Page:The Wireless Operator with the U.S. Coast Guard.djvu/129

 rolled and stowed away. Already one or two men were asleep in theirs, swinging gently with the motion of the ship.

“How in the mischief did they ever get up there?’ asked Henry.

“Pulled themselves up with their arms,” smiled the quartermaster. “If ever you become a sailor, don’t let them kid you into looking for the hammock-ladder. That’s a favorite trick played on apprentice seamen. Sometimes a kid keeps hunting for a hammock-ladder for an hour or more.”

“Thanks for putting me wise,” said Henry. “I hope to go to sea some day, and I reckon I'll be the worst greenhorn that ever was.”

They started to go on deck. “There’s one thing I don’t understand,” said Henry. “Why are those men going to bed so early? Why, it’s only a little while after supper.”

“They have to do duty in the graveyard watch.”

“The graveyard watch? What is that, anyway?”

“Don’t you know about the watches on shipboard?”

“No.”

“Then I'll tell you. You can see for yourself that men must be on duty constantly in all parts of the ship. So the day is divided into little