



Produced by Sean Pobuda









THE BOY ALLIES WITH UNCLE SAM'S CRUISERS

By Ensign Robert L. Drake




CHAPTER I

JACK'S ADVENTURE


Frank Chadwick jumped from a chair in the front window and ran toward
the door.  A form had swung from the sidewalk along the drive that
marked the entrance to Lord Hasting's London home and at sight of it
Frank had uttered an exclamation.  Now, as the figure climbed the
steps, Frank flung open the door.

"Jack!" he exclaimed with outstretched hand.  "I feared something had
happened, you have been gone so long and we had heard nothing of you."

"I'm perfectly whole," laughed Jack, grasping his friend's hand.  "Why,
I've been gone less than two weeks."

"But you expected to be gone only a day or two."

"That's true, but a fellow can't tell what is going to happen, you
know.  I wasn't sure I should find you here when I returned, though."

"You probably wouldn't had you come a day later," returned Frank.

"How's that?"

"We sail tomorrow night," said Frank.

"By George!  Then I'm back just in time," declared Jack.  "Where bound
this time?"

"I don't know exactly, but personally I believe to America."

"Why?"

"The United States, I understand, is about to declare war on Germany.  I
have heard it said that immediately thereafter American troops will be
sent to Europe."

"What's that got to do with our voyage?"

"I'm coming to that.  There will be need, of convoys for the American
transports.  I believe that is the work in which we will be engaged."

"That will be first rate, for a change," said Jack.

"But come," said Frank, leading the way into the house.  "Where have
you been?  Tell me about yourself."

"Wait, until I get a breath," laughed Jack, making himself comfortable
in a big armchair.  "By the way, where is Lord Hastings?"

"He is in conference with the admiralty."

"And Lady Hastings?"

"Shopping, I believe.  However, both will be back before long.  Now
let's have an account of your adventures."

"Well, they didn't amount to much," said Jack.

"Where've you been?"

"Pretty close to Heligoland."

"What!  Again?"

"Exactly.  You remember how Lord Hastings came to us one day and said
that the admiralty had need of a single officer at that moment, and
that we both volunteered?"

"I certainly do," declared Frank, "and we drew straws to see which of
us should go.  I lost."

"Exactly.  Well, when I reached the admiralty I found there a certain
Captain Ames.  I made myself known and was straightway informed that I
would do as well as another.  Captain Ames was in command of the
British destroyer Falcon.  He was bound on active duty at once, and he
took me along as second in command."

"Where was he bound?" demanded Frank.  "And what was the nature of the
work?"

"The nature of the work," said Jack, "was to search out German mines
ahead of the battleships, who were to attempt a raid of Heligoland."

"Great Scott!" exclaimed Frank.  "I hadn't heard anything about that.
Was the raid a success?"

"It was not," replied Jack briefly.

"Explain," said Frank.

"I'm trying to," smiled Jack.  "Give me a chance, will you?"

He became silent and mused for a few moments.  Then he said
meditatively:

"The destroyer service might well be called the cavalry of the sea.  It
calls for dashing initiative, aggressiveness and courage and daring to
the point of rashness.  Where an officer would be justified--even duty
bound--by navy standards to run away with a bigger and more valuable
vessel, the commander of a destroyer often must close in to almost
certain annihilation."

"Hm-m-m," said Frank slyly.  "You are not feeling a bit proud of
yourself, are you?"

"Oh, I'm not talking about myself," said Jack quietly.  "I was thinking
of a man like Captain Ames--and other men of his caliber.  However,
I've been pretty close to death myself, and having come as close to a
fellow as death did to me, I believe he'll become discouraged and
quit.  Yes, sir, I don't believe I shall ever die afloat."

"Don't be too cock-sure," said Frank dryly.  "However, proceed."

"Well," Jack continued, "I followed Captain Ames aboard the Falcon and
we put to sea immediately.  It was the following night that we found
ourselves mixed up in the German mine fields and so close to the
fortress itself that we were in range of the land batteries as well as
the big guns of the German fleet.  Our main fleet came far behind us,
for the big ships, of course, would not venture in until we had made
sure of the position of the mines."

"Right," said Frank.  "I can see that--"

"Look here," said Jack, "who's telling this story?"

"You are," said Frank hastily.  "Go ahead."

"All right, but don't interrupt me.  As I said, we'd been searching
mines for the battleships.  Better to lose a dozen or two of us little
fellows than one of the dreadnoughts, so we steamed ahead like a fan
with nets spread and a sharp lookout.  We lost a few craft by bumping
mines, but we destroyed a lot of the deadly things by firing into the
fields and detonating them.

