CHAPTER XII
ROBERT MAKES A DISCOVERY
"Pete," said Robert a few days later, "let's go to the gun shed."
"All right," replied the amiable Peters, "come along; but what are we todo there? I don't know of any more uninteresting place in the wholeAcademy."
"You know that our company is going to try hard to win the flag, don'tyou?"
"Of course we are. And so is every other company. Don't think for aminute, Bob, that you're the only cadet lieutenant who has picked outthe girl who's going to present it. But what has the gun shed to do withour company winning the flag?"
"It all counts, Pete; you know part of the grand multiple each companymakes is made up of its record at target practice with six-pounder guns,don't you?"
"Of course."
"Well, I received a letter from Stanton last week; he says the sightsof this gun are very poor. Now in our gunnery sections we were allencouraged to make improvements. You see gunnery in the navy is now amatter of terrific competition; it is ship against ship and gun againstgun. At each target practice the ship that does the best carries thegunnery trophy for a year, and big money prizes are won by the best guncrews. And officers in command of different guns are encouraged to makeimprovements. Why, just before the Spanish war the twelve-inch guns ofthe 'Texas' could only shoot once in five minutes, and then the shotsdidn't hit often. On her last target practice those same guns fired oncea minute and hit the target almost every time. And the improvements wereall made by officers aboard the ship."
"Well, Bob, here is your six-pounder gun; just take a look at it. Idon't imagine you will be allowed to do much tinkering with it. Youdon't know a great deal about the gun--not nearly so much as the men whodesigned and built it--and here you are talking about improving it. Youwould probably injure rather than improve it."
"I know how to work it, anyway, and I have fired a six-pounder a numberof times," replied Robert, rapidly throwing down a couple of clamps, andturning the gun on its pivot.
"I have no notion of touching the mechanism of the gun; but Stanton saysthe gun sights are poor; that anybody could put better sights on thegun."
Robert now put himself at the rear of the gun, assuming the prescribedposition of the man who fired it, holding it securely by the shoulderand hand of his right arm, his left hand being at the trigger. He ranhis eye over the gun sights, and moved the gun up and down, and fromside to side.
"Pete," he remarked, "look at this rear sight; it's an open sight--justa mere notch, a groove. And the forward sight is just a sharp point. IfI screw my eye up or down, or from side to side, I might think therewere many different places the gun would shoot to. When the gun is firedin this exact position the shot is going in only one direction, but Ibet you if ten different fellows should aim along these sights as thegun is now and say where the shot was going to hit you would find therewere ten different opinions."
"Of course there would be," replied Peters in a superior tone; "therealways are with open sights; professional marksmen always usepeep-sights."
"Pete, you're a treasure," cried Robert in enthusiastic approval; "we'llfit peep-sights to this gun, but we'll keep it a dead secret, and whenwe come to fire our string of shots we'll use our own peep-sights."
"How are you going to fit peep-sights to this gun and not have everybodyelse know about it?" asked Peters dubiously. "And we only practice withthis gun; we will actually fire one of the 'Nevada's' six-pounders,--andprobably the sight you fitted to this gun wouldn't fit the 'Nevada's.'"
"Let's go aboard the 'Nevada'; she's alongside the 'Santee' wharf, andwe'll talk to the captain. I know him, and we'll ask him to let us fitup the six-pounder we're going to use. There's a gunner's mate namedLenn aboard that ship who is a great friend of mine; he's awfully handywith tools, and he'll help me."
"But, Bob, a captain isn't going to let a midshipman monkey with theguns of his ship."
"The 'Nevada' is in reserve with a crew of only thirty-five men onboard; she's here for the instruction of midshipmen, and besides, we'renot going to make any permanent change; we're going to invent a newsix-pounder gun sight; we'll just take off the old sights and put in ourown peep-sights; the captain can put the other ones back if he wantsto."
