The Fight for Constantinople: A Story of the Gallipoli PeninsulaWesterman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)
History
The Fight for Constantinople: A Story of the Gallipoli Peninsula
Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)
Adventure stories; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- Juvenile fiction; World War, 1914-1918 -- Juvenile fiction
A pair of wheels followed the carriage, and then after a brief interval
the huge gun, "parbuckled" from the edge of the cliff, was lowered into
position. In less than half an hour the piece was reassembled;
ammunition was brought down, and finally brushwood placed in front on
the sand-bags and over the gun; while to show how complete had been the
Germanizing of Turkey, a field-telephone had been laid between the
emplacement and those on either side, which, of course, was invisible
to the two British officers.
For some time the Turkish officers kept the trawlers and attendant
destroyers under observation with the field-glasses. The men were
obviously impatient to open fire, yet for some inexplicable reason they
were restrained. Possibly it was to lure the mine-sweepers into a
sense of security, or else the Turks thought fit to ignore the small
craft and await the chance of a surprise attack upon the covering
British battleships and cruisers.
Being well within the mouth of the tunnel, Dick and the midshipman were
not exposed to the driving rain. But on the other hand the Turkish
artillerymen were without any means of protection from the downpour,
and, since they could not show their zeal by opening fire, they did not
hesitate to show their resentment at being kept out in the open.
At length one of the Turkish officers gave an order. The men formed up
with a certain show of smartness, broke into a quick march, and
disappeared beyond a projection of the cliff. Only one man was left as
sentry, and he hastened to get to leeward of a friendly rock. From
where the two Englishmen lay, the point of his bayonet could just be
discerned above the top of the boulder.
Then Dick directed his attention seaward. He mentally gauging the
distance between the shore and the nearest of the mine-sweepers. These
vessels were steaming slowly ahead, with sufficient way to stem the
ever-running current from the Sea of Marmora to the Ægean. Certainly
for the whole time Dick and his companion had been on the lookout there
had been no explosion of a caught mine. Apparently the sweepers had
almost completed their work up this particular area, and were making a
final test to make certain that no hidden peril had escaped them.
The Sub nudged his companion, and the pair retraced their steps until
they had put a safe distance between them and the sentry.
"Look here," said Crosthwaite. "We've two things to do. First, to
warn our people of the formation of a new Turkish battery, and
secondly, to rejoin our ship. The question is: how are we to set about
it?"
"Flash a message with the torch," suggested Sefton.
"I thought of that, but dismissed it," remarked the Sub. "For one
thing the light's pretty feeble, and our people mayn't spot it. If
they did they might think it was a false message sent by the enemy.
And another thing: the Turks might notice the glare in the mouth of the
tunnel."
"And we would get collared," added the midshipman.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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