Page:Cornelia Meigs--The island of Appledore.djvu/107

89 the Navy really was. He had seen photographs upon a printed page, or pictures on the movie screen, but had never even guessed from  them how a man-of-war would impress him in  reality. For the big grey battleships suddenly seemed to stand for many things, for the greatness of the country they guarded, for the  power of the engines that drove them, the  faithfulness and loyalty of the service that  guided them and lastly—here an extra quiver  ran through his shivering body—for the might  of the enemy they would some day go forth to  meet.