Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-09-23

0uu Nhe UttOBO - - 0uCuSy uHIp
showed exactly n the efose hairs Of
che sight. AZ that ~infniteatimal the
gun must 6rs. The firing pointer bet
ter than any one else knew that ~ he
strained, sweating. and lingering his
firing key.
"Bsxxsssrs The buxscr. hung agafnse
his chsse now, was sounding the signal
b irA. For an interval-meAsursd and
noted IN the chief fire control station
from which the signal came-the buns
Or would sound. The fhrings pointer
could choose when during those count
ed seconds the gun was .tons'the target
and he should loose the charge, 1T 4
he did not IRE while the buSSer st11
was sounding the turret must wax IL
structton from the tops again-the
sights must be altered, the gun aimed
again. that chance for dealing destruc-
ton DO gone.
"Bsaxsszr the buxsear was sim -
in&. but 1t would mot 60 forsveE HsA
V not been going fos-minnes nowl
Bob Weodan jerked, stf1 and stsainsd,
toward the firing pointer. He trlsd -
speak, but he could not TIN he W. -
Lips; then as he aw the pointers facs
the rebuke staysd On hi tpnguA. The
gun pointers face was drawn - In
agony, his arms strained and sfretchod
as In torture, his hips moved ~ceaseless-
~, soundlessly. and his fingers played
with the firing key as . surgeons TAX
ing mp q scalpel. The mans eysA
CLASSY In their steadiness. starred
through the telescope. Too much OF
the sky was In the field OF sight, but
now the deck was dropping again and
tho buzzer sun was sounding. The
firing pointers fingers pressed togsth-
or, and the monster bulk Of steel be-
side him leaped back In recoil. while
the air before the turret was yellow
and etherous with blazing gas and the
ship shuddered at the shock Of the dis
charge.
The firing pointer, falling back as
the doors from the handling room
opened again and the car came up for
the reload, gazcd toward Wendell.
Bob, counting the score Of seconds
during which the shell would DO In
fight. said to himself. Eight, nine"
Then. aloud, 'That was right, Louden;
fire when you're on the target" III
saw that the gun was reloaded and
from his station gazed through his
periscope nj owe the ca.
If he mfssed-he and the firing point
er and the turret trainer. the sight
setrers ana .ne rest, h captain on
the bridge, Garry and his men m the
top, the executive officer in the chlsS
fire control station, the engineers and
all the others throughout the ship who
lived then only to send shells trse and
straight from the guns-if they all
missed, a squirt Of spray would show
somewhere ten miles away. II the
shell hit, nothing would appearA<hGt
was, nothing would show right sway.
A little later tho target ship might
show a list OF a fre might break out.
But in any case Wendell and the crew
in the turret who had pointed and nred
the gun could scarcely hope 10 ses Il
Only Garry and hs spoilers IN tho tops
would surely see It. Perhaps the cap
tain and the officers In the canning
tower might see, but word Wuad ooms
to the tuSret a. An ~1nstruetou fos Z
correction for tho guns n It Wao Q
miss. or N Il was q h. no ehanssf.
Down nve hundsed Oos rtsht!'
That meant q miss, Of course. The
shell had gone Y and splashsd IN
the water. Garry had seen he splash
and estimated the miss Ut AVE- hundred
yards. Zone rtshtr" That meant that
the shell had down to the stsrn Also.
The original estimate had mot anDvsd
enough detection for the speed az thl
Arizona and ethe relstvs Pssd ~ thu
tunnels and masts cut thsrs tan miles
away. But the shell q east had sons
over. It had not fallen short A go.
ond shot already was testing tho new
range. up three hundredr
The range was now .braeketed.s A
shot at 10000 yards had gone ovr.
Another at 1850 had fallen short. The
right range was between. The sight
setter for the gun which had fred al
ready had altered his sight again Tia
firing pointer crouched and strained.
The buzzer on his breast sounded. The
gun leaped back.
(To Be Continued)