"You talk as if you had already invented your peep-sights and all youhad to do was to put them on. Now let me tell you, Bob, it isn't soall-fired easy. This gun isn't fitted for peep-sights. Another thing,the rear sight is attached here to a graduated bar; it moves up and downaccording to the distance of the target you are firing at, and it alsomoves from side to side, to allow for the speed of the ship. Now you'regoing to have a good deal of trouble to arrange an entire new kind ofsights for this gun."
"Pete, those are problems that I'm sure can be solved. I don't pretendto say I know just how we can make the change, but I'm going to studythe question, and I'm going to get expert help. Now let's go over to the'Nevada' and talk with Captain Brice; we've got to get his consentfirst; and then I'll get that smart gunner's mate, Lenn, to help me;he's a very inventive chap. Come along."
Before long the two midshipmen were aboard the monitor "Nevada" and weretalking with Captain Brice. At first the latter was utterly opposed toany "monkeying," as he expressed it, with one of his guns. Finally hebecame interested in Robert's earnestness, and relented to the extent ofthe following ultimatum:
"Now, Mr. Drake, I'll allow you to remove the present sights of one ofmy six-pounders; the sights are kept out of the gun, anyway, for thatmatter; and in their places you may put in new sights. But you are notto alter the gun in any way; you must fix it so that any sights you putin can be immediately replaced by the regular sights. I'll send for theman you want, Lenn, and tell him to give you a hand."
Chief Gunner's Mate Lenn soon appeared, and he and the two midshipmenrepaired to the forward starboard six-pounder on the superstructuredeck, where Robert explained what he wanted. Lenn grasped the idea withavidity.
"Why, Mr. Drake," he said, "we can fix up what you want with no troubleat all. A sight is a simple thing--the principle is that the centre lineof the gun's bore must be exactly parallel to the line of sight atpoint-blank range with no speed allowance. Now you want a peep-sight.We'll get a hollow cylinder, say an inch in diameter, and an inch or twolong; we'll plug the end and drill a fine hole in the end of your plug.There's the peep. And the forward sight will be a ring with cross wiresin it. Now your line from the peep-hole to the cross wires must beparallel to the axis of the gun. And while I think of it the rear andfront sights should be as far apart as possible; I'll tell you whatwe'll do; we'll carry the sight at the end of a long piece of brasspipe; I've just the stuff in my storeroom. I'll fit a Y piece to wherethe present front sight is, pivot it there and hang the forward part ofthe pipe in its gimbals. I'll just run a quarter-inch pin through thepipe; and I'll drop the rear end of the brass pipe on this rearsight--I'll have to make a slight alteration in this rear sight----"
"You can't change a thing, Lenn, you mustn't," interrupted Robert."Captain Brice will not allow any changes of the gun----"
"Oh, I've an old condemned rear sight below; I'll use that," smiledLenn. "Now we'll fasten our new front cross wire and rear peep-sights tothe ends of our brass pipe--why, anybody can see at a glance it will bea far better arrangement than the present poor system."
When Robert and Peters left Lenn said: "Come aboard the 'Nevada' in twodays from now and you'll find your new sights on this gun ready forbusiness."
On the following Saturday, after supper, Robert and Stonewell wereenjoying a pleasant call at the Blunt household. Captain Blunt wastelling Stonewell of the last target practice his ship had gone through."Why, sir," he said, "if my six-pounders had not done so poorly I wouldsurely have won the trophy; my six-inch guns averaged seven hits aminute, each of the best guns making ten hits. If we had had decentsights for our six-pounders the 'New Orleans' would have made the bestrecord of any ship of her class in the navy."
Robert was eagerly listening, and was
much interested, but Helen Bluntwasn't.
"Father," she interrupted, "you talk of nothing but guns, guns, guns andhits per minute. Now that isn't nearly so interesting to midshipmen asice-cream and cake. Robert, come along to the pantry with me and help meget some."
