Page:The Wireless Operator with the U.S. Coast Guard.djvu/145

 yards and yards beyond the bow and reaching an incredible elevation.

Henry saw that visitors were permitted on board, and he walked up the gangplank. The deck of the Constitution was not unlike the deck of any other sailing ship. But the gun deck, below, was fascinating. It was a great bare section of the ship, whence projected the gun muzzles, and in it was nothing but an ancient stove amidships, for heating cannon balls red hot, and the rows of cannon on either side. Henry was amazed at the number of these guns. A placard told him that the ship originally carried forty-four. These were bulky, chunky affairs, mounted on heavy wooden carriages, with small wheels beneath, and great hawsers and tackles holding them in place. There were no breechloaders in the days when the Constitution fought. Then each gun had to be run through its port and swabbed out and loaded through the muzzle, and then it was run out again with the tackle, blocked in place, and fired.

Henry could have spent hours examining the old craft, but he did not know how long the Iroquois would lie in the Navy Yard, and he wanted to see all he could while he was in Boston. So he reluctantly took a last look at this famous old frigate, and made his way rapidly back to the Iroquois. On the way he took note of the