And so they separated, each one to his own home and bed, to dream of bunks, and quarter-decks, and companionways, all mixed up together.
CHAPTER IV
All Hands Aboard!
On Tuesday, the twenty-third of June, the Bright Wing lay in the berth assigned to her at the Navy Yard, all prepared to set sail at noon. There was a moderate breeze down the harbor, the tide was high at eleven o’clock, and all she would need would be a tow out for a mile or so to get out of the way of the shipping.
Everything was shining on board. The ship carried a new suit of sails, and her paint and bright work were all gleaming in the sunlight. At the fore topmasthead the Boy Scout flag was rippling, and at the main truck the long pennant was waving gracefully. The ensign did not catch the wind so well, being under the lee of a big battleship docked close by. Everything looked as if the Bright Wing were chuckling to herself in anticipation of her coming venture.
The three Northbridge boys had come up by the early train, accompanied by Mr. Sheffield and Tom’s sister Eleanor, and Chippie had immediately gone below to hunt up his locker, where he was putting the contents of his sea bag in order. The other two boys remained on the dock, taking in the scene before them with pride and pleasure; Dick talked with Mr. Sheffield about different points of special interest, while Tom’s beaming face spoke more eloquently than words as he and Eleanor listened to the conversation.
“She’s like a duck in the sunshine!” said Dick.
“Yes, right after her morning dip,” said Tom.
Presently Mr. Sheffield and Eleanor bade the boys good-by and Tom and Dick jumped on to the deck.
Some of the other boys had come on board the night before and had already put their lockers in order and got into their white uniforms. Dick and Tom received their individual “station billets” upon which they found all the information as to their bunks, lockers, divisions, sections, and special duties in the different emergency drills, written out clearly, so that they could set to work at once to find out where they belonged, what was expected of them, and how to make themselves comfortable.
At a quarter to eleven the boatswain’s pipe was heard, loud and clear, and the order “all hands aboard” rang out. The few scouts who were left on the wharf cut their good-bys short and quietly clambered down the ratlines or jumped on to the deck. Then the gangway was hauled up, the hawsers released, and the Bright Wing sat, like a gull, free in the water. In the meantime the Government tugboat had backed up within easy distance and thrown her line on board; and, as the vessel drifted into the channel, the tug got under way, the line tightened, and the Bright Wing followed in her wake.