
The captain bowed low and left the governor's presence, returning to his own ship at once.
Nothing more was heard from the shore before nightfall, but shortly after dark a patrol entered the room where the Battleship Boys were being held. They took the boys in charge, holding to them tightly, as if expecting the boys would run away, conducting them in silence down to the landing. There a boat belonging to the garrison was awaiting them.
The boys were ordered to get into the boat.
"You will tell your commander that you are not to come ashore again during the ship's stay in this harbor," announced the officer in charge.
Dan stood up in the boat.
"I shall do nothing of the sort. I am not in the habit of giving orders to my captain, sir. If the English government, through its Governor-General, desires to communicate with the captain of the 'Long Island,' let him do so in the proper manner. Good night."
Dan sat down, well satisfied with himself.
"There, Tommy Atkins, will you be good now?" jeered Sam Hickey.
The officer motioned for the boat's crew to pull away, which they did. Half an hour later, just before nine o'clock, the boat drew alongside the "Long Island," and the Battleship Boys ran up the sea ladder, reporting their arrival on board.
That evening they were summoned before the captain, who gave them a friendly talk regarding their duties and conduct when on foreign soil.
"I am not rebuking you, my lads," he said. "I am simply giving you some good advice. Foreign governments, especially monarchies, are very touchy, much more so than is your own country, so be careful."
"We will, sir," answered Dan.
"We will, sir," added Sam Hickey.
"Until the next time," thought Captain Farnham, passing a hand over his face to hide the smile that he could not repress.
At daylight next morning the four ships of the fleet weighed anchor, circled and steamed out of the harbor, soon after poking their noses into the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
Algiers was sighted late in the day, then the ships dropped the shores to port and starboard and settled down to their course. The next port was to be Port Said, the beginning of the Suez canal. The hopes of the Battleship Boys were high. They were about to make their first visit to the Orient, and already they were planning on the shore leave they would have. They had forgotten their experiences during their last shore leave, as perhaps they had the admonition of the captain. They were looking forward to what was before them.
Gun drills and dotter practice were now indulged in for the greater part of the time by the gun crews, and thus far the starboard seven-inch crew held the record for quick, effective work. Every man of the seven-inch crew was looking forward to the day when the crew would be allowed to work their gun with ball and powder, shooting at a real target. There seemed no prospect of such an experience during this cruise, for it was a cruise intended principally to give the men of the fleet a chance to see the world.
After several days of leisurely steaming the low-lying shores of Egypt appeared off the starboard bow, looking golden against the blue of the waters of the Mediterranean. The captain had decided not to stop at Alexandria, but to continue on to Suez and there give his men a long shore leave, when they would have opportunity to see sights that few of the battleship's crew had ever beheld.
The fleet came to anchor off the mouth of the canal at twilight. Port Said lay in a deep shadow, with only the numerous twinkling lights to show that the chief town of the Egyptian province of the isthmus was near at hand.
Songs floated out over the water after the anchors had been let go, these sounds of gayety from the shore causing the jackies of the fleet to look longingly shoreward.
"To-morrow we'll get a leave," predicted Sam, as he and Dan were sitting on their gun turret in the soft evening air.
"Not to-morrow, Sam."
"Why not?"
"I understand no shore leave is to be granted here. We shall be entering the canal early in the morning, on our way to Suez."
"Oh, pshaw! That's a shame."
"We are going to have a good time. You won't tell if I confide something to you?"
"Never."
"We are going to have several days ashore."
"How do you know?"
"I heard the captain telling the doctor. A lot of us are going inland."
"Where to?"
"I don't know. I did not catch that, though the captain mentioned the place. I guess some of the petty officers are going with us to see that we behave ourselves."
"The idea!" grumbled Sam.
"Just the same, I think you and I need a guardian. We do not seem able to keep out of trouble when we go ashore alone. Do we, now?"
"I guess that isn't a joke, after all," answered Sam, while an appreciative grin overspread his face.
On the following morning the battleship moved slowly into the canal.
The ship's chaplain was shading his eyes, gazing off to the left, when the boys came and leaned over the rail near him.
"Lads, do you know what lies beyond, almost within sight?"
"No, sir."
"It is the Holy Land. Palestine, Damascus, Jerusalem, all are within easy reach even of the guns of this ship."
"Is it possible?"
"Yes; yonder lies Arabia with its great deserts; and there, off the port bow, is Mount Sinai. It is a wonderful country."
"Were you ever there, Padre?" questioned Sam, addressing the chaplain after the manner of all sailors.
"Yes, I once made a pilgrimage there. I wish that I might go again."
"I hear we are going to make a pilgrimage when we get to Suez," said Sam irreverently.
"So I understand."
"Do you know where we are going, sir?" questioned Dan.
"I cannot say. But you will see much."
"Yes, sir, we hope to."
"Yonder, off the starboard beam, lies the valley of the Nile."
"Shall we see it?"
"Not on this cruise, my lads. Some other cruise you may get shore leave when in Alexandria and take a short journey up the stream."
Night had set in before the ships of the fleet emerged from the canal into the Gulf of Suez, where lay the city of Suez. The moonlight glistened on the domes and minarets, making a picture long to be remembered by the Battleship Boys.
Lights twinkled off on the shore; strange sounds floated out across the waters, now a wailing cry, a ripple of laughter, then music and shouting.
Harsh and disturbing came the bugle's command, "Hammocks up."
Regretfully the boys turned away from the rail and sought their billets, for the bugle's command must be obeyed instantly.
Soon the ship settled down to silence and sleep, the only sound on board being the footsteps of the watch as they paced back and forth on their stations.