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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Some Naval Yarns, by Mordaunt Hall
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Some Naval Yarns
+
+Author: Mordaunt Hall
+
+Contributor: Ethel Beatty
+
+Release Date: August 29, 2008 [EBook #26474]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOME NAVAL YARNS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                  SOME NAVAL
+                    YARNS
+
+                      BY
+                MORDAUNT HALL
+
+              WITH A PREFACE BY
+                 LADY BEATTY
+
+
+                   NEW YORK
+            GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
+ PUBLISHERS IN AMERICA FOR HODDER & STOUGHTON
+                   MCMXVII
+
+
+
+
+            COPYRIGHT, 1917,
+       BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
+
+
+ PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+A book containing accounts of the work continually and unceasingly being
+carried on by the gallant officers and men of the Royal Navy should
+prove of considerable interest to all, and, at the present time,
+especially to the American reader. I am glad that a New York journalist
+has had the opportunity of witnessing a part of the titanic task of our
+courageous sea-fighters, and of personally gaining an idea of the
+hardships endured by the plucky men who are watching our coast. This
+little book may help considerably to enlighten the general public on the
+work of the branches of the Navy, and prove that the men engaged in this
+tedious, hazardous, and nerve-racking vigil are going about it with the
+same old valour befitting the traditions of the Royal Navy. They have
+fought the savage beasts like true sportsmen. They have rescued enemy
+sailors, clothed and fed them, without a sign of animus, knowing that
+victory will crown their efforts to throttle the enemy of humanity and
+of civilisation. And that enemy is now the common foe of the United
+States as well as of England. He has been the sly enemy of the United
+States even before the declaration of hostilities by the American
+Congress, while he was the avowed enemy of other countries engaged in
+this terrible war.
+
+These stories, light though they be, give a conception of what it is to
+search the seas in a submarine, and the bravery of the youngest branch
+of the Navy--the Royal Naval Air Service--is palpable even from the
+modest accounts given by these seaplane pilots. They have confidence in
+their supremacy over the enemy, and are all smiles even in the face of
+imminent danger. It shows that often British coolness and pluck have
+saved a machine as well as the lives of men.
+
+Of special interest is the talk with the captain of a mine-sweeper while
+he is on the bridge of his vessel. He tells of the many neutral lives
+that have been saved by English seamen at the risk of their own vessels
+and the lives of their crews. Noteworthy is it that Great Britain in the
+course of this war has not been the cause of the loss of a single
+neutral life. Mines have been placed at random by Germany's pirate
+craft.
+
+The grit of the English seaman comes to light in the author's journey
+in a naval ambulance train, as does also the fact that the service takes
+the utmost care of its wounded and sick. In the account of the Royal
+Naval Division it is touching to note that the men who are fighting in
+France and who distinguished themselves so valiantly in the Ancre and
+other battles, still cling to sea terms or talk.
+
+The accounts in this volume may cause the people of my native country to
+appreciate the necessity for silence on the part of the British
+Admiralty, as now that their ships are linked with ours in the effort to
+defeat a common enemy the same idea of giving no information to the
+enemy even at the cost of criticism undoubtedly will be included in
+orders. Nevertheless, while playing the trump of silence, it is
+encouraging to read stories of the Navy so that the readers have certain
+knowledge that silence and brief reports do not mean that nothing is
+being accomplished. We have recently had an instance of the efficiency
+and courage of the officers and men in the fight between two British
+destroyers and half a dozen of the enemy craft, in which the Germans
+lost two vessels and the British none. Commanders and others greatly
+distinguished themselves in this conflict, which occurred in the dead
+of a moonless night. And the deeds of the Royal Navy are certain to be
+emulated by the officers and men of the United States Navy, for blood
+will tell.
