The Long Trick
ridge-screens and salt-crusted funnels; it met a flotilla of mine-sweeping Sloops, labouring patiently out to their unending task. It l
They passed within hailing distance of the Sloops, and on board the reeling Destroyers here and there a figure in streaming oilski
n, when no man may sweep for mines. Then would be their turn for grins and the wavin
her side of which gaunt promontories thrust their naked shoulders into the surf. The long black, viperish hulls passed through under the ever-watchful eyes of the shore batteries,
the ring of barren islands encircling the great expanse of water into which they had passed, the na
de him. "It ain't much of a place to look at, but I'm never
lled them at a semi-globular object that had appeared on the surface some
e Hun has the pull over us. He's got something better than a
ns an' iron crosses an' joy bells. Lord, I'd love
"I'd rather see my own wife for five minutes," he
," repeated the voi
th watchful eye on the
ps ...
xt astern swinging round in the smother of his wake. "Well, we shan't be long now before we tie up to the
There come the others, strung out in a procession, making for the different squadrons. Wake up, you son of Ham!" The speaker stepped to the lanyard of the syren and jerked it savagely. Obedient to the warning wail another drifter altered course in reluctant compliance wi
ing-nets round a propeller are not calculated to bind hearts together in brotherly affection. Perhaps dim reco
mine-sweeping paraphernalia: they became submarine-hunters, mine-sweepers, fleet-messengers and patrollers of the great commerce sea-ways in the South. They became a litt
scales have not altogether departed. Ashore, on the other hand (where their women rule), they consent to the peaked cap and br
the dripping Submarine; they have sheltered through storms in the lee of anchored Battleships; they have piloted proud Cruisers through the newly-swept channels of a mine-field, and brought a Battle-cruiser Squadron its Christm
pt past, and the three figures in the bows ducked as she shipped a bucket of spray and flung it
." He took off his cap and shook the salt water from it. One of the other two chuckled. "Never 'mind, Mouldy, it will be your turn to laugh next time we
he echoed. "Then I'd get shoved under arrest
nd Thorogood raised his hand. "There you are," he said, "there's ou
rection of the other's gaze. "Puts me in mind, as they say, of a
of the harbour. In the far distance, outlined against the sombre hills and lit by the pale sun
smoke hovering above their raking funnels. Beyond them, line upon line, in a kind of sullen majesty, lay the Battleships. Seen thus in peace-time, a thousand glistening pointsgladiators, sombre and terrible, they conveyed a relentless s
came the rumble
en't missed the bus!" He looked along the lines with a swift, practised eye. "It's only some of the Battle-cruise
guns hooded by casemates and turrets, the mighty funnels, piled up bridges and superstructures, frowned down like the battlements of fortresses. Men
ship," continued Thorog
d her, flying the Comm
s bound for. Rummy to
in a couple o
er the Fleet and sped seawards. Across the lanes of water, armed picket-boats, with preternaturally grave-faced Midshipmen at their w
ted the busy scene wit
t without me for the last seven days. We've had a coat of paint, too. Wonder what's up. P'raps the King'
d deck-hand stumped into the bows with a heaving line coiled over his arm. The drifter
e under his arm looked down from the qu
good; and added, "Bless me, Twe
nother monkey-jacket." A bull terrier thrust a python-like head between the ra
the telescope. "You're Standish, aren't you?" he asked, turning to the India-rubber Man. "The Commander wants to see
s the First Lieutenant in my
, "she must have bee
the ship, past cabins opening on to the foremost side of them, and stopped at a curtained doorway. A square
NOCK. C
in and motioned to his companion to enter. "
t a knee-hole table, turned and
eft hand for an instant on the India-rubber Man's shoulder and searched his face with kindly grey e
-rubber M
s adorning the brim, lying on the desk. "I haven't congratulated you on your pro
resumed his seat. "Well, you'll find a few of the old lot here: there's the Skipper of course, and Double-O Gerrard-d'you remember the A.P.? And little Pills: he's Staff Surgeon now, and no end of a nut... Let's see-oh, yes, and young
s roving round the cabi
You've got poor old
that one." The Commander had risen to his feet and was staring out of the scuttle with absent eyes. "But, come along. The Skipper
e watch were sweeping down the deck and squaring off ropes. The Commander led the way down a hatchway aft to an electric-lit lobby, where a marine sentry clicked
d the deck; the walls of white enamelled steel were unadorned save for a big scale chart of the North Sea and a coloured map of the Western Front. A few framed photographs stood on the big roll-topped desk in one corner, and a bowl of purple heather occup
open skylight. On the table, amid the litter of glue-pots, cardboard, thread and varnish, stood a model of a
umorous way that always went straight to another man's heart. "We're all returning to our second childhood up here, you see!" He indicated the mo
the model with int
e said. It was, indeed, a triumph of
ctric bow and steaming lights!" His voice had a ring of almost boyish enthusiasm, and he picked up a tangle of threads from the table. "But this fore-derrick purchase is the devil, though. All last evening I was
'll have it done in time f
er to do! As a matter of fact, it's only during the winter that one finds time for anything. We're pretty busy, one way and another, you'll find. It'll take you some time
with him, sir. He m
t you can do about it. Also, I want you to look after the Midshipmen. They're a good lot, and there's one in particular-Harcourt, isn't it, Commander?-who ought to pull off the Midshipmen's Lightweights if he can keep down to the weight. One or two w
emerged, "it's nearly lunch time
bulkhead gave a glimpse forward of a gun battery and a teeming mess-deck intent on its mid-day meal, where men jostled each other so thickl
ay. A door on the right opened for a moment as they passed,
co smoke. A few padded settees and arm-chairs and a piano of venerable aspect, together with a table covered by magazines and papers, comprised the furniture; half-a-dozen coloured prints and a baize-covered notice board completed the adornment of the walls. Through a doorway beyond came the hum of conversation and clatter of knives an
bear-like embrace. "Behold the prodigal returning! Steward, bring hither a fatted calf and the swizzle-stick. Put a cherry in it and a slice of lemon and eke crushe
ing, came forward to greet the new messm
ou for half-a-crown. P.M.O., this is Standish, a wounded hero and a friend of my care-free youth." The sp
d bull terrier, we have Tweedledee, likewise overfed. Ge
Lieutenant rose and sh
ence the Padre. The Captain of Marines you see consuming gin and bitters: title of picture, 'Celebrities and their Hobbies.' This is the Engineer Commander. He is considerably senior to me and I therefore refrain from being witty
eaning over the paper table, pipe in mouth, straightened up with a chuckle and ostentatiously fluttered the
think, Soldier?" he asked
of Marines. He finished his apéritif and
d accents, "we're afraid you are showing off befor
lf on the Staff Surgeon. The First Lieutenant followed suit, an
around them with hysteri
tain of Marines as the struggle swayed
rity, and the three interlocked figures and the
upboard. It was used by the flat-sweeper and messengers for the stowage of brooms, polishing paste, c
ey succeeded in stowing the Staff Surgeon, and despite his
Lieutenant, "let's g
to leave him there,
-rubb
e long Wardroom where a score or more of officers were seated at lunch round the table that occupied practicall
ing stewed prunes out of a dish on to
onboard. He's probably lunching in his blessed old turret. I had some difficulty in restraining him from trying to put
re you are, Bunje. Sorry I had to slip it across Number One and the Soldier just now. However, boys will be boys and th
"You don't get much chance to sit and think beautiful th
Man laughed. "I e