“It does,” said the lieutenant laughing. “A great row!”
“Why do they call it a siren, though?” inquired the insatiable Bob. “The ‘sirens’ I’ve read of in my lessons at school used to be mermaids that sang so sweetly and made such beautiful music, as they played on their harps or lyres, that they lured poor mariners to destruction!”
“But doesn’t our siren make beautiful music?” asked the lieutenant in a joking way. “It is loud, it is true; but don’t you think it sweet?”
“No,” answered Bob, most emphatically. “It isn’t! It is more like a thousand wild bulls all with the toothache and roaring with pain!”
“That’s not a bad description,” said the other, laughing heartily again. “Hullo, though, they are going to fire now! Don’t you see they’ve just run up a red flag on that spar we have forward as an apology for a mast?”
“I see,” replied Bob, concentrating his attention on the preparations being made around for testing the machine-guns and larger weapons with which the vessel was armed, long cylindrical shot, ribbed with brass bands, being piled by the side of the various batteries, and nicely-made cases of cartridges placed ready for the hoppers of the Nordenfeldts and Gatlings. “How awfully jolly!”
The Archimedes, after taking her ammunition on board, had steamed out seaward so as to get a good offing where she might fire her guns without the risk of hitting any passing craft; and, by the time Bob had come on deck again from inspecting the machinery, she was well beyond the Nab light and far out into the waters of the Channel.
On the order being presently given to fire, the machine-guns went popping away, to test how many shots they can fire off in a minute—the report of some of them sounding like an asthmatic old gentleman with a very bad cough.
“What a funny noise!” cried Bob—“Rover barks just the same when he’s asleep and dreaming!”
“Indeed!” said the young lieutenant, more intent, however, on watching a party of blue-jackets getting ready a big gun for firing in the bows than paying much attention to Bob. “Look out there, youngster!”