"We could generally tell when we were getting close to a field, which
at this point was protected by the land batteries, for the batteries
would redouble their fire.  Might better have saved their powder and
let us run into the fields and be blown to bits, you will say.  Not at
all.  They would consider that a waste of good mines.  Nobody wants to
waste a whole mine on a poor little torpedo boat destroyer--and
twenty to forty men.  There's no profit in that.

"We were sneaking along slowly, feeling our way and sitting on the
slippery edge of eternity when the batteries opened up.

"'We're getting warmer,' said Ames.

"It was close range work and we were able to reply to the fire of the
land batteries with our little 3-inch beauties, although I don't
suppose we did much good.  It makes a fellow feel better, however, as
you know, if he's barking back.  It's funny how most men have a dread
of dying without letting the other fellow know why he's there.  It
doesn't seem so bad when you're hammering him.

"Anyway, it was part of our business.

"There was a bunch of red buoys anchored along one side where our chart
showed the channel to be, and we supposed that they had been used by
the German destroyers as channel buoys or to mark mine fields.

"It developed that the Germans had anchored those buoys and got the
range of them so they could have their guns already set for anything
that came near them.  Some of our boats were hit by the first fire.  It
was a desperate spot.

"We were up near the lead and we had to run fairly well in advance of
the main body.  As you know, it often happens that when a vessel is
steaming head-on very fast, it is difficult to hit her.  It seems to
rattle the gunners the same as charging infantry does the defenders.

"Shell after shell missed, but there were so many of them falling
around us that we were almost smothered in the spray.  We had all been
under fire before, so it didn't have much effect on us, though.

"Then a shell hit us amidships and tore out one of our boilers.  I was
on the bridge with Captain Ames at the time.

"'Go below and report,' said Ames, just as calmly as though we were at
maneuvers and one of our piston rods was pounding a little.

"I went down into a cloud of steam and found two men, pretty well
scalded, dragging out the others who had been more badly hurt by the
explosion.  There wasn't enough of the water tight compartment left to
shut it off from the rest of the vessel, but we still had one boiler
intact.

"I directed the men to carry the wounded above and started back for the
bridge.  Just as my feet were on the bottom of the ladder there was
another crash.  The body of a man who had just reached the deck came
toppling down in a shower of splinters and debris.

"Well, I got back on to my feet and made the deck.  A shell had
exploded right atop of us and nearly swept us clean.  The bridge was
almost carried away.  Captain Ames lay under a light steel beam and I
thought he was dead.  I ran over to him.  As I approached he shook off
the beam and got up.  One of his legs gave way and he had to hold on to
a stanchion for support.

"'Cut off my trouser leg!' he shouted, very much excited.

"I ripped out my knife and did as he ordered.  Then he twisted the
cloth around his leg above an ugly gash and tied it.

"'What's gone below?' he demanded.  'One boiler,' I replied.

"'Might have been both,' grunted Ames, and added, 'Well, we're not out
of this fight yet."'

Jack paused a moment.

"A brave man!" cried Frank.  "Go ahead, Jack."

Jack cleared his throat and proceeded.





CHAPTER II

THE BATTLE

"Well," Jack continued, "Ames espied one of the destroyers that had
been leading us floundering around helplessly, with the German
destroyer, which had appeared from nowhere, trying to cut her off.

"'Templeton,' said Ames, 'take the hand steering gear and run in there
and get that fellow out.'

"I ran over to the hand gear.  A fellow couldn't be frightened with a
man like Ames telling him what to do.  Ames propped himself up against
what was left of the bridge and directed the gunners while we made the
best speed we could with our single boiler.

"They were still dousing us with water, but the shells were not falling
on board now.  The two German destroyers were sweeping down on the
helpless boat ahead, the missiles from their light guns playing a
regular tattoo on her.  It was an even chance we wouldn't find a live
man aboard her.

"Ames was having a glorious time where he had propped himself against
the shattered bridge.  He swore every time one of our shells missed and
he laughed gleefully every time one went home.

"We were only about a thousand yards from the British destroyer now and
it looked like there was a fair chance of getting her out of the mess.
I was beginning to have hope when I heard the screaming of a heavy
shell from one of the land forts.  Exactly amidships of the destroyer
it landed.  It broke her back and all her ribs, so to speak.  Steam and
steel and water and men flew high in the air.  Everything aboard her
was blown to bits.

