"I"ll kill any man on this deck who tries to go over until the last woman is taken care of!" shouted Senby, drawing a revolver.
Some of the nurses still demurred, but the master was obdurate.
"Ladies," he called out, "this craft can"t keep afloat much longer. Those of you who hang back keep the men from their last chance to get away. I tell you, and I mean it, that no man stirs over the side until the last woman is on her way to a boat. Don"t hold us all back, ladies!"
That swept aside the last reluctance of the nurses. They trooped forward, to one side gangway or the other, and were quickly on their way into the waiting boats.
One of them, however, drew back, then smiled and crossed the deck.
"I shall remain with you, Dave," announced a clear, firm voice, and Dave turned to find Belle"s steady hand resting on his arm.
"Are you going over the side, madam?" inquired Captain Senby, pleadingly.
"You must make an exception in my case, sir," Belle Darrin answered smilingly. "I can hardly be expected to leave my husband at a time like this."
"Oh!" gasped the Briton, understandingly. "Madam, you make me anxious, but your devotion makes me proud of your s.e.x!"
"Men, now!" shouted the Briton when he saw the last skirt flutter at the top of a companionway.
"Now, you"ll go over the side, sir, won"t you?" asked the master, anxiously, as two orderly files of men stepped to the sides.
"As the two commanders here," Dave answered, easily, "I believe that tradition requires you and me to go over last of all, Captain Senby."
"But your wife, sir----"
"Is an American, Captain, who has taken the oath of service to her country"s flag just as you and I have done."
"But, madam, you----" began the Briton, turning to Belle.
"My husband has spoken, sir," smiled Belle. "Surely, Captain Senby, you do not believe in mutiny."
The soldier patients who had remained behind when the nurses went over the side were all men who could walk without a.s.sistance. These were now going over, too. While this was going on the chief mate and the boatswain had mustered the last of the crew and the roll had been called. All were on hand who were not in the small boats.
After the soldiers and the hospital men had gone down into boats, and other small craft had moved in to replace them, the crew went over, the chief mate being the last to go except the trio who stood in the middle of the upper deck.
"There"s a boat left with room for all of you!" the mate called, lifting his hat.
With a last swift look around at the ship he had loved, the Briton almost reluctantly followed the Darrins. His legs trembled under him a bit as he descended the steps of the side companionway, but it was from neither exhaustion nor fear.
Last of all the Briton took his seat in the row-boat. He tried to clear his throat and give the order, but could not speak.
"Shove off!" called Dave to the boat-tenders, as he faced the men sitting with their oars out. "Give way! One, two, one two!"
The boat belonged to one of the mine-sweepers. With true British precision and rhythm the men pulled away. Darrin ceased counting and turned to his smiling wife.
"Not such a bad time, was it?" he asked.
"As it turned out, no. But I was afraid, Dave. Had a few hundred of the brave fellows been drowned, the horror would not have left me as long as I lived."
"Then you must steel your nerves a bit, Belle, dear. War, at the least, is a grewsome thing, but this war contains more horrors than any other war of which man has knowledge. The vast numbers engaged make it certain that the losses will be heavy, and heavier, until the struggle is over.
If you work up near the front, within range of the big guns, you will necessarily have to become accustomed to seeing the visible evidence of huge losses daily."
"I shall grow to it," Belle Darrin declared, confidently.
And now Captain Senby was speaking to him.
"It"s a great load off my mind, Captain Darrin. I was the merchant marine master of the "Gloucester," but she was taken and refitted so quickly that we were sent to sea without change of status. On our return from this voyage the mates and I had orders to take examination for commissions in the naval reserves. Then we were to continue aboard the "Gloucester." But she will be at the bottom in an hour and my chances of making the naval reserves will go down with her."
"I don"t see why," Dave returned, heartily. "You and your mates are no less capable than you were."
Then, in an undertone that reached only Senby"s ear, Darrin added:
"Man, you"ve been a bit unstrung, but you"ve gotten away without the loss of a life. Bring your nerve back from this moment! Don"t let it spoil your life or your career. Pull yourself together and smile. Smile! Don"t let any one see that you"ve a single doubt of yourself! Smile, and go up for your examination to-morrow. All that ails you is that you worry for the safety of others--a most commendable fault in a skipper!"
From that instant Captain Senby gave at least a very good imitation of a man who was modestly satisfied with his achievement, though he realized that he owed most of the success of the last two hours to Lieutenant Commander Dave Darrin, U. S. N.
Arriving at the Italian vessel, Darrin transferred Belle and himself to a launch from the "Grigsby" and promptly rejoined his craft.
Taking Belle to his own seldom-occupied quarters on the destroyer, Dave left her there, and then went to the bridge and signalled his orders to the mine-sweepers and to the Italian steamship.
The mine-sweepers were ordered to move in advance of the rescue vessel to sweep any hidden mine from her path.
"And you, Mr. Fernald, will cross the course continually ahead of the steamship and keep the most vigilant guard against submarine attack!"
Dave next went to the chart-room, his teeth chattering from his soaked, chilled condition.
Here he stripped and gave himself as vigorous a rub-down as he could administer, after which he attired himself in dry clothing throughout and sent orders to the mess kitchen for a pot of hot coffee.
Over this warmer Dave lingered long enough to gulp down three cups of the steaming beverage.
Then pulling on a dry sheepskin coat and turning up the fur collar against the wintry blast, he went to the bridge.
"All"s secure, and no sign of trouble so far, sir," reported Lieutenant Fernald.
Yet, unknown to any on the destroyer, the "Grigsby," driving ahead obliquely from port to starboard well ahead of the steamship, was heading straight toward a mine that lurked beneath the surface of the water.
CHAPTER XXIV
CONCLUSION
"SHALL I order the helm to starboard, sir?" asked Ensign Ormsby. "We"re due to sail too close to that mine-sweeper."
Though the two craft were separated by several hundreds of yards, Darrin"s quick, trained eye took in the fact that the mine-sweeper, by the time the "Grigsby" crossed her course, would be a safe distance ahead.
"No," he decided; "keep to the course and she"ll clear us."