Page:Barbour--For the freedom from the seas.djvu/161

 I saw you last? Did you see me that day on the river? Where's your friend Mason?"

"Mason? Oh, you mean Masters. Billy's still on the Wanderer, I think. I'd be there yet, too, if it hadn't been for a piece of luck." Whereupon Nelson told of his meeting on the train with the Navy official and his transfer to the Gyandotte. And that led to the battle off Bermuda with the Mahlow. Martin had to have full details of that encounter and was disappointed by the colossal ignorance displayed by the narrator. "You see," explained Nelson, "you don't have much chance to watch things, Townsend, on a gun crew. You have your hands pretty full and you can't see much, anyhow. At least, you can't if you're shellman, because you're behind the gun all the time. Most of what I know about that row came from hearing the other fellows talk afterwards."

"It must have been great!" sighed Martin. "Wish I'd been there. Still, I wouldn't have had much fun, I guess, since you didn't try torpedoes on the Hun. Does the Gyandotte carry tubes?"

"No. How long have you been on this boat?"

"Three weeks. A little over. She's a dandy, isn't she? Have you been over her? Like to look around?" 136