+
+                                                         ETHEL BEATTY.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                  PAGE
+ PREFACE                                             v
+
+     I. THE LOG OF A NAVAL AIRMAN                    1
+
+    II. OVER THE NORTH SEA IN A SEAPLANE            10
+
+   III. ADVENTURES IN A SEAPLANE                    17
+
+    IV. SWEEPING THE SEAS FOR MINES                 23
+
+     V. THE ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION                    32
+
+    VI. A NAVAL SCHOOL                              41
+
+   VII. "GENTLEMEN, 'THE KING'"                     47
+
+  VIII. THE ROYAL NAVAL AMBULANCE TRAIN             53
+
+    IX. A RUN IN A ROYAL NAVAL AMBULANCE TRAIN      60
+
+     X. A TRIP IN A SUBMARINE                       67
+
+    XI. LIFE IN A LIGHTHOUSE                        82
+
+   XII. WATCHERS OF THE COAST                       89
+
+  XIII. CROSSING THE CHANNEL IN WAR TIME            97
+
+
+
+
+SOME NAVAL YARNS
+
+
+
+
+SOME NAVAL YARNS
+
+
+
+
+I. THE LOG OF A NAVAL AIRMAN
+
+
+Men of the British services are exasperatingly modest. You are forced to
+wring stories of experiences from them, and when you are thrilled to the
+core over their yarns they coolly inform you that their names must not
+appear. Fortunately, there is something about a story which "rings
+true." From one of the soundest pilots of the Royal Naval Air Service I
+heard his experience of the previous day. We will call him "Q," as he
+happens to be known in the station. It is his middle initial. He is a
+tall, well-built man of thirty, who knows a seaplane backwards, and it
+has been woe to the enemy when he met him.
+
+"We started at dawn," he began. "There's not much flying in the dark,
+only occasionally. First, we ran the machine out of the hangar, and, as
+usual, tried the engines. In the fading darkness or growing light it is
+a great sight to see the flames flashing from the exhaust. In the
+beginning you run your engines slowly. Yesterday one of them kicked a
+bit. The cause for the hitch was discovered, and they were once more
+started. Remember that it is expedient that the engines be thoroughly
+tested before a flight, as you may spend anxious hours if something goes
+wrong. The spluttering ended, and we ran them up to full speed. This
+done, we waited for more light before hauling the machine down to the
+water. Once the seaplane was water-born, we taxied ourselves across the
+port at moderate speed. As we rose in the air we had to be careful of
+the masts of the ships in the harbour, especially as it was foggy. We
+then opened up the engines, and the seaplane rose. It was very thick, so
+we kept 300 feet above the water, flying on a course. There were two
+pilots and an observer in the machine. Our next work was to estimate the
+velocity of the wind. This is always rather difficult, and, at the same
+time, it is most important to have an accurate estimate of the wind. We
+steered ahead, hoping to see a mark which would guide the observer in
+his course; but because of the fog, we were not able to pick up our
+mark. Hence we had to go on and hope for the best.
+
+"We flew higher, about 1,500 feet, and the clouds were about 800 feet,
+so we were far above them. For two and a half hours we steered straight
+ahead on the lonely fog-covered sea. We were to meet some warships which
+expected us. But even after covering all that distance, we saw nothing
+at all, and therefore resolved to descend and see what prospects there
+were of 'landing' and saving our engines. The sea always appears calm to
+the man flying above it; and even when we were 30 feet only above the
+water we could not tell whether or no it would be dangerous to the
+machine to 'land.'
+
+"By that time we were naturally anxious, as we thought that in steering
+straight ahead, as we had done, we ought to have reached the ships with
+which we had the rendezvous. So far as we could, with the roar of the
+wind and the propeller, we held a consultation--nothing verbose--in
+mid-air to determine what would be the best move. We decided to alter
+our course so as to be sure of getting in sight of land. Half an hour
+later we saw the first sign of life since we had been out--an old tramp
+steamship. Ten minutes after we sighted land. When you are flying at sea
+the land, especially when it is low-lying, takes you by surprise; it
+suddenly looms up when you least expect it.
+
+"We then picked up a mark and set off on our course for the rendezvous.
+So dense was the mist that we could not see more than one and a half
+miles ahead. However, we raced along at 70 knots on our new course, and
+in twenty minutes came in sight of the flotilla of warships spread out
+below in fan-like form, but all moving fast. These ships, you see, keep
+on the move; but they stay for the time being near the point selected
+for the meeting. Instructions were signalled to us, and we came up, and
+flew nearer and nearer the water.
+
+"'Can we land?' was our first question. 'Land' is always used by a
+seaplane pilot even if there is no land within a hundred miles of him.
+Our aerial had been thrown out. It was too rough to go on the water--or,
+at least, not worth risking damage to the seaplane. We carried on our
+conversation partly by shouting and partly by signals, which were
+quickly understood. From the ships we received further instructions, and
+sped on to carry them out. We had no further difficulties, and reached
+home just before sunset."
