Mr. Midshipman Glover, R.N.

"No. 1" Me

No. 1" Disabled-A Gallant Deed

Narrative is

most exciting. Then things calmed down and became rather monotonous. We were not allowed ashore after sunset, however. Captain Hel

as some consolation, for they had been rather uppish. We also had a picnic in the sailing pinnace to Deep Bay, which was jolly good fun,

d on New Year's eve we were having a bit of a jamberee in the gun-room-we had asked for ha

, but he came back and told Tommy to get his things

ommy hadn't much to tell. They'd run over to Macao, and Mr. Pattison, the Skipper

eight days, whilst we had to grind at school, mathe

s's gear was being packed-you remember him, the Yankee secretary who h

next morning Mr. Pattison came aboard for final

something in the wind; so I asked Mr. Pattison to take me too. You see I had rather a pull o

our destination was a small island about sixty miles away, at least I should think it was that distance, for we were doing about fiftee

. Pattison kept on looking at his watch. He told us then that we were goin

somewhat disappointedly, for he was hardly our idea o

elf this morning,"

d a small headland, and when it arrived alongside ther

an recognized him immediately as Ping Sang. The fat old chap climbed nimbly

each other, though they only glared like two cats, and he climbed

don't quite know why, but expect it was because we wanted to say t

two trips, and this delayed us nearly an hour, Mr. Pattison fumi

its last load, we weighed and secured th

r dismay, steaming gently towards us, were the three Patagonian destroyers, and behind them a cruiser painted dark green from

ommy went as white as a sheet, and e

hounds-it was just about the neatest trap you ever

e people in the Patagonians thought we were going to do so they were jolly well mistaken; it was only t

but Mr. Pattison ordered me to stay on the bridge with him. The helm was p

d off to starboard and ran into the little harbour we had just left. The signalman sang out,

not long left in doubt, for we were not more than eight hundred yards from her when we saw two little spurts of flame

d, and rather thought

ould, and what with the noise of the guns going off so close to me and the whistling of the enemy'

ld. I must confess I stopped running, absolutely in a funk, and my legs would hardly hold me up. It was only for a second, though, and I ran aft just as hard as I could. The shelter screen was all bent and twisted, and in front of it

e fo'c'stle close to the port anchor, and pieces came tearing through the canvas screen round the bridge with a horrid shrieking noise. Look

'c'stle, shouting to me, "Keep her as she is, and r

anchor would go overboard, and even if the cable held at the stopper and did n

d we were alongside her fo'c'stle, not twenty feet away, and their small guns fired point-blank at us as we rushed past her side. I remember dimly noticing Mr. Pattison lying on his stomach on the fo'c'st

over, and meant to crush

face as he stood on the steering platform below, and he heard me, but shook his head grimly and put the helm over to port. Our bows were a

e was swinging into us faster th

l was over, and gripped hold of the

oh horrors! the two men lying on the deck aft slipped overboard with shrieks of agony and fear. I saw o

elling to "'midships the helm", but it

d I saw them scrambling up again as Mr. Pattison ru

r broadside was exposed to the cruiser,

wung amidships, and, thank God! we darted away; but something must

te, but probably did not last fif

r Mr. Pattison came f

ler had been smashed in the collision, and, with only the port screw working and the helm almost useless, we

ut going wild, probably because we we

on deck to take shelter under the fo'c'stle, leaving only

nconcerned; but I hustled them for'ard, and everybody, even the Sub, Tommy, and I, had to crowd down below, and did not see what happened durin

uffled roar and the hissi

the deck near the base of the foremost funnel,

crawled out a stoker, with his face and arms terribly scalded. He just managed to pull himself out, and, yelling with pain, w

d, with a heaving-line lashed round him, and holding an old oilskin in front of his face, crawled down.

ne, and he half-stumbled or was

y of pain-it must have been nearly boiling-but he did not hesitate, and we could dimly see him groping about

rope, and lashed it to something, which we

ll never forget. He was quite dead, and half the flesh w

in seemed to come away with his

a most fe

ay by an old petty officer, and th

ther second had not Harrington himself appeared out of the manhole with

down he said in a hoarse whisper; "My fee

take them off! and though we cut his socks with a knife, t

dy and a pillow, and we propped his head up and poured a little brandy down h

as a huge man, and his two raw feet stuck

I saw that the destroyer was only going very slowly, and that there was a big hole

ing away from us without firing, and, hurrah! hurrah! two great splashes of water leapt up, one a

houted Tommy, "ther

at a relief it was

ton had strength enough to raise his head and wave his

her foremost guns, and making a grea

c'stle and everyone came rushing out, got a line round the destroyer's bottom, m

the deck seemed quite close to the water, and the stern s

atch covers leading to Mr. Pattison's cabin and the ward

a horrid log-like jerky motion whilst the men tried to get a tarp

ot holes in the whaler and by bailing hard, they just managed to keep her afloat. The collapsable Berthon

st of us would have to take our chance of hanging on to an

he water, and we were heeling over to starboard, till fittings, not secured to the deck, began sliding down, and the se

uted down the engine-room and stokehold hatches, and

e a very cr

ed first at Mr. Pattison, expecting him to give the order to jump,

idge had a tremendous slant-to keep himself upright, a

guns, and for one horrid second I thought she would not

e saw her boats' crews clambering over the nettings into their boats, and raised a mighty cheer of relief as she slowed down abreast of us. Her boats were lower

nly a passenger, so that he ought to be the last to leave; but I said that as I was senior to him-I wa

to argue it out, for the deck was

uted Mr. Pattison. "Why are you keeping th

ng at the same time. I was jolly glad

iven way-"No. 1" almost righted herself-her bows came out of water and pointed higher and higher, till they were almos

disappeared. I felt rather snuffy, and I knew Tommy did too. We soon were aboard the Strong Arm, and down in the gun-room they all crowded round a

nch long, and felt rather annoyed, I thin

her take the gilt off the ginger-bread not to have known it at the time. I

all of us aboard, and by that time the pirate cruiser was only a cloud of black smoke on the horizon,