That young man was on the point of asking Captain Blunt a question aboutsix-pounder gun sights, but Helen was already on her way toward thehall; so he thought his question could wait, and he started to joinHelen. She had gone to the rear of the house, to the pantry next thekitchen. The passageway was dark, but Robert knew the way, and hehurried after Helen, and soon ran right into her.
"You are a regular blunderer, aren't you, Robert?" she laughed. "I amtrying to turn on the light but can't find the key. What a bother it isthat in Annapolis all the servants go home at night--and there goes thedoorbell. I'll have to go see who it is. Now try to find the switch;it's somewhere near on this wall. Just feel about and you'll find it. Ihope you're not afraid to be left in the dark," was her parting shot,"but the kitchen door is locked, so that no burglars can get in." AndHelen ran away.
Robert groped about, but could not find the switch to the electriclight, and while he was fumbling his ear caught the noise of a click inthe kitchen, as if a door had been unlocked. A moment later he heard adoor opened, and with it he felt the draft blow on him.
"Some one has let himself into the kitchen," thought Robert. He keptquite still, wondering who it might be. Then he heard footsteps on thekitchen floor; they seemed quite close to him and he felt confidentthere was an intruder there. He peered through the open door of thepantry into the kitchen, but in the dark could see nothing; suddenly anelectric light in the kitchen was turned on, and Robert, himself unseen,looked with fascination on the person he saw.
There standing by a table was a man with a brown slouch hat drawn downover his eyes, a man with a heavy moustache and dark pointed beard; hewas dressed in a dark sack coat, buttoned closely across his chest andwore trousers of a dark material.
Robert felt his breath come quickly.
"What can this man be doing here?" he wondered. "I know him; he's thescoundrel who called for three groans for the superintendent andcommandant."
Robert had a confused idea that the stranger might be a thief and he waswondering what he had best do, when suddenly a feeling of dismay andhorror swept over him. The stranger threw off his hat, and with a quickmovement of each hand unhooked from around his ears the support of whatwas evidently a false beard. And the merry face of Harry Blunt wasrevealed.
It is difficult to analyze Robert's feelings, but chief among them wasan utter detestation for Harry. That a midshipman, himself the son of asplendid officer, should be the miscreant who had so wantonly, sopublicly, insulted the highest officers at the Naval Academy, filledRobert with disgust.
_THE STRANGER THREW OFF HIS HAT_]
For a midshipman to take unauthorized leave was a common offense, soalso was it for a midshipman to have civilian clothing in hispossession. Such offenses were committed at great personal risk and whendetected brought down upon the offender's head severe punishment, and ifrepeated it meant dismissal. But reprehensible from a militaryview-point as it was, such an offense was not dishonorable.
Since the event at the Colonial Theatre none at Annapolis had ever hadthe slightest notion that the perpetrator of the insult of that nightcould be a midshipman; such an idea never was suggested, never evenentered any person's mind. And so to Robert, his recognition of HarryBlunt as the culprit was as astounding as it was painful. He loathedHarry as an utterly unfit, dishonorable person, who had done shamefulwrong to the Naval Academy. And immediately there arose in Robert's mindthe knowledge that it was his duty to report Harry to the commandant, toreport the son of his benefactor.
In agonized perplexity Robert turned and quietly walked through thedining-room to the hall.
"Did you find the cakes and things in the pantry, Robert?" cried Helenseeing him, "or did you get tired waiting for me? Mr. Farnum called, andhe comes so seldom I felt I couldn't run away from him. Why, Robert,what's the matter? You have such a strange look on your face. What isit?"
"I--I couldn't find the light, Helen, I----"
"Oh, come back and try it again. But what is the matter, Robert? I'msure something's the matter."
"I'm not feeling well, Helen. I--I--have to go--I can't stay,--pleasesay good-night to your father and mother--I really must go," and withutter misery showing in every feature, Robert grabbed his hat and boltedout of the house.