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Iot louder Soelo Del Rossi to e opposite the bar He drew from his frock coat a conductor’s baton

Waiters and bouncers put down trays and blackjacks and picked up banjos, guitars, and accordions Waitresses ju skirts so short that police in any city with more than one church would raid the joint Del Rossi raised his baton The e M Cohan’s “Come On Down,” and the ladies danced what appeared to Bell to be an excellent imitation of the Paris cancan

“You were saying?” he shouted

“I was?”

“About the dreadnoughts that you and the Gunner…”

“Take the Michigan When she’s finally coun arrangeuns on superimposed turrets But tissue-thin arines dooet practice for Gerht

s”

MacDonald drained his glass

“All the un builder in Artie Langner The technical bureaus hate change Artie forced change… Don’t get me started on this, laddie It’s been an awful month for America’s battleships”

“Beyond the death of Artie Langner?” Bell prompted

“The Gunner was only the first to die One week later we lost Chad Gordon, our top armorer at Bethlehem Iron Works Horrible accident Six lads roasted alive-Chad and all his hands Then last week that damned fool Grover Lakewood fell off the hill The cleverest fire-control expert in the business And a hell of a fine young one in a stupid cli accident”

“Hold on!” said Bell “Are you telling ht battleships have all died in the last month?”

“Sounds like a jinx, doesn’t it?” MacDonald’s big hand passed over his chest in the sign of the cross “I would never say our dreadnoughts are jinxed But for the sake of the United States Navy, I hope to bloody hell Farley Kent and Ron Wheeler aren’t next”

“Hulls at the Brooklyn Navy Yard,” said Bell “Torpedoes at Newport”

MacDonald looked at hiet around”