treet with its gray
substance.

Too-oo-ot, came the whistle from the Golden Gate again and further off
still another whistle could be heard. Over in Tiburon the ferry-boat had
calmed down, as it found itself unable to budge in the fog. One after
the other, the tower-clocks struck half-past four, the strokes sounding
loud and unnatural in the fog. From Telegraph Hill at the northern end
of San Francisco a splendid view could be obtained of this undulating
sea of mist. A few of the isolated houses situated in the higher parts
of the town looked like islands floating on the ever-moving glossy gray
billows, while the top stories of several sky-scrapers rose up here and
there like solemn black cliffs. A faint light in the east heralded the
approach of day. Too-oo-ot, sounded the whistle of the approaching
steamer once again; then its voice broke and died out in a discordant
sob, which was drowned in the nervous gang, gang, gang of the ship's
bell. The steamer had been obliged to anchor on account of the fog.
Too-oo-ot, came from the other steamer further out. Then life in the bay
came to a stand-still: nothing could be done till the sun rose and
brought warmth in its train.

"This damned fog," said Tom Hallock, a telegraph boy, to his colleague,
Johnny Kirkby, as he jumped off his bicycle in front of the Post Office,
"this damned fog is enough to make one choke."

Johnny muttered some unintelligible words, for he was still half asleep;
the effect of last night's eighteen drinks had not yet quite worn off.
"You can't see the nearest lamp-post," he blurted out after a while. "I
nearly ran into a company of infantry just now that suddenly popped up
in front of me out of the fog. What's going on this morning, anyhow?
What are they marching out to Golden Gate for?"

"Oh, you jay," said Tom, "naval maneuvers, of course! Are you blind?
Haven't you read the _Evening Standard_? There are to be naval maneuvers
this morning, and Admiral Perry is going to attack San Francisco."

"This war-game is a crazy scheme," grumbled Johnny. They both left their
bicycles downstairs in a room in the Post Office and then went up to
their quarters on the first story.

"Naval maneuvers?" began Johnny again. "I really don't know anything
about them. It was in last night's _Evening Standard_. It said that the
orders had been changed quite unexpectedly, and that the maneuvers would
take place outside the bay to-day."

"It looks as though we'd have