CHAPTER XI.
WHERE HISTORY WAS BEING MADE.
That afternoon the Thunderer was many miles away from the scene of the morning’s activities. The crew busied themselves with “cleaning up,” and both Jack and Amos were more or less interested in watching how the monster guns were taken care of.
Comparatively little damage had been done by the bursting of shells aboard the battleship. In fact, considering the rain of shot to which all the vessels of the invading fleet had been subjected, it was a matter of congratulation among the various commanders that no serious losses had resulted.
Launches were shooting this way and that as visits were exchanged; but these were in every case necessitated by the need of conferences, and not mere acts of courtesy. When the war paint was daubed on the battleships only business was supposed to occupy the minds of those who were entrusted with the charge of the many units of the vast armada.
Amos had not as yet succeeded in entirely getting rid of his headache, though he admitted that he felt better. What he had witnessed that morning had made a deep impression on his mind, so that he could talk of little else.
They had had a good lunch in the mess-room at about one, and later in the day, as the sun drew nearer the watery horizon toward the west, the boys lounged in a favorite spot on deck, surveying the pleasing picture.
In every direction they could see big battleships, swift destroyers, mine-sweepers, and transports that had brought out new additions to take the place of those who may have been lost, as well as troops from both Great Britain and France.
Jack had found an opportunity to make certain inquiries, and he felt that it was time to communicate what he had learned to his chum.
“I asked about the British flag we saw floating at the lower extremity of Gallipoli,” he remarked, “as well as the tricolor of France that was waving across on the Asiatic side of the straits, where Fort Kum Kaleh used to be. And they tell me that some thousands of troops have been landed there, and are entrenched, with batteries of quick-firing guns.”
“Then that is why certain vessels keep within a few miles of the straits all the time, is it?” asked Amos. “They mean to defend the shore parties if they are attacked by superior numbers of the Turks.”