"Colors! Fall in for colors!" shouted petty officers in different parts of the ship as the bugle blew its warning notes.
Sam Hickey limped into place with the gun squad, and awaited the order to march.
"Colors," means the formalities that are observed at sunset on shipboard, consisting of impressive ceremonies when the Stars and Strips are lowered from the after flagstaff. The ceremony of colors, however, is never observed when the ship is under motion, but only when the vessel is at anchor.
Just before the moment when the sun was to set, the different divisions, in charge of midshipmen and ensigns, were marched to the quarterdeck with measured step; then, facing toward amidships, they banked themselves on each side of the deck. Behind the jackies, next to the starboard and port rails, were the marines, carrying their rifles.
Grouped aft on the starboard side was the band, its members resplendent in white and gold uniforms.
Between these lines of color stood the captain and his executive officer, facing the Flag that was lazily fluttering in the soft evening breeze.
All was silence, the only sound being the water lapping the steel sides of the battleship.
"Attention!"
The bugle blew a few short notes. The Flag began creeping slowly down the after flagstaff, with every eye fixed on the ensign as it fluttered toward the deck.
Instantly upon the Flag's reaching the deck, the band broke forth into "The Star Spangled Banner." The hearts of the Battleship Boys swelled with patriotism, and the strains of the national anthem seemed to bring a deeper shade to the rows of tanned, manly faces lined up in solid ranks on the quarter-deck of the battleship "Long Island."