“Yes, we may have a run-in with their navy,” his brother said.
“Navy!” laughed Hank. “Say, I don’t believe they have any more navy than Switzerland has, and all that country can put out is a motor boat on Lake Constance.”
“Well, I guess there won’t be any waste of ammunition if there’s a prospect of some real work,” another sailor remarked.
As has been said, the word for the Georgetown to proceed to Uridio had come by wireless, and later it was learned that the battleship was to stop at Havana for sealed orders, and also to take on board certain stores—ammunition and supplies that would be waiting for her.
“It means business all right,” said Frank to Ned, as they were talking the matter over before turning into their hammocks for the night. “I wonder if we shall be able to go ashore and get any sort of a line on that business of Uncle Phil’s?”
“We’ll make a good try, anyhow,” declared Ned. “I guess the captain or some of the executive officers will give us help and advice if we ask them.”
“That’s a good idea,” Frank added.
As soon as all the boats had returned, the course of the battleship was changed, and now, with black smoke pouring from her funnels, she was rushing away through the night toward Cuba, there to stop, and as soon as possible afterward to take up her journey again toward South America.
A totally different spirit and feeling was on board now, at least among the younger enlisted men. It was the nearest any of them had yet come to conditions of actual warfare, though probably the matter of proceeding to regulate matters in a small republic, such as Uridio was, and looking after the interests of United States’ citizens there, was really a small affair in the minds of the higher officers, some of whom had been with Dewey at Manila when the Spanish fleet was defeated.
A change was made the next day in the nature and manner of holding the drills. For some time the lighter forms of evolutions had been the order of the day. But after the wireless orders were received there was more big gun drill and more, too, of infantry and light artillery tactics insisted on.