“It’s a shame to waken such a sleepy boy,” said his friend, the bluejacket, “but there’s something here you don’t want to miss seeing.”
Billy would have been willing to miss anything, he thought, until he had stumbled out of his hammock, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked where his companion pointed.
It was morning, cold, cloudy, windless morning, but still with light enough to see. One by one the ships were leaving their anchorage and moving away in long procession, huge dreadnaughts, swift cruisers, torpedo boats and submarines. In endless line they seemed to pass, stately and grey and silent in the dawn. Billy, his teeth chattering with chill and excitement, his bones still aching from the misadventures of the past hours, clung to his friend’s arm and looked and looked as though he could not see enough.
Never before had he had an idea of what the Navy really was. He had seen photographs upon a printed page, or pictures on the movie screen, but had never even guessed from them how a man-of-war would impress him in reality. For the big grey battleships suddenly seemed to stand for many things, for the greatness of the country they guarded, for the power of the engines that drove them, the faithfulness and loyalty of the service that guided them and lastly—here an extra quiver ran through his shivering body—for the might of the enemy they would some day go forth to meet.
CHAPTER VI
THE EBBING OF THE TIDE
Since the destroyer had other orders, Billy and Captain Saulsby were transferred to a ship that was to put in toward Appledore Island and pick up the two officers who had been left there for shore observations. Billy observed the captains of the two vessels talking very earnestly together, and that afterwards they strolled down the deck to have what seemed a casual chat with Captain Saulsby. He, himself, however, was too busy seeing and hearing new things to pay much attention to what was going forward. He was taken down to see the ship’s engines, and stood gazing at them in dumb awe, feeling much as though he were an ant staring at the shining mechanism of a repeater watch.
They went ashore, finally, in the ship’s motor launch and were landed in the little harbour below the old mill. Billy had thought that the place had been chosen as the best spot to leave Captain Saulsby, since it was nearest his house; he was somewhat surprised, therefore, to see two of the bluejackets disembark with them, and send the launch back to the ship.
“We were to meet the two officers here,” one of them explained, “and I had written orders to give them from the Captain. We saw them signal from here that they would be waiting: I can’t understand why we don’t find them. I will just have to go around to the hotel with the orders, I suppose, and see if I can find them there.”
“Come with us, then,” said Billy, “and I will show you the short way. It is only a few minutes’ walk to Captain Saulsby’s, and won’t take you any time to go on to the hotel.”