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          The Battleship Boys in Foreign Service

                          OR

           Earning New Ratings in European Seas

                   By FRANK GEE PATCHIN


    Illustrated

    THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
    Akron, Ohio             New York
    Made in U. S. A.

    Copyright MCMXI
    _By_ THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY

    PRINTED IN U. S. A.




[Illustration: "Hip, Hip, Hooray!" Yelled Dan.]




CONTENTS


CHAPTER PAGE

I. BATTLESHIP BOYS TO THE RESCUE 7

II. A SERIOUS CHARGE 20

III. AMBASSADORS ON THEIR TRAIL 32

IV. ICE CREAM COMES HIGH 42

V. A PLUNGE INTO SOCIETY 52

VI. STRANDED IN A STRANGE CITY 59

VII. UNDER THE FLAG ONCE MORE 66

VIII. HIS FIRST COMMAND 74

IX. ROUNDING UP THE STRAGGLERS 83

X. OUTWITTED BY A BOY 95

XI. BETWEEN SKY AND SEA 106

XII. IN THE COILS OF A "TWISTER" 118

XIII. TWO ARE MISSING 127

XIV. DOWN THE AMMUNITION HOIST 136

XV. LAND HO! 146

XVII. ON GIBRALTAR'S PEAK 154

XVII. ON THE BLUE MEDITERRANEAN 167

XVIII. JOLLY TARS IN EGYPT 178

XIX. ON THE SHIPS OF THE DESERT 193

XX. CALLING ON THE MUMMIES 201

XXI. CONCLUSION 209




The Battleship Boys in Foreign Service




CHAPTER I

BATTLESHIP BOYS TO THE RESCUE


"This is the famous Bois de Boulogne Sam."

"The what?"

"Bois de Boulogne, one of the most popular drives in Paris."

"Huh!" grunted Sam Hickey. "That sounds to me like some kind of sausage.
What do they ever name their streets that way for in Paris?"

"All the names in this great, gay city mean something," answered Dan
Davis. "This park here bears the same name. It was infested by desperate
robbers as far back as the fourteenth century."

"Robbers!" exclaimed the red-haired boy.

"Yes."

"Are they here yet?"

"No; Napoleon cleaned them out. We shall soon be out by the Arch. The
Frenchmen call it Arc de Triomphe."

"They do?"

"Yes."

"Just like that?"

"Of course."

"I'll bet there isn't a Frenchman in France who would know what you were
talking about if they heard you call it by that name. I don't know
anything about French, but if that is French give me plain United
States. You are sure there are no robbers left in the Bologna sausage?"

"Bois de Boulogne, Sam," corrected Dan. "No; there are no robbers here.
You need not be afraid."

"Afraid! What do you take me for, Dan Davis. I----"

"Hark!"

"Nothing of the sort. I'm no coward. I, a sailor in Uncle Sam's Navy,
and afraid of robbers? Pooh!"

"Listen! Did you hear that, Sam?"

"Hear what? No; I didn't hear anything. But--wow! What's that?"

Hickey gave a sudden startled jump.

"It's a woman's scream," breathed Dan, listening intently. "Did you hear
it?"

"I--I should say I did. Yes, and there it goes again. She's some sort of
foreigner. I wonder what is going on?"

The scream was repeated. Though the lads were unable to understand what
the voice was saying, it was evident that the woman, whoever or whatever
she might be, was in dire distress.

"Where is it--where is it?" demanded Sam, now very much excited.

"The sound came from off yonder, where the trees are thickest."

"I see nothing."

"I do," answered Dan. "See, yonder is a carriage. Come on! There's a
woman in trouble. What is it?" shouted the boy, raising his voice.

"Help! Help!" came the answer in plain English.

"It's one of our own countrywomen--our own United States. We're coming,
madam!"

Dan was off with a bound, followed a few paces behind by his red-haired
friend, Sam Hickey.

As they ran they made out a coupe that had been drawn up beside the
road. One man was holding the horses by the heads, while a group of
others were standing by the door of the carriage.

"What's going on there?" demanded Dan.

"I--I guess Napoleon didn't chase all the robbers out," stammered Hickey
in a doubtful tone.

"They are robbers and they're robbing two lone women," exclaimed Dan.

"I guess we're Johnnie-on-the-spot, then," answered Sam. "Me for the
party holding the horses. He looks kind of weak like."

Two women, attired in evening gowns, were standing beside their
carriage, which, at a glance, was seen to be an elegant private
equipage. The men surrounding the women wore small, black caps with the
visors pulled down over their eyes, and long, flowing handkerchiefs
about their necks.

As the lads drew near they saw two of the men strip the handkerchiefs
from their necks, quickly twisting the cloths about the necks of the
women. The cries of the latter were stilled almost instantly.

"Break away, you villains!" roared Dan Davis.

"Yes; chase yourselves or you'll get your faces slapped," added Sam.
"Vamoose! Allez vous--scat!"

"We're coming, ladies! Charge them, Sam! They're thugs! Look out for
yourself!"

"I've got one of them!" yelled Sam Hickey triumphantly.

In passing the horses he had sheered close to the fellow who was
holding them, hitting the man a blow on the jaw that tumbled him over in
a heap. The man did not rise, but Sam was too excited to notice the
fact.

"Whoop!" he howled, making a rush and coming up by his companion. "We're
the wild men from the land of the cowboy!"

The boys swept down on the robbers, the formers' fists working like the
piston rods of a locomotive.

The ruffians turned on them instantly.

"Quick! Into your carriage!" called Dan. He had neither the time nor
opportunity to assist the ladies in doing so. Both boys were now
altogether too busy to give further heed to the frightened women.

Smashing right and left, they fell upon the robbers.

Bang!

A bullet whistled close to the head of Sam Hickey. The latter made a
dive for the man who had fired the shot, and ere the fellow could pull
the trigger for another shot, Hickey's fist had struck him on the jaw,
laying the fellow flat on his back.

"Whoop!" howled the boy. "That's the way we do the thing in the good old
United States."

Dan was having a lively battle with two men, each of whom held a knife
in his hand and was making quick thrusts at the lad, who was quickly
diving in and out.

All at once Dan's foot came up. It caught one of the men on the wrist of
his knife hand. The fellow uttered a yell and his knife went soaring up
into the air. Dan tried to serve the other assailant in the same way,
but instead of reaching the man's wrist, the kick caught the fellow in
the stomach. This answered quite as well. With a groan the robber fell
down heavily.

"Lay in! We've got them!" yelled Davis.

"I am laying in," answered Sam. "Lay--lay in yourself. Whoop! That was a
beauty. I spun him like a top. He's spinning yet! Watch him, Dan!"

Dan knew better than to turn his head. Three desperate men were now
seeking to surround and put an end to his fighting abilities. Dan found
them more difficult to handle than he had those others who had gone down
under his sturdy blows.

In the meantime the women had sprung into their carriage, and the
driver, whipping up his horses, had started away.

Attracted by the uproar, a squad of gendarmes were bearing down on the
scene on the run.

"Robbers!" yelled the driver in French as he swept