+
+As an illustration of modern warfare, and the fact that single British
+flyers are feared even by two of the enemy's planes, here is a story
+told by a young Englishman, who knows no nerves when he is in the air,
+no matter how near he comes to being snuffed out by the shrapnel and
+bullets. He is a man of 5 feet 10 inches, with clear blue eyes and blond
+hair--one of those truth-loving Britishers who prefers to err against
+himself in his reports rather than tell of an uncertainty as a
+certainty.
+
+"'Saw and attacked a German submarine, which dived before we could close
+in on her,'" read this man from a log-book. He turned the pages, and a
+little afterwards came on this:--
+
+"'Sighted German patrol, and exchanged fire. Got over Zeebrugge----'
+
+"That reminds me," he said, looking up from the little book which held
+the notes of so many exciting events. "They sent me out then when I
+ought to have been off duty."
+
+He smiled, as did his hearers.
+
+"Well, I got over the Mohl," he added. "That's the German pier at
+Zeebrugge. The Mohl showed up black, and the water looked lighter in the
+darkness. I was up about 2,500 feet, and dropped bombs on the seaplane
+base. I mean, of course, the German air base. Only a few moments, and
+they showed that they were ready for me, as the heavens around were
+lighted up with searchlights. I dropped a few more of my 'eggs,' and
+could not be certain of what damage I accomplished, although I saw
+flames spurt up from several places. Then the enemy sent up two long
+rows of rockets, making an avenue of light so that I could have read by
+it. These infernal things parachute when they get to a certain height
+and, with the fire hanging from them, stay stationary, leaving but one
+exit. If I had run the machine into the rockets it would have been
+ablaze in no time. These fireworks stay in the air for about two
+minutes, which is a devil of a long time when you are up there. Thanks
+to this lighted avenue, I showed up more distinctly than I would have
+done in the daytime. The end of the avenue, I knew, was the target of
+their anti-aircraft gunnery. I flew out, and shrapnel tore all around
+me. My machine was struck several times, and, as bad luck would have it,
+the patent point of my magneto fell out just when I got to the spot
+where shrapnel was thickest.
+
+"My chances of getting home then seemed pretty slim--engines out of
+order, lit up by fireworks, up 2,500 feet, and a target clear as a
+pikestaff for the gunnery. However, I managed to slide in the direction
+of the ship on the French coast. It seems easy to keep out of the way of
+the guns; but, of course, they have a demoralising effect on a man in
+the air. Not so much at dark as in the day, though. Well, I got home all
+right.
+
+"Only a day or so afterwards I dropped a bomb on or near a German
+U-boat, and I can't say to this day whether I struck or damaged her.
+
+"'Very lonely,'" murmured the pilot, reading from his log. "'Just saw a
+torpedo boat.' On the next day, let's see.... Oh, yes.... 'Saw two
+German destroyers, and raced back to our ship, and British ships sped
+after the Germans.'
+
+"A day or so later I had run in with two German machines. It chanced
+that there was a wind blowing about 30 knots, and I was merely out
+scouting, and did not carry a gun. The two enemy ships were joined by a
+third, and then they gained sufficient courage to come a bit close. They
+shot away my aileron control, and we were in a very bad way. For twenty
+minutes we were continually under fire, and below there was a heavy
+swell. It really was only through knowing how scared is the enemy flyer
+when you go for him that I am here to-night. I let the enemy planes get
+nearer and nearer to me, and by the time they were ready for firing I
+dived at one of them. This so upset the poise of the three machines that
+they turned tail and swung around to come at me. They made huge circles
+to get on my flanks again. All this took time, and during it I was
+getting nearer and nearer my base. Now and again the enemy machines were
+like too many cooks and the broth; they nearly crashed into each other.
+This also upset their nerves. Incidentally, when you are in the air,
+only the other machine appears to be moving, and you seem perfectly
+still. My escape is due in part to the arrival of one of our fighting
+seaplanes. A German is desperately afraid of them, unless there are four
+Germans to one Britisher. When they saw this fighting Britisher coming
+they did not take long to get away. They knew who the flyer was, too,
+for a man's style in the air is always characteristic. They had heard of
+this flyer before. So they turned tail, and I got back with a machine
+out of order. 'The Prussian code of politeness,' we call it when they
+retire with two or three machines against one of ours. It is the respect
+that they show for our fighting seaplanes. Of course, this does not
+detract from the confidence we have in our superiority."
