Page:Ambulance 464 by Julien Bryan.djvu/262

 August 19th. The watch on the bridge sighted Nantucket light at midnight. At seven this morning we passed Fire Island lightship; then in no time came Sandy Hook, Fort Wadsworth, Quarantine and the battery itself. But the captain got orders, while we were coming up the river, to anchor off the Statue of Liberty instead of going directly to Hoboken as we had intended. It seems we took over about twenty thousand shells by mistake and had to bring them all back again. They must be unloaded on lighters out here in the river, because the law forbids the bringing of such a dangerous cargo into the city docks. I guess all we can do is to sit around here and wait until they finish it. They told me I would be able to get off for good tomorrow.

I was so glad to see the Woolworth building once more that I dumped all the garbage overboard in the North river, when I really shouldn't have; but being actually at New York again, and yet tied up doing dirty mess-boy work on a transport rather irritates me. They wouldn't even let me send a telegram to the family notifying them of my arrival, but