Jack clapped the glasses to his eyes while Amos stood there holding his breath, for he feared that the worst must have happened, and the little destroyer met the fate she had tempted.
Then both boys gave a shout, and from a thousand throats the same sound welled forth until it rang over the agitated waters of the Dardanelles; for the saucy little destroyer had suddenly appeared, emerging from the smoke cloud, and speeding merrily onward as though scorning the efforts of the enemy to bring about her destruction.
And though the boat continued further along for several miles, all the while fired on from the distant forts, she seemed to be able to defy all their best efforts, for when finally the signal was given for her to return she had escaped the rain of shot and shell.
And it might be noticed that the lesson of that smashed battery had not been lost upon the observing enemy, for although there may have been others hidden amidst the gullies and rocks along the shore they fired no shot to betray their whereabouts. After that one lesson they “tumbled to the game,” as Amos afterwards said, and lay low.
When it was seen that the mission of the destroyer had come to an end temporarily the bombardment of the forts was resumed with greater violence than before. Once again the great guns boomed, and the smoke drifted with the wind across the straits. It proved to be one of the most furious attacks thus far attempted, and doubtless considerable damage was done, not only to the forts themselves, but in destroying the guns with which they were mounted.
During all this time the mine sweepers had been getting in their work. They accomplished it in a modest manner, and there was no halo of romance about what they were doing so that they never received the salvo of cheers that greeted the successful return of the destroyer. At the same time they took desperate chances, since nearly all of the time they were under fire, from both big guns and smaller pieces.
More than one of the sweepers were struck and sunk. Those of the crew able to do so immediately attempted to swim to one of the other small vessels, to be taken aboard. Not all of them were so fortunate, and when the roll-call came later many were not present to answer, having either fallen into the hands of the enemy, or else sunk to a watery grave.
From the distance over which these small boats made their way it was evident that they had succeeded in clearing some miles of the straits of the fixed mines, which was one of the objects of the day’s work.
At that time in the earlier period of the fight for the Dardanelles it was positively believed by the Allies that weight of metal would assuredly carry the battleships through the straits, and the sea wall of Constantinople.
Although several casualties had already been recorded from those dangerous floating mines that were set adrift in shoals above the Narrows, the commanders of the fleet were unable to bring themselves to believe anything could prevent them from accomplishing their purpose as first laid out.