+
+I heard also that seaplanes have been called upon to serve at all sorts
+of tasks on the dismal briny. On one occasion a senior naval officer of
+an English port received word that neutrals were out in boats, and that
+they had no water or food. Their steamship had been torpedoed, and their
+last message by wireless had been caught by the British. The naval
+officer despatched a seaplane with bread and water, and the pilot
+delivered it, with other trifling necessities.
+
+One of the most beautiful sights that meets the eye of a seaplane pilot
+is when he comes on the scouting parties of British warships. They are
+never at a standstill, and to keep moving and in the same place they all
+make a wonderful circle at full speed, with one vessel in the centre.
+That ship is to receive the message or whatever is brought by the
+seaplane, which in the event of calm weather lands on the water and
+sometimes sends off one of her officers to talk to those aboard the
+vessel protected by the ring of speeding grey warcraft.
+
+
+
+
+II. OVER THE NORTH SEA IN A SEAPLANE
+
+
+To have an accurate conception of some of the experiences of a seaplane
+pilot of the Royal Naval Air Service, I took advantage of an opportunity
+to go aloft over the North Sea.
+
+"Come with me, and we'll get you togged out for the ride," said the
+gunnery lieutenant. He was a Canadian, who had lived many years in
+Rochester, N. Y., and it was he who remembered that I would need
+something warmer than the clothes I wore.
+
+In the room to which he conducted me were many different styles of air
+garb. He picked down a hat and coat of black leather, observing that
+they would serve the purpose.
+
+The morning sun shed a yellowish glow on the dancing sea, and the wind
+was blowing at the rate of 32 knots. It was agreed by all that there
+would be an excellent view from the aircraft as the day was clear. By
+the time the gunnery lieutenant and I reached the ways on which the
+great seaplane rested, men in overalls, begrimed with oil and dirt,
+were testing the engine. As the great propeller spun round, coats
+ballooned out with the rush of air, and the noise was such that one
+could hardly hear one's own efforts to shout. It was a sound which
+filled you with awe. The propeller was stopped after a few minutes, and
+the mechanicians shot up the sides of the craft, and punched oil and
+gasolene into the places where it was needed. Young officers in naval
+uniforms stood around the machine--all are usually interested in a
+departing seaplane. Not far from us were many immense sheds in which
+were some of the newest types of England's youngest branch of the Navy.
+There were aircraft there which bespoke the inventive genius of the
+Briton, and the confidence of the young pilots inspired you with
+pleasure--it was a confidence that they could beat the enemy at one to
+two.
+
+Presently the chief mechanician announced to the pilot that all was
+well, and the man who was to take me above the North Sea, attired in his
+uniform and a thick white woollen scarf, climbed up the seaplane's port
+side. He signalled to me to follow, showing the places for me to put my
+feet. The climb was more difficult than I had imagined, and a literal
+_faux pas_ might not have aided the flying ability of the machine.
+
+There was no lashing the passenger to a seat in the plane. The place in
+which I sat would not have cramped three men, the pilot being in front.
+There was a loose leather seat cover atop a wooden box as the only sign
+of comfort.
+
+"Make the best of it," said the pilot. With that, he turned on a switch,
+and the propeller whirred a warning of departure to the clouds. It was a
+parting shot to ascertain that the engines were in trim, and after the
+engine had been stopped the craft was wheeled out into the waters of the
+bay, and then again the propeller rent the air with a burring noise
+which is surprising even if you are more or less prepared for it.
+
+For the first few seconds we apparently swung along on the water's
+surface, then skimmed along, the floats at the sides of the plane
+bobbing on the slightly crested sea. It was only a matter of less than a
+minute before I realised that we were rising in the air between sky and
+water, and with amazing speed we soared, and soon were 300 feet in the
+air. Still our aircraft climbed and climbed. The ocean, which had been
+beating on the sands now outside, seemed peaceful and green. The town
+which I thought had such winding streets when I walked through them now
+looked as if it had been laid out by a landscape architect. Up, up we
+travelled, and the higher we were the more deceptive was the North Sea.
+
+Through, or, at least, far above, the opening to the port the pilot
+steered the seaplane, and far down in the sea I saw a strip of dusky
+something pushing a white speck before it. The pilot signalled for me to
+look down. It was then that I realised that this funny little thing was
+a British submarine going out to sea. The pilot bellowed something; but
+I could only see that he was shouting, no sound coming to me above the
+din of the propeller. We steered straight out to sea, and miles away I
+saw a grey speck--a warship prowling over the lonely depths.
+
+After listening to stories of pilots who have been tossed on the bosom
+of the waters for twenty and thirty hours, the thought of the hardships
+these pilots have to undergo came vividly to me. I thought of how I
+might feel if a dozen anti-aircraft guns made us their target. Behind us
+the town now had almost disappeared. The officer kept the nose of his
+machine towards France, and I thought, as we sped on, of the young
+officer who had an appointment for dinner with his fiancée, and who had
+descended in the wrong territory only a week before. These daring
+pilots, however, think nothing of cutting through the air from England
+to France and taking a bomb or so with them for Zeebrugge on the way.
+
+I began to think a great deal of my pilot. He was about twenty-seven
+years old, and was cool and certain. He was a dare-devil, and had only
+been over in England a short time after spending months on the coast
+near the front.
+
+The town had disappeared, and it was evident that we were practically at
+the mercy of the compass. I felt no dizziness at the great height. In
+fact, I had no conception of the altitude of the seaplane then. Perhaps
+I was comforted by the whirring of the propeller, the thundering rumble
+of which was increased by the stiff wind. I looked headlong down, and
+experienced no sensation of fear. I seemed to be in a solid moving thing
+as stable as a machine on earth or water. We must have been up 4,000
+feet and possibly 100 miles out at sea. There was a sameness about the
+travelling. You heard the roaring blades, and saw the deceitful sea and
+clouds on a line with you here and there. The pilot turned the plane,
+and soon we were headed for land. We kept at the same altitude, and
+after a while beheld the shore line. The marvellous speed of the
+aircraft appealed to me then, as it was not long before we were over
+the harbour gates. At the same time, the seaplane just then did not seem
+to be making any headway. From a height of 4,000 feet the great vessels
+looked like fair-sized matches. How impossible it seemed to aim straight
+enough ever to hit one of those narrow things. As we turned around above
+the town in the direction of the hangars the trembling wings appeared to
+waver a bit more than usual. I looked down at the town, and we appeared
+at a standstill. You can tell sometimes when persons are looking at the
+planes by a speck of white, which is a face. The earth and sea rose
+nearer, for, as one does not appreciate, the plane was descending.
+
+Our seaplane swung around and around like a bird about to settle, and,
+as the seagulls do, alighted on the waters against the wind. With
+remarkable skill and patience the pilot carefully steered the machine
+until she faced the ways on which waited a throng of air-station
+officers and waders. Soon we were properly placed, and a dozen men clad
+in waterproof clothes splashed forward into the water, and caught the
+floats of the seaplane's wings. As the engine had been stopped before we
+landed, I got the first chance to speak to my pilot. He told me to get
+on the back of one of the waders, and in a few minutes I was again on
+dry land. Then the first thing I thought of was how the machine looked
+in the air. The officers congratulated my pilot on a remarkably fine
+landing.
+
+We had been more than two hours and ten minutes in the air, and we were
+both glad of a good stretch as we walked to the hangar, the burring buzz
+of the propeller still in my ears.
+
+
+
+
+III. ADVENTURES IN A SEAPLANE
+
+
+It was an interesting gathering which faced the warm fire in a
+smoking-room of an East Coast station of the Royal Naval Air Service.
+Many of the seaplane pilots who were attired in the blue and gold of
+naval officers had recently returned from successful endeavours in their
+hazardous life in the North Sea and on the Belgian Coast. And here they
+were in old England chatting about their experiences without brag or
+boast--just telling modestly what had happened.
+
+On one side of the spacious room, on a long, deep leather-cushioned
+sofa, were an officer of the guards who was known to have an income of
+at least ten thousand dollars a year, and who had taken to flying for
+the excitement; a stocky youth of twenty from Salt Lake City, Utah, who
+was known to have eked out a livelihood on fifty cents a day at Dayton,
+O., so that he could pay for his training as a pilot; another youngster,
+scion of a wealthy Argentine family with English connections; and an
+Englishman, just over thirty, who had been born in California and had
+heard the 1914 call of the mother country. They were cramped, but
+comfortable.
+
+In other chairs of the deep, comfy English variety were a rancher from
+Canada; an Olympic champion, whose name has often figured in big type in
+New York's evening newspapers; a lieutenant-commander of the Royal Navy,
+who had hunted big game in three continents; a wind-seared first mate of
+a British tramp; a tanned tea-planter from Ceylon; a 'Varsity man from
+Cambridge, whose aim had been a curacy in the English Church; a
+newspaper man from Rochester, N. Y.; a London broker; the head of a
+London print and lithographing business, looked upon as one of the best
+pilots in the service; and a publisher, who in pre-war days had been
+more interested in "best sellers" than in seaplanes.
+
+All were dreadnoughts who looked upon it as a privilege to give their
+lives to smash Prussian militarism. If you had asked any one of them for
+an interview he would have scoffed at the idea. But ordinary
+newspapermen cannot be blamed for being enthralled at the share of these
+pilots in the World War. What's printed about them? Just a paragraph to
+the effect that "Several seaplanes last night bombed Zeebrugge or
+Cuxhaven." They dashed out into the frigid North Sea with an errand,
+but their share in the fights and the valuable assistance they have been
+to Great Britain as scouts are seldom mentioned. Still, they "carry on,"
+asking for no encouragement. And right here it must be explained that
+"carry on" means to do or die in this war. It is the byword of the
+British of the day.
+
+It chanced that "Tidy," as we will call him, was the first speaker who
+had something to say. He had a reason for talking, for some evil genius
+had followed him for two days. The yarn is best told in his own words,
+so far as they can be remembered.
+
+"It was my patrol and I started from France at half-past five o'clock in
+the morning," began the seaplane pilot. "I shot out to sea for about
+thirty miles, and then continued to run along the coast for about 63
+miles. I caught sight of a Dutch ship, and a little while afterwards
+observed a submarine. Almost as soon as I saw the vessel there was a
+cloud of smoke. I raced to the scene, knowing then that the Dutch tramp
+had been torpedoed by a German U-boat. Four miles further on I espied a
+second submarine. I opened fire on the first submarine, which then I saw
+had taken in tow a boat evidently containing the survivors of the Dutch
+vessel. I observed one of the Dutch sailors crawl to the bows of the
+boat attached to the submarine and cut the rope. At that instant I
+dropped a bomb, which fell about 25 or 30 feet from the submarine. The
+under-sea craft went down very quickly, and I descended further and
+dropped my aerial, and the mechanician-operator sent out a message. I
+threw other bombs when I thought I detected about where the submarine
+was in the sea. It was like a hawk after a fish. The other submarine
+fled without giving me a chance.
+
+"I continued scouting, having warned the British warships that two
+submarines were in the vicinity. It came over very misty, and in the
+deep haze I saw three or four German vessels coming out. As I turned,
+deciding to race home and give the word, my engines failed me. I went
+down and down, holding off from the white caps of the sea for two and
+one-quarter hours. My next adventure was the sight of some German
+aeroplanes. After fiddling around, I got my engine started, and flew up
+to 1,000 feet above the sea. It was lucky that I started the engine when
+I did, for the sea was becoming unpleasant. But then my magneto failed
+me, and I realised what was in store on those wind-torn waters. I was
+forced to dodge about like a bird with a broken wing. The wind freshened
+to 40 knots. Although we did our utmost to keep the seaplane off the
+water, it, of course, had to rest there, and I became horribly seasick.
+The mechanician and I tried to keep the craft afloat. We fired off our
+rockets, hoping to attract the attention of a friendly or neutral
+vessel, but at the same time realising that we might fall victims to the
+enemy.
+
+"All night the mechanician and I were tossed on the sea without a chance
+of attracting anyone, as our rockets had given out. The cold was
+unbearable, and both of us were very seasick.
+
+"Dawn came, and there did not even then seem much more chance of our
+being rescued than at night time. You could not imagine anything
+lonelier than a seaplane on the bosom of the North Sea when you are
+without food or drink. The rocking of the light craft would have made a
+good sailor keel over with seasickness. The happy moment, however, did
+come. We were spotted by a mine-sweeper, and she raced to the rescue.
+Our mangled machine was hoisted on the kite crane of the little vessel.
+We had been thirty-six hours without food and water, and most of the
+time bumped about on the sea.
+
+"That would seem to be about enough for the evil genius to perform, eh?
+But we were doomed to have another surprise in store. I went to bed in a
+room in a little hotel, and had hardly closed my eyes when there was a
+great explosion; the whole place seemed about to fall down. I put on an
+overcoat, and tore outside to discover that those blamed destroyers
+which I had seen earlier were bombarding the place where I went to
+sleep. A lucky shot demolished the building next to the one in which I
+was in bed; then I went back to bed, too tired to care what else
+happened."
+
+
+
+
+IV. SWEEPING THE SEAS FOR MINES
+
+
+There are days when a mine-sweeper captain, who is continually running
+the gauntlet of death, reckons that he has been fortunate. Usually this
+is when he just escapes being blown to bits with his vessel or sees what
+can happen to a steamship when it strikes one of the enemy mines planted
+at random in the North Sea. There are days when he goes out and sees
+nothing worth while. However, despite the great danger, unseen and
+unheard until all is over, these mine-sweeper men guide their vessels
+out daybreak after daybreak, with the same old carefree air, to perform
+their allotted task in this war.
+
+Many of these men were fishermen, who looked as if they had slipped out
+of funny stories in their thick jerseys and sou'-westers; now they are
+part and parcel of the British Navy, proud of the blue uniform and brass
+buttons and--when they have them--of the wavy gold bands on their
+sleeves. There are others who were officers and so forth in the
+mercantile marine in pre-war days. They have sailed the seas from John
+o' Groats to Tokio: and to them New York is merely a jaunt.
+
+One of the latter, who was a passenger-vessel officer, attracted a deal
+of attention at an East English port by his indefatigable labour and
+fearlessness in his risky job, until he was rewarded for more than two
+years of grinning at death by the Distinguished Service Cross.
+
+He knows Broadway well, can tell you where he likes best to get his hair
+cut, and where he considers they put up the best cocktail. One day I was
+permitted to take a trip with this captain-lieutenant--and get back.
+Mine-sweeping has been written about by persons from Kipling down, so I
+will just tell you the story as I then saw it.
+
+The skipper stood on the bridge of his dusky-coloured vessel as she
+soused through the waters of the grim North Sea, his keen eyes ever on
+the alert fore and aft, and occasionally on the sister ship to his,
+coupled along with the "broom." They were "carrying on," as usual. This
+skipper was a man just in his thirties. His face was cheery and round,
+and body was muscular and thick-set. In spite of the watch he and his
+first mate kept on this particular occasion, he found time to give me
+his opinion on certain things interesting to the men who go down to the
+sea in ships, and also an idea of what it means to be in command of a
+mine-sweeper.
+
+"You should have been with us on Sunday," he said, as he lighted his
+cigarette between his cupped hands. "It was more interesting than
+usual--had something of this damn thrill you talk about ashore and don't
+know what it is until you've been at the firing front or in one of these
+blessed ocean brooms. That chap across the way found a mine in his kite,
+and we had to cut the hawser in double-quick time, and get far enough
+away from it before we pegged a bullet in one of the horns."
+
+The skipper explained that none of the mines are exploded less than 200
+yards from the vessels. He said that the experience he had just related
+would have sufficed for a day, but that an hour later, when he was still
+brushing up a part of the North Sea, not far from the coast, he received
+a warning from a trawler that a mine exposed at low water was just ahead
+of him. Not in his time had he seen a steamer go astern quicker.
+Afterwards, they deftly fished around for the mine, snapped its mooring
+rope, and brought it to the surface. When the mine was at a safe
+distance from all vessels, a couple of men then aimed their rifles at it
+until there was a loud explosion which sent sand-coloured water 35 feet
+and more into the air.
+
+But the affairs of that Sunday were not yet complete. Twenty minutes
+after the mine had been exploded a great rumble was heard way out at
+sea, and soon it was ascertained by the captain of the mine-sweeper that
+a Scandinavian tramp had met her doom by striking a German mine.
+
+"We went off to see if we could pick up some of the poor chaps,"
+observed the skipper. "Among the twenty-one men and boys we rescued were
+four who'd been passengers aboard a passenger vessel which had been
+torpedoed by a German U-boat without warning near Malta. They told us,
+when they got down into our engine-room, that they were just having one
+hell of a time getting home. I don't blame them for thinking that.
+Through good fortune, and taking chances of being sent to the bottom
+ourselves, we have saved the lives of many of these neutrals who might
+have perished. Yes, here we are mine-sweeping as a job, flying the white
+ensign of the British Navy; and yet we have found time to save life
+imperilled by the enemy. Sometimes I wonder what sly Fritz would have
+to say if he'd even saved a single neutral. He'd be blowing yet. Did you
+ever stop to think that our Government never has jeopardised a single
+neutral life? On the other hand, the lives of neutrals that have been
+rescued at this port run into the thousands. They talk about the freedom
+of the seas. What else has there been until Germany showed that what she
+wants is the 'tyranny of the seas.' Leastways, that's how it strikes me.
