ere jumping into the sea as ordered.

There were comrades who had been killed or maimed by the shifting
deck-load of lumber; there were comrades who, in jumping into the sea,
had struck their heads against the steel hull, breaking their necks, and
yet there the rest stood in line, waiting for the orders that would send
them overboard.

"Isn't this a crime," laughed one of the seamen, "just after I had got
on my liberty blues and was all set for the high spots in New York!"

"Gripes! My cigarettes are all wet! Who's got a dry one?"

"Look out there, kid; be careful you don't get your feet wet."

Twelve life-boats were overside, set adrift in the usual manner to be
filled after the men were in the water. Then, of course, the sea was
littered with lumber and all sorts of debris which would keep a man
afloat.

While the abandonment of the ship was under way, the officer who had
been in the bunkers, and whose station was in the fighting-top, hurried
upward to his post. The port guns were still being served, but their
muzzles were inclining ever downward toward the water. In his
battle-station this officer directed the firing of the port guns until
their muzzles dipped beneath the surface of the sea. There were three
officers with him in the fighting-top and three seamen. Below they saw
the perfect order which obtained, the men stepping into the sea in
ranks, laughing and cheering.

Presently this officer sent one of the seamen down the mast to get
life-belts for the group of men in the spotting-station. By the time he
returned the bugles were ordering the total abandonment of the vessel.

So the little group made their way, not to the deck, which was now
straight up and down, but to the starboard side of the hull, upon which
they could walk, the vessel then being practically on her beam ends.
Trapped at their stations on the port side were members of the 6-inch
port battery. One of them was seen by a comrade just before rising
waters shut him from view. The sinking man nodded and waved his hand.

"Good-by, Al," he said.

As the officer who had been in the fighting-top jumped clear into the
sea, the vessel began to go down, now by the head. Slowly the stern
rose, and as it did so, he says, the propellers came into view, and
perched on one of the blades was a devil-may-care American seaman,
waving his hat and shouting.

The vessel, the officer says, disappeared at 11.30 o'clock, fifteen
minutes after the explosion