It was discovered that the first party had been mistaken for Portuguese sailors and fired at from a window only fifty feet distant. The bullets spattered the doorway into which they turned, and they proceeded upstairs to hold emphatic discourse with an excited Portuguese naval officer and the chief of the radio service who were earnestly telephoning to ascertain what the ruction was and who had started it. Coxswain Lindeburg had the largest grievance, however, for he had been almost potted while securing his motor-boat at the wharf, and it was solemnly affirmed that he was combing the bullets out of his hair after being escorted aboard by the comrades who had sallied forth to find him. It seems extraordinary that in this affair at Lisbon the _Corsair_ should have seen more actual fighting, with rifle and shell fire, than during her many months of active service with the American naval forces in the Great War. And even when the fleets in European waters, under the general direction of Admiral Sims, had increased to four hundred ships and seventy thousand men, none of them saw as much action as this almost bloodless little outbreak in Portugal, as action had been regarded in the days before the German doctrines of submarine warfare. It goes to show how new and vastly different were the problems which had to be solved by the Allied navies. This does not mean that American ships and sailors went clear of danger and disaster, but almost never was the chance offered to fight the hidden foe. The fine destroyer, _Jacob Jones_, of the Queenstown flotilla, was blown to pieces by a torpedo and sixty-four officers and men died with her. The Coast Guard vessel _Tampa_ was blown up and vanished with all hands, a crew of more than a hundred. Many a time the naval guard of a merchant steamer stood by their guns and were drowned when the ship went down. These, and the yacht _Alcedo_, and all the other brave ships which are listed upon the American Navy’s roll of honor, were worthy of the spirit and the traditions of John Paul Jones, although to them was denied the privilege of signalling the enemy, “We have not begun to fight.” [Illustration: THE CHEERY FRENCH PILOT, LIEUT. MEJECK] [Illustration: CHIEF QUARTERMASTER BENTON] The badly damaged _Corsair_ required a long and costly overhauling to make her ready and fit for service, and this work was undertaken, and well done, by the organization of the Portuguese naval docks and arsenal. With a most admirable spirit of friendship and coöperation between two allies in the struggle against a mutual enemy, the Government of Portugal refused to accept any payment whatever, although every effort was made to obtain a bill for services rendered. Commander Kittinger explains this handsome incident in the following report: