CHAPTER IX.
A NAVAL INITIATION.
Both the Dreadnought Boys were good swimmers. Even if they had not beendrilled in this art at the training school, their experiences in theold swimming pool at home would have made them at home in the water.Ned had dived after his chum as a matter of impulse, more than anythingelse, and, a second after the two splashes had resounded, both boysappeared on the surface of the water.
A few strokes brought them to the side of the ship, where they clung tothe slight projection afforded by an out-board seacock, till a laddercame snaking down to them.
By this time the rail, which seemed to be as high above them asthe summit of a skyscraper, was lined with faces, and at the sternthe officers who were on board were peering over the side of thequarterdeck.
Captain Dunham himself, summoned by his orderly, came running fromhis cabin, as the two dripping youths arose from their immersion, andjoined his officers on the stern. He had just come on board in his ownlaunch.
"Who are they, Scott?" he asked of his executive officer, as the boysonce more ascended the side of the ship on the emergency ladder.
"Two recruits, sir, from the training station, I believe, sir," was thereply, with a salute.
"Well, they are certainly taking a naval baptism," laughed the captain,whose merriment was echoed by his officers, now that it was seen theboys were safe, "but how did it happen?"
"I don't know, sir. I was not forward at the time," was the rejoinder."The shore men were coming on board, I believe, and the red-headedyoung fellow fell from the boom. His companion dived instantly afterhim. It was a plucky act, sir."
"Humph!" remarked the captain. "I suppose it was an accident, and wecan take no official notice of it. By the way, Scott, those two youngmen, I perceive now, are the ones I spoke to you about as havingbehaved with such singular courage and cool-headedness when the _RhodeIsland_ burned. Keep an eye on them, for I think they have the makingsof real sailors in them."
"I shall, sir," replied the executive officer, saluting, as the captainturned away with a return of the courtesy.
If Ned and Herc were wet and cold without, they were warm enough withinas they gained the deck. Ned's eye had detected Kennell's foot in theact of reaching out to trip his chum and cousin, and he felt within himan overpowering desire to seek the man out and demand an explanation.
Fortunately, however, for himself, other matters occupied his attentionat that moment.
Dripping wet as they were, the boys did not forget their carefullyinstilled training, and each came to attention and saluted as theyfaced the officer of the deck.
"Who are you men?" demanded that dignitary, red tape not allowing himto comment on the accident.
"Recruits, s-s-sir, from Newport T-T-T-Training School," answered Nedrespectfully, his teeth chattering.
"Get on dry clothes and report to the master-at-arms. Messenger!"
A messenger slid to the officer's side with a hand raised in salute.
"Show these recruits to their quarters. Let them get on dry clothes andthen conduct them to the master-at-arms."
As the boys' suitcases had by this time been hoisted on board, theysoon changed into dry uniforms in the men's quarters forward, and theirconductor then beckoned them to follow him. The two boys, their eyesround with astonishment at the sights and scenes about them, followedwithout a word, and were led through labyrinths of steel-walledpassages, down steel ladders with glistening steel hand rails, upmore ladders, and through bulkhead doors made to open and close withponderous machinery. The lower decks of the ship were lighted withhundreds of incandescent bulbs, as, in a modern man-of-war, there areno portholes on the sides, owing to the thickness of the armorplate.The officers' cabins are lighted by lozenges of glass let into the deck.
"It's like living in a fire-proof safe," whispered Herc.
The boys noticed that, although they seemed to be in a steel-walledmaze, that the air was fresh and cool, and they discovered afterwardthat large quantities of fresh ozone were distributed into everypart of the ship by electric blowers. For the present, however, theyfollowed their guide in a sort of semi-stupefaction at the novelty oftheir surroundings.
"Say, we must have walked a mile," gasped Herc, as their guide finallyemerged into a narrow passage seemingly in the stern of the vessel. Hepaused before a door hung with heavy curtains and knocked.
"What is it?" demanded a voice from inside. "A voice as pleasant as anexplosion of dynamite," Herc described it afterward.
"Two recruits, sir," was the reply.
"Send them in."
The boys found themselves in the presence of the master-at-arms, adignified and business-like officer.
"Your papers?" he demanded, without further parley.
"Here, sir," answered both boys, producing their precious certificatesfrom the training school.
The master-at-arms glanced over them.
"You seem to have good records," he remarked, "but don't presume onthem. You have a lot to learn. Messenger!"
The messenger sprang to attention and saluted, and the boys, not to beoutdone in politeness, did likewise.
"Sir!"
"Take these two recruits to the ship's writer, and have him enter themin the ship's records."
Once more the threading of the metal labyrinth began, and the boys feltalmost ready to drop as they were ushered into another cabin, wheresat a man not unlike the master-at-arms in appearance, but who worespectacles perched on his nose.
He took the boys' papers without a word and filed them away in apigeonhole. He then produced two varnished ditty boxes, with theirkeys, which he handed to the boys.
"These are your ditty boxes," he remarked, handing over the caskets,which were about a foot and a half square, neatly varnished andfinished, and each of which bore a number.
"You are to keep your valuables, stationery and knicknacks of any kindin these," he said. "Be careful of them and look after them well."
"What about our money, sir?" asked Ned.
"You can place that in the ship's savings bank if you wish. It givesfour per cent. Or, if you prefer, you can deposit it with the ship'spaymaster, and draw on it as you require. If you are transferred toanother ship, it will be transferred for you."
"I think the savings bank would be best," said Ned, looking at Herc.
"Same here," replied the farmboy; "gran'pa used to say, 'put your moneyin hogs,' but I guess we couldn't do that aboard ship, so it's thesavings banks for me, too."
"Very well; you may leave your money with me and I will give you apassbook. You see, we do these things much as they are done ashore."
"I see," nodded Ned as he took his passbook, and Herc did the same,"what do we do now, sir?"
"You will now be conducted to the boatswain's mate, who is a sort offoster-parent to young recruits, and from him you will get the numbersof your hammocks and be assigned to a place at mess. He will alsooutline your duties to you.
"Messenger!"
"Sir!"
Once more the messenger came to salute, and stiffened in the attitudeof attention, and the boys did the same.
"Conduct these recruits to the chief boatswain's mate."
"Yes, sir."
"Off again," whispered Herc, as the messenger once more darted off withthe boys in tow.