Two Boys of the Battleship: or, For the Honor of Uncle Sam

Our two rather lonesome boys, who greatly missed the kind ministrations of Mrs. Brun, the genial housekeeper, were made welcome by Sergeant Berk at his boarding house, which was not far away from the recruiting station.

Frank and Ned slept well in spite of being in a strange place, for they were very tired. It had been a hard day for them. But before turning in for the night Frank sent a letter to his uncle at the Atlanta federal prison, telling of the intention of himself and Ned to join the navy.

“And if we do, dear Uncle Phil,” Frank wrote, “and are lucky enough to be sent to Norfolk, we’ll try to come to see you.”

The next day Ned and Frank had to undergo a rigorous examination by a doctor.

“And what I don’t find out about you, if I pass you, the medical officer at the training station will, and he may turn you down,” said the physician, grimly.

“Well, we’ll hope for the best,” said Frank.

Neither he nor his brother really feared the examination. They had passed the first requirements, which state that to be successful applicants must be able to read and write English, that they must be American citizens (native or naturalized), that they never have deserted from any branch of the naval or military service of the United States. Neither had Frank or Ned ever been convicted of any serious offense, in which case special permission to enlist would have had to be obtained from the Bureau of Navigation.

“Well, now to get down to business,” said the doctor, when he had made some entries on his blanks. “You know that you – let’s see – your name is Frank Arden, isn’t it?” and he turned to the older brother.

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, since you are past nineteen, you must have a height of at least sixty-four inches, bare-footed, and weigh not less than 125 pounds.”

“I can qualify there all right,” said Frank.

“And as for your brother, he must weigh not less than 115 pounds, and be also sixty-four inches tall.”

“I’m that all right, though Frank is more,” put in Ned.

“Well, a little more in Frank’s case won’t matter – so much the better,” the surgeon remarked.

He then went into medical details, which need to be touched on only to remark that neither Frank nor Ned was found to have any physical defect that would bar him from the service. Their teeth were good and sound, and of course you know that of late years the United States government, as well as all foreign governments, requires that their best fighters have good teeth. Those that are filled are counted as sound, provided there are not too many of them.

It is not so much to “bite the enemy,” as one soldier, who was refused enlistment, said he seemed expected to do, as it is that with unsound teeth food cannot be properly chewed, and in these days “an army fights on its stomach.”

“Well, I can’t find anything the matter with you,” announced the doctor pleasantly, after the examination was over.

“You tried hard enough,” Frank remarked, laughing.

“Well, that’s my business – I have to do it. I wouldn’t want to pass you and have you sent to a training station, only to learn there, later, that you must be rejected. That would be a bad mark against my ability.

“But as it is, I’ll almost guarantee that you’ll pass when you come up before the medical officer. I wish all the recruits were as strong and healthy as you two.”

This was a fine compliment, and Frank and Ned appreciated it.

“Well, so far so good,” remarked Sergeant Berk, when the doctor had put away his stethoscope and finished filling out the blanks. “Now you boys will have to be sent to a training station, and at present my orders are to ship all enlisted men from here to Norfolk. I hope you don’t mind going there, but if you do perhaps you can get a transfer later.”

“Norfolk suits us right down to the ground!” exclaimed Frank. “We may get a chance to see our uncle,” he added.

“Not right away, I’m afraid,” was the sergeant’s answer. “You’ll be kept pretty busy learning your new duties. Are you going in for any special line of work?”

“Why, we want to work on a battleship!” exclaimed Ned. “Fire the guns, I suppose.”

“Yes, most new recruits do,” was the comment. “But every one can’t be a gunner. You know Uncle Sam has to have a lot of different workers on his ships. There are those who are expert in steering, others who do nothing but cook. Then there are men who handle the anchors, others who man the boats, and even stenographers and typewriters are needed. Just to mention a few I might specify clerks, waiters, nurses, copper-smiths, plumbers, boilermakers, painters and stewards.

“And to make sure that he will get the best of help in these lines of work,” went on the sergeant, “Uncle Sam trains men to fill the different positions. They are much better able to do their work with training, than they would be without.”

“And do we have to select what branch we’d like best?” asked Ned.

“Well, in a way, yes, though of course you’ll be picked for what you are best suited, or for what is most needed.”

“I want to be a gunner,” declared Frank.

“And so do I,” added his brother.

“Well, good luck to you,” said the sergeant, with a smile. “You may get your wishes.”

Frank and Ned were now apprentice seamen, or they would be when formally passed by the medical officer at the training station. They were to leave New York with a squad of other enlisted men the next day, and that night they wrote to their uncle telling of their progress.

Frank wanted to pay Sergeant Berk for the boarding house accommodations, but the officer said there was plenty of time for that. And so, in due season, our heroes found themselves on board a train that was headed for Norfolk.

“Well, we don’t know where we’re going to land, but we’re on our way,” said Ned, slightly changing the words of the song.

“That’s right,” agreed his brother. “But I guess we’ll make out all right.”

“I’d feel a little better if I felt there was some way in which we could help Uncle Phil,” murmured Ned, musingly.

“Well, maybe we can, after we get aboard some ship, and know just what we are about,” replied Frank.

But he little realized how soon his words were to be brought to his mind again with peculiar force.

The journey to Norfolk was without notable incident, save that once Ned thought he saw one of the men who had robbed Frank. But it proved a false alarm.

“And maybe it’s just as well,” said Frank.

“How so?” asked Ned.

“Well, if we got our money back now we might not want to keep on and join the navy.”

“Oh, no danger of my backing out now!” cried the younger lad.

“No, I guess not,” was his brother’s reply.

In time, they arrived at Norfolk, and were soon at the naval training station, where, with some other recruits, they were taken in charge by a petty officer to prepare for the second and more rigorous medical examination.

CHAPTER X – IN BARRACKS

“Over this way,” directed the petty officer as he led the squad of recruits into the well-kept grounds, Ned and Frank following the others, and, like them, looking curiously about.

“What are those buildings?” asked one of the young fellows, pointing to a row of buildings, at the upper windows of which could be seen a number of faces of men and youths in blue uniforms.

“The barracks – where you sleep,” replied the petty officer.