, seventeen ships,
assembled in Halifax harbor, made final preparations to steam forth to
the highways of the broad Atlantic.

At 9:30 o'clock that morning the convoy maneuvered into battle
formation with a U. S. cruiser leading the convoy while four small sub
chasers circled about in high speed and an army dirigible flew
overhead. Each ship was directed in a zig zag course, a new angle of
the zig zag being pointed every few minutes, a course of propellation
that continued the entire route of the water way.

Good-byes were waved from ships stationed along the several miles of
water course that marked the harbor's length, until the open Atlantic
was reached, then the sub chasers and the dirigible turned about,
leaving the seventeen transports and supply ships under the wing of
the battle cruiser that proceeded to pick out the course across the
ocean, to where bound no one on board, save the captain of the ship,
knew.

Clad in their life preservers the soldiers idled about the decks as
the convoy sped on. It was a source of delight to stand at the deck
rail and watch the waves dash against the steel clad sides of the
ship. On several occasions when the waves rolled high, many on board
experienced the sensation of a sea bath, the stiff sea breeze carrying
the seething foam high over the rail on to the deck.

To see the waves roll high created the impression of mightiness of
creation; the impression of mountains rising magic like at the side of
the vessel. Suddenly the ship rises to the crest of the wave and the
recedence leaves one looking down into what appears like a deep
cavern.

When the sun was rising in the direction one was thrilled by the
beauties of the rainbow observed in the clearness of the waves, when,
at the height of dashing resplendence the surging sprays descend in
fountain semblance, drinking in, as it were, the very beauty of God's
handiwork.

The same position on deck the boys found none the less attractive when
the shades of night had fallen. On one of the first nights out the
ship passed through an atmosphere of dense fog, suddenly to emerge
into elements of star lit splendor, the moon, in full radiance,
casting a silvery luminous path on the sparkling waves. It was a
phenomena worthy of the tallest submarine risks to witness. The full
moon and the very repleteness of things aesthetic gave opportunity for
those who were able to portray an attitude of indifference, to tell
gravely how the radi