Page:Cornelia Meigs--The island of Appledore.djvu/55



North Atlantic fleet of the United States Navy was playing its war game off the  coast of New England, with a large part of  the manœuvres apparently arranged for the  especial benefit of the visitors on Appledore  Island. For three days ships had been plying steadily back and forth in the offing; huge s whose like Billy had never seen  before, smaller cruisers and swift slender destroyers that ran in and out amongst the rest  of the fleet like greyhounds. Even the knitting brigade on the hotel verandah deserted its usual task of rocking and gossiping and  plying swift needles for the relief of the Belgians, and instead came down to the wharf to  stare out to sea, to wonder what this boat was,  or what that ship could be doing, and what it  was all about anyway. The one or two men in the company were able to tell much of just  what the whole plan was, and just what each 39