mpatience, however, was short-lived, for there came
very quickly an order to man the anti-aircraft guns on deck. The
hatches fore and aft were thrown open and the gun crews scrambled on
deck.

"Not afraid of 'em, are we?" chuckled Ted, as he followed Bill Witt up
the ladder.

"Chances are they can't see us in the twilight," answered Bill. "And
this is a real chance for us to give the 'twins' a little tuning up."

From the conning tower came the order to unlimber the guns, load and
stand by.

"Wait until they come within range, and then fire away!" directed the
_Dewey's_ commander.

From a height of five thousand feet the leader of the "air cavalry"
suddenly turned the nose of his craft downward, and came volplaning
toward the sea at a dizzy pace. Following suit, the remaining units
of the attacking squadron dived to get within better range.

"Now, boys!" shouted Lieutenant McClure.

Time-fuse shells had been inserted in the "Twins," the breeches closed
and the muzzles elevated to point at the fast-flying airships. At the
aft gun Ted gripped the trigger ready to fire, while Mike Mowrey jammed
his good right eye into the telescopic sight to make sure of his aim.

"Fire!" he yelled, and Ted, let her go. The shot sped away into the
sky while the crew gazed eagerly upward to watch for the explosion.
Soon the shell burst with a white puff of smoke.

"Little too far to the right," said the observer.

Now the aft gun spoke. From every vessel of the protecting fleet came
answering shots as they belched their fury at the armada of the air.
The dull gray of the night sky was lighted at intervals by the bursting
of shells as the German air fleet soared forward over the allied naval
fleet. Observers were hurling bombs from above and they were splashing
into the sea on every side. One of them striking the hull of the
_Dewey_ would blow the ship into atoms!

"Keep it up, boys! Make every shot count!" sang out Commander McClure.

Mike Mowrey was growling because he was unable to make a hit. "Let's
get one of 'em---just one of 'em!" he bellowed in rage.

One of the winged fleet was circling almost overhead at this moment
and seemed tantalizing near. With a twist of the wheel Mowrey swung
the muzzle of his gun up a couple of inches and gave the signal again
to fire. Following the shot for a moment the frenzied gunner was
elated to note that the machine just above sagged suddenly to one side.
Like a bird with a