CHAPTER II GETTING READY

Two weeks before the founding of the Triangle Club, referred to in the last chapter, Ship’s Company Number 1, of the Sea Scouting Branch of Northbridge Boy Scouts, were holding their last meeting in their regular assembly room before the beginning of the summer cruises.

The B. S. S. _Bright Wing_ was to sail from the Boston Navy Yard in just two weeks, and some of the younger boys were already beginning to feel that they must get their sea legs on so as to “be prepared.”

Dick Gray showed keen interest and great enthusiasm for this new venture in scouting; and because he was a good swimmer and loved the water, he hoped to prevail upon his father to apply for a berth on the _Bright Wing_ during her first cruise of the season. He was a painstaking boy, and had always been useful about the house since he was “knee-high to a grasshopper.” His mother, though not an invalid, was very far from being robust; and, as Mr. Gray could not afford many servants, her household duties might often have been too much for her if Dick had not been there to take hold and lend a hand. Though not tall for his age, he was strongly built, and, if it had not been for occasional dark and gloomy moods, he would have been almost indispensable both in the house and on the farm. Naturally, every one was glad when they heard that there was a chance for Dick to go on a real cruise, for they knew that the boy’s personal interests--however willing he always was to keep them in the background--all lay in the direction of seafaring.

“I do hope,” said old Robert, the farm hand, to Mr. Gray, “that boy will get his chance at the sea, this year! He does deserve it, if ever a boy did.”

“Yes,” replied Mr. Gray, much pleased with Robert’s approval of his son, “I think it will do him good. He’s a good home-body, we know, but we don’t know how he’ll turn out as a sailor among a lot of other boys; I can’t be sure how he’ll behave away from home when one of his ‘moods’ comes over him.”

While Mr. Gray liked Dick’s enthusiasm, he felt that he ought to find out as much as possible about the conditions of the life on board before making a decision, and that is what had brought him this evening to one of the regular Sea Scout meetings, to learn for himself, as much as he could, what the idea and the spirit of the undertaking really were. After he had been greeted by the scout master in charge--Mr. Howard Miller--while the boys all stood at attention--one of the older scouts, Jack Perkins, was detailed to stand by and give him all the information he possibly could.

Jack had been a boatswain’s mate for two summers running, and there was nothing he enjoyed more than explaining the details of the work to a new acquaintance; so he placed two chairs for himself and Mr. Gray on the low platform at the rear of the hall, where they could command a full view of all the proceedings, and then began talking to him in a low voice:

“You see, sir, the room here is arranged so as to be as much like the deck of a ship as possible. This broad platform that we are sitting on, with the colors hoisted in the center, is the ‘quarter-deck’ where only senior officers are allowed, with the exception of Sea Scouts on watch and of any seaman whose duty brings him here. That door over there, by which we came in, stands for the vessel’s bow, because it is just opposite the quarter-deck; but this is only so in a general way to indicate the direction of bow and stern, or ‘fore and aft,’ because it is also used as the gangway by which every one passes over the ship’s side either to come aboard or leave the vessel.”

“I understand,” said Mr. Gray. “I must confess that I did not know that I was stepping over a ship’s side when I passed through the door a few minutes ago!”

“Why!” exclaimed Jack, “didn’t you hear the boatswain’s call as you entered the room, sir?”

“Sure enough, sure enough,” said Mr. Gray. “I heard a whistle with a peculiar musical trill, but I did not know what it meant.”

“Well, sir,” said Jack, with a certain quiet dignity, “that is the salute that is always given to visiting officers when they come on board.”

Mr. Gray’s face lit up with a smile of intelligence. “Well, to tell the truth, I did feel something pleasant; and, now that I think of it, you boys were standing at attention at that very time when Mr. Miller came up and shook hands with me.”

“That’s right, sir,” said Jack. “We older Sea Scouts like these little bits of ceremony, especially because it’s just what happens when we are aboard the old _Bright Wing_, and brings back the taste of the salt water and the feel of the breeze on your face.”

“I see--I think I understand,” said the older man with a pleasant smile, and looking down the room, his smile broadened as he took in the bright and cheerful scene before him.

The Sea Scouts were all in their white jumpers and hats, for the idea of a ship’s deck of course included that of “out of doors”, and hats were only removed when something happened, like the arrival of a mother or sister.

