Page:Under Dewey at Manila.djvu/244



" tell me your tale, but you must be brief," said the commodore, after surveying the pair critically, to see if his order to fit them out properly had been obeyed.

The cabin table before him was piled high with charts, over which he and the other officers that had just left had been poring, and as Larry and Striker told their story, Commodore Dewey continued to examine the big sheets and make notes on a pad at hand. It was one of the Yankee "knacks" of the commander to be able to do Several things at the same time. Larry was at first afraid that he was not listening, but he soon found out his mistake, as the officer asked him several questions bearing on points he had omitted or not made sufficiently plain.

"You have both had a hard time of it, no doubt," said Commodore Dewey, when the recital was brought to a close. "I should like to aid you in