"Bet I can guess it," said "Stump," as a half dozen of us met in the gangway. "We are bound for a cable station somewhere."
"To cable the news of the fight?" said Flagg.
"No. That was done by one of the other ships."
"What then?"
"To get permission from Washington to go ashore and reclaim all that steel we wasted in the bombardment."
There was a laugh at this sally.
"I have been figuring on the cost of the fight," remarked "Hay," after a pause. "A five-inch shell is worth $60, and as we fired about two hundred and fifty, it means just $15,000 worth of five-inchers alone."
"Then there are the six-pounders."
"They cost $20 a shot," resumed "Hay," reflectively. "I guess we must have fired about a million of them."
"Hardly that," smiled Tommy, "but we expended enough to bring the total up to $18,000 at the very least. War is a costly thing, boys."