offered them to the Navy, but the Navy laughed at them, saying that they weren't reliable.
11 Then, he built a BIG one, and covered it with iron, had special cannon made for it, but the Harbor Warlock confiscated them, saying it was stupidity to put badly needed cannon on a ship that would sink as soon as it hit rough weather. He didn't care if Little Turtle owned the guns or not. They could be used for the harbor defenses, and not wasted on the bottom of the lake."
12 "Take me to this man!" ordered Bold Fox. "I want to see these ships!"
13 The Warlock looked at him strangely, but took him down to the harbor. There, sitting in the water just off shore, were ten ships without any masts. Instead, a smoke stack stood in the middle of each ship.
14 But the strangest sight of all was one ship that sat low in the water. In her center was a smokestack and a bridge, but about half way to either end was what looked like little round houses with holes in them!
15 A little man walked up, about half Bold Fox's height. "Hello!" he said, "Admiring my ironclad folly? I'm Little Turtle. Don't let her deceive you. She's twice as fast as any sailing ship ever built, and no storm would ever sink her! No storm will sink any of them. If I could get my cannon she'd be the mightiest ship afloat. I had twenty breech loading forty pounders made, and four sixties for the turrets, beautiful little pieces! The mounts are all ready, all I have to do is drop my cannon in!"
16 "Come with me!" snapped Bold Fox. They walked up to the Harbor Warlock's office. When Bold Fox entered everyone jumped to their feet and

Page 780

Go To The Next Page