"There was no use trying to tow her out now.  I searched the water with
my glass for living men.  I figured we might be able to save a few if
any survived, although it was against admiralty orders to stop when in
danger.  I didn't believe in the admiralty's stand at that moment.  But
I couldn't make out a living soul.

"The Germans immediately turned their attention to us.  Their
marksmanship was getting better.  There was a frightful jar and the
steering gear was wrenched out of my hands and I was thrown to the
deck.  When I picked myself up there was nothing with which to steer.
Our rudder and a part of our stern had been shot away--

"'Alternate the screws!' Ames yelled.  'I'm busy with these guns.
We'll fight as long as she floats!'

"The speaking tubes existed no longer.  I stationed a man at the
hatch--and another below and transmitted my orders to the engine room by
them.  First we drove ahead with one screw, then with the other, to get
a zig-zag course; next we backed first with one propeller and then the
other.  Each time we backed farther than we went forward, for I wanted
to get out of the mess if possible.  The crazy course threw the enemy
gunners off somewhat.

"Suddenly I heard a yell from Ames.  We'd put one of the German
destroyers out of business.  The other one was steaming toward us, but
she was a long ways off.

"The men were cheering.  I looked at the second destroyer, thinking we
must have finished her, too, but she was still firing.  Then I glanced
around to see what the men were yelling about.

"Right into that hail of fire steamed a little mine sweeper.  She
looked for all the world like a tugboat.  She had a single gun mounted
in her bow, and one or two amidships.  She had no armor and a rifle
bullet probably would have pierced her sides with ease, but she pounded
straight toward us; the water around her was beaten to a foam.

"Far out on the prow stood a man with a coil of rope.  Ames sent a man
to our stern.  The sweeper had come close.  The man in the prow swung
his rope and let the coil fly.  It fell across our stern.  There wasn't
much left to make it fast to, but we did it somehow and the sweeper
started to tow us out of that particular part of the water.

"Our guns continued to bark at the destroyer, which was gaining on us.
Some of our shots went home.  The little old tugboat was hit once, but
her master stuck to his task; and he undoubtedly saved our lives.

"Gradually we were pulled back, till at length we were under the
protection of the guns of our fleet.  From the flagship, signals were
being flashed for our benefit.  Ames read the flags through his
glasses."

"'Congratulating us?' I asked.

"'Blast him, no!' shouted Ames. 'He wants to know why in blazes we
didn't come out when we had a chance.  Well, he wouldn't have come out
himself had he been here, and I've been on the flagship, so we needn't
feel sensitive about it!'

"And that's about all," Jack continued, "except for the fact that the
raid by the battle fleet was given up.  We cruised about for several
days, in spite of our crippled condition.  The ship's carpenter put us
in condition to stay afloat, but at last we returned.  I came here the
moment I had landed."

"Well, you had a pretty strenuous time, if you ask me," declared
Frank.  "Too bad, though, that the raid couldn't have been made.  We
might have captured Heligoland."

"The Germans might capture Gibraltar," said Jack, with a vein of
sarcasm in his voice, "but I don't think they will--not right away."

"It can be done, though," declared Frank.

"What?  The Germans capture Gibraltar?"

"No, I mean the British can take Heligoland.  Wait until Uncle Sam gets
in the war, he'll show you a few things."

"Maybe so," said Jack, "but what's all this talk I hear about the
United States declaring war on Germany?"

"It's only talk, so far," said Frank, "but it seems certain to come.
In fact, the war resolution already has passed the house and is being
debated in the senate.  It wouldn't surprise me if the senate passed it
today.  Then all that is needed is the signature of President Wilson."

"Well, let's hope there is no hitch," said Jack fervently.

"I don't think there will be.  Come, let's go to our room and wait for
Lord Hastings."

The two boys went upstairs, and while they are awaiting the arrival of
Lord Hastings, a few words will be necessary to introduce them more
fully.

Frank Chadwick was an American lad of possibly nineteen.

He had been in Italy when the great European war broke out, and through
a misfortune had been shanghaied aboard a sailing vessel.  After some
adventures he fell in with Jack Templeton, a young Englishman, who had
spent most of his life on the north coast of Africa.  Together the lads
had disposed of the crew of the vessel.

They became fast friends.  Fortune threw them in the path of Lord
Hastings, British nobleman and secret service agent, and they had gone
through all kinds of troubles with him.  Lord Hastings had commanded
several vessels during the course of the war, and Jack and Frank upon
these occasions had been his first officers.

Both lads spoke German and French fluently, and both had a