Whoever the unfortunate officer was who had been invalided home, the boys considered themselves very lucky to be given his comfortable quarters. If they were a little crowded for space that did not matter, and they were used to bunking together, so this fact gave them no concern.
They made themselves ready so that little time might be wasted when the call came; for they had been told that someone would arouse them when the dispatch boat arrived.
In fact, the boys lay down just about as they were, never going to the trouble of even removing their leggings or shoes.
Amos called it “turning in all standing,” though he must have picked up the phrase from some seafarer; sailors often have to throw themselves down wet and just as they are, only too glad to get an hour’s sleep in the midst of a storm that by its violence has utterly worn everyone out.
The battleship was very steady, partly because of the stillness of the sea at that particular time; had the waves been running high it would doubtless have proven far less pleasant to “land-lubbers” like Jack and Amos.
“Wake me early, mother dear,” said Amos as he turned in, “because tomorrow will be the first of May. Seriously speaking, Jack, if I’m so sound asleep I don’t hear the pounding on the door, give me a kick, will you?”
“You can depend on me to do the same,” laughed Jack. “But there’s small danger of you not waking. A cat couldn’t walk across the floor without you bobbing up your head and asking ‘who’s there?’ We can have about four hours’ nap, and that will have to do us for the night.”
Both boys were soon asleep. There were hosts of things they might have allowed themselves to think about, but neither of them had ever fallen into the bad habit of doing all their worrying when in bed.
They were aroused by a rap at the door, not a loud summons, but quite boisterous enough to cause two heads to rise from the pillow, while Jack called out:
“Hello! there, what is it?”