Page:Barbour--For the freedom from the seas.djvu/103

 son had mentioned the idea to others. After that his hopes had dwindled, for his notion produced laughter or sarcasm. He was assured that when the Gyandotte saw the coast of France the bilge-pump would be spouting gold dollars. And now this other fellow, he of the crossed quills and long legs, had corroborated previous pronouncements. It was rather discouraging, thought Nelson.

The cruiser was behaving very flippantly now, rolling and pitching at a great rate, and he had to steady himself to keep on his feet. The Gyandotte was only a little over three thousand tonnage and was, as the yeoman had said, an old ship. Her length was 305 feet. She was schooner rigged, with two very tall funnels. For armament she carried ten five-inch breech-loading rifles and six six-pounder rapid fire guns. She had been credited with something under seventeen knots when built, but there was a rumor current about the ship today that she had been newly equipped with "kettles" that could drive her close to twenty. Nelson was one of several hundred capable-looking young men in blue flannel who had been gathered from many sources. Some, like Nelson himself, were green hands, and some few were Reserves, but most had seen more or less service on other ships. Nelson had been assigned to the port 81