The boys were grouped according to their sections (corresponding to patrols), in four little knots, each surrounding a table at which one of the boatswain’s mates, the scout master, or some other instructor, was presiding. They were sitting around their little tables like Land Scouts around a camp fire, listening and talking in low tones, so as not to interfere with what was going on in the other groups. One set of boys was tying knots and splicing bits of rope with a marlinspike made by themselves out of good hard wood. Dick had done so well with his knots that he had been put in charge of this group in the absence of the regular instructor. At another table a chart was spread out, and the parallel rules and dividers were traveling back and forth over the ocean amid contented murmurs and eager questions from the boys. In another corner the boatswain’s mate was putting his men through an informal examination in signalling. The whole scene, while very varied and animated, had the delightful atmosphere of combined activity and contentment.

Mr. Gray felt that every boy there was having a good time, and could not help catching the contagion of contented work. He made some further inquiries of Jack, and learned that each section rarely was kept on one subject more than twenty minutes or half an hour at a time, and that the instructors went from one group to another.

“You see, sir,” said Jack, “this is not intended to be like school, and we don’t want to keep a scout working at one thing until he gets tired of it. It is something like feeding your dog! He should have an appetite for more at the end of every meal.”

Mr. Gray sat musing quietly for a few minutes while his mind wandered back to his own boyhood. “I wonder,” thought he, “that there was nothing of this sort in existence when I was a boy!” Presently he turned to his companion with the question, “What is that green light in the right-hand corner and the red one on the opposite side?”

“Those are the starboard and port side-lights, sir, that are always run up at sunset when under way, and it is good for the new fellows to get used to their right position before they go to sea. I think you remember things by pictures in your mind better than you do by words. You see, sir, the boys have to light and lash these lamps in their proper places before every meeting; and then, when ‘Colors’ are over and the boatswain blows ‘stow away all gear’, the lamps and all other things have to be taken down and properly stowed away. That’s another thing, sir, I learnt from sea scouting that no one could ever pound into me on land. Before I went to sea I was the most disorderly lubber you ever set your eyes on; but on a ship there’s just so much space allowed to every man, and so every one is obliged to have a place for everything and everything in its place. Some fellows laugh at me now, but it makes me feel funny if I don’t find my shoe brush hanging on its own hook. If the fellows did not feel that way aboard ship, the whole place would be a mess and a litter in no time, and none of the gear would be in its place when needed; it would certainly cause delay and confusion, and might sometimes even be dangerous.

“These two groups on the right-hand side of the hall, where the green light is placed, are the two first sections of each division; and the other two, on the left-hand side as we face the door, are the two second sections of each division, on the same side as the red side-light. Of course, you understand, sir, that these are the four sections of a ship’s company as they stand on the deck of the _Bright Wing_,--each one being also the regular crew of one of the cutters or of the launch.”

Mr. Gray nodded assent, and then said with a laugh, “You mustn’t tell me anything more to-night, my boy, for I have taken in enough for one evening. You have given me a great deal to think about, and I am happy to believe that Dick--”

Just then the bugle rang through the hall, and, after a few sharp words of command from the scout master, the boys fell into formation for “trooping the colors.” Each section was represented by its color bearer and color guards, while the rest of the ship’s company were drawn up on either side fore and aft. At the word of command the section colors were marched up to the quarter-deck, two on each side of the national ensign, facing one another. Then the whole company present faced about towards the Stars and Stripes while the bugler sounded “Evening Colors.” At the final salute the section colors were smartly dipped, while every man’s hand was raised to his hat, and the color bearers marched down again to their places in formation.

All hands were then dismissed, and the formal activities came to a close. Only one thing remained to be done, and that was the stowing away of all gear. Mr. Miller stood with watch in hand while the boatswain piped the order, and Mr. Gray noticed Dick rushing across the hall to stow away the ship’s bell, while other boys were carrying the side-lights, the bill-boards, and all the other articles for which they were responsible. Presently Mr. Miller’s voice rang out: “One minute and fifty-two seconds! Record time!”

Just then Dick came running up to his father. “Well, Father, what do you say about the _Bright Wing_--don’t you think this is just about right?”

Mr. Gray assented smilingly and said: “I tell you what, Dick, if you will get this young man here to give you a little coaching before you go aboard,--well, I have nothing more to say.”

For about a second Dick seemed struck dumb with pleasure, while his eyes sparkled.

“Sure!” cried he, “won’t you, Jack? Say, when can I come around and see you? and may I bring Tom Sheffield and Chippie Smith along, too?”

Jack thought for a minute and then turned to Mr. Gray. “I will be glad to help them all I can, sir. Dick, you come around with the other fellows to-morrow after supper.”

“Gee!” Dick seemed to grow two inches taller in the next minute, and then rushed off to find Chippie and Tom.