Page:Barbour--For the freedom from the seas.djvu/101

 never been south before. I suppose you've been in the service a long time."

"Three years," answered the yeoman nonchalantly yet proudly. "This is my fourth ship. I was on the old Missouri first. Then the Montana, and after that the Tacoma. Now it's this old tub."

"Oh, is the Gyandotte a tub?" asked Nelson with a smile.

"Sure she is. She's sixteen years old and was out of commission until the war started. They've tinkered her up so she'll hold together for a year or so, maybe. They say she's got new engines, but I don't know if it's so. Reckon the Old Man's keeping her close to shore in case she falls apart."

Nelson looked through the port and across the leagues of tumbling muddy-gray water. "At that it would be a long swim," he said with a smile. "Do you know where we're going?"

The yeoman nodded above his folded arms. "Bahamas and around there. Anyway, that's what I heard. The papers had a piece about a German raider off Great Abaco last week and I reckon we're sent down to have a look-see. But, shucks, there isn't a German ship this side of the Azores, unless it's a sub that's missed her way. We'll go down there and, cruise around for a 79