The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919, 1898-10-14

its "waI nose" so it could be hauled
aboard safely-was in charge Of the
Porter for the time. There was quiet
until 2:30 in the morning. Then the
one-pounder beside me woke me as
thoroughly as if it had been 13-inch
gun, and l raced to the coming tower
to see what had happened, and saw
what seemed to be the very biggest
ship in the world looming up on our
port bow, indistinct in the gloom, but
close enough to sink us without fail
second after the order to fire.
Lieut.. Fremont stood before the
coming tower. Gillis had made out
| the loom of the stranger when we
| were a quarter of a mile away and
had awakened his commander. Silent
ly the Porter stole up on the dark
warship. When we were but 200 yards
away or less, and so within easy sig
| nal distance, the night fleet signal was
flashed by the torpedo boat-two
white lights and one red. 1t burned
| for second or so and then it was
turned off.
There was no reply. The stranger,
| dark and unheeding, moved slowly
westward. That she had not seen it
was inconceivabl for there were 20
men looking out for signals on every
American warship at this time and no
one could believe that they had over
looked that well-known signal flashed
clear so close at hand.
| The Porter shot close-so close that
every man on her felt that desperate
work was in hand and that now we
were in Tor il beyond recall. The New
York is perhaps the easiest of the
American ships to recognize, but so
dark was it that she was strange to
practiced eyes. Moreover, the direc-
tion from which she approached was
such that we had her masts and smoke
pipes in confusing line.
| Our blowers were making a loud,
droning noise. The movement of both
vessels through the water added to the
difficulty of hearing. Fremont's voice
rose so that | thought ii must have
rung through the strange ship. But
the crew of the strange ship were
rushing to their guns.
stop those blowers" Fremont said.
He was calm, even deliberate. His
eyes swept forward and then aft.
Are the guns trained on her?" he
asked.
AYE, aye, SIR" came from both one
Founders. The torpedo, too, was
ready. 1t had been tested for pressure
but few hours earlier. At each gun
jackie stood like statue. his shoul-
der bent against the rest, his eye on
the enemy. In such moments the eye
notices queer details. l remember
wondering that the jackie at the bow
gun could stand there so quietly, ready
to fight that great ship which lowered
above us with that absurd one
FOUNDER.
As jackie answered.: AYE. aye. SIR"
his commanders voice rang out again.
This time he was hailing and the infiec
tion rising:
-ship-is-that?"
No answer.
Fire across her bowl"
Bang! went our bow gun, and the
metal ratified as the men showed an
other she'll home and trained the piece
again.
"Show the night feet signal" Fre-
mont said, and it flashed again-two
white lights above a red one. We
were under the strangers quarter
now, close aboard. For one of US there
was no escape. At that range a tor
pedo must destroy the big ship in
evita bly,.
A second after our signal burned the
| strangers signal mast blazed and
there hung an answering signal, but
not the right one. Instead of two
white lights and a red one there
burned two red ones and a white one.
For moment it flashed through Fre-
mont's mind that an enemy might be
attempting to use the American sig
mails. There was no time to think
| about it.
| There was flash from the stran-
gers forward fighting top and a shell
whistled over us. Some mai in the
| top had fred without orders, it seems
but of that we knew nothing. We saw
only the fash of the gun and believed
| that rifles and machine guns would be
riddling Us second later. The big
guns could not be depressed enough to
| bear on us. so close were we.
Fremont had been hailing at the
moment and his face had been turned
away from that top from which the
gun was fred.
did that shot come from her?" he
| shouted
"Yes, sir" said jackie and in the
same breath.
For a second perhaps Lieut.. FIRE.
| mont stood still and silent and his men
| and those on the decks high above us
| held their aim and their breath, and
waited for word which would turn
loose torpedo from the Porter and
hail of fire from the flagship.
In that long second Fremont, hold
ing the great cruiser at his mercy,
even more than the cruiser held us at
hers, weighed the chances and gave
them one more chance. 1t was TO be
their last. | read it in the sudden
STRENGTHENING of his form and Tho