OFF HELIGOLAND
Admiral von Turpentine's son among them. But I never heard how many ships the British lost, except from Berlin, and you can't believe what Berlin says. But I'm betting the Johnnie Bulls didn't get very close to old Mr. Heligoland!"
"One did," remarked Nelson. "The Liberty."
"Did, eh? Liberty? Sounds like one of ours. I don't remember her."
"Well, she was only a little destroyer, Garey. But she waltzed straight in under those guns and tried to torpedo the big ships lying in the harbor. And she kept on until she had only one round of ammunition left and one torpedo in her tubes. Then she turned tail and beat it back. She lost her commander and three of her crew, but she lived to tell the story in spite of all the eleven-inch shells they plumped down on her; enough, I guess, to sink her twice over if they'd hit her!"
"What do you know about that?" asked Garey. "Say, she was some little kid, what? Well, you've got to hand it to the British for pluck. I always say that. And, say, that Liberty ship was well named, wasn't she? I wouldn't wonder if she was an American destroyer they'd borrowed from us, or something. Anyway, I'll bet more than half the 'gobs' were Irish!"
There's always a nasty, choppy sea running in
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