+Ever stop to----"
+
+His attention was caught by a signal from the other vessel, and a
+keen-eyed sailor wig-wagged back an answer. It was all right, although
+at first I still remembered the timely warning regarding the slightly
+submerged mine. As a matter of fact, it was merely a desire of the
+sister ship's captain to turn around and "sweep back," as the
+land-lubber might term it.
+
+"Let's see," said the commander, "where was I.... Oh, yes.... Realise
+that we go out and save lives that the enemy imperils far out at sea?
+They are lives that don't concern us, but we don't feel like letting a
+poor chap drown if we can help it. On the other hand, our enemy stops at
+nothing, and, moreover, takes advantage of our humanity. I think that it
+should be known that we dash out to the rescue never knowing when the
+ship may go up against one of Fritz's eggs, which may be anywhere in the
+sea. Why do we go? Just to pick up a benighted lot from an ill-fated
+tramp, and there's nothing in it. Yet we do it all the time, and the
+C.O. commends us for it, too."
+
+We came to a new spot in the green sea to sweep. It was fairly rough,
+and the little vessel bumped and jumped. And this is the work that goes
+on from daybreak to dusk seven days a week. If a trawler strikes a mine
+she usually counts on saying good-bye to herself and 80 per cent. of her
+crew, and the other type of mine-sweeper is lucky if she gets off with a
+loss of less than 40 per cent.
+
+Back and forth in a monotonous sea we steamed, and you had an idea how
+dull this work can be sometimes; also that when it comes to sweeping you
+saw that the North Sea is a big place.
+
+"It's become a science," observed the skipper. "Fritz has a hard time
+many a night 'laying his eggs,' and the many ways we have of bringing
+them to the surface has baffled him a good deal."
+
+A torpedo-boat destroyer hove within signalling distance. The commander
+was handed a message by a sailor. The alert skipper read it, and said:--
+
+"Tell 'em 'yes.'... Just want to know if we had swept around there."
+
+Still the smoke-coloured little vessels kept up the job of plying back
+and forth in the waters. Men were busy at the stern of the ships
+watching the wooden kites that are made so as to catch the mines by the
+hawser that is slung between the two steamers. The slightest sign of a
+ball-like piece of steel in the sea and the dullness of sweeping is
+relieved, for then the skipper knows that he has unhooked one of the
+mines. Along came a submarine, flying the white ensign of the Royal
+Navy. The mine-sweepers realise that these men have no arm-chair job,
+and admire the commander and crew of the under-water boats accordingly.
+A sailor semaphored with his arms, and the commander of the mine-sweeper
+sent a message back, and the submarine passed slowly on her way.
+
+"If some of those people at home and abroad at their firesides realised
+what the men at sea have to suffer to keep this coast free they might
+have a different way of talking," declared the commander, now taking to
+his much-burned old pipe. "Those chaps that have just come in have had
+a week without any sleep--or next to none--and their food has all been
+canned stuff. There are many persons who think the North Sea's a
+pond--same as they do over in America."
+
+On we steamed in our section of the waters with never a sign of a German
+mine. Finally, the day came to a close, and the captain ordered the
+hawser to be slipped and the kite hoisted in the stern crane of his
+vessel, the like being done by the other sweeper.
+
+As if glad that the day's work was over, the small craft pressed forward
+to the harbour, and were disappointed to find that a big tramp was
+taking up the room of their berths. They anchored outside, waiting for
+the big steamer to get away.
+
+"Do they tell you when you can come alongside the dock?" I asked.
+
+"No need to," said the captain with a smile. "You'll see."
+
+We had been in the open harbour for about twenty minutes when the bows
+of the ugly vessel came slowly on. An instant later all the small craft
+were ready to speed to their respective berths in their turns, and it
+was not so very long before the mine-sweeper was tied to her part of the
+dock. The commander of the sister vessel to the one I had been aboard
+came over to us.
+
+"Good ship that of yours?" I said.
+
+"Yes," muttered the man with two rings of the Royal Naval Reserve on his
+sleeve. "She's all right; but I love this ship. I had her a year ago,
+and she's a little wonder. It would take me a long while to love another
+vessel."
+
+My skipper laughed.
+
+"Just one of those days," he said. "Come, let's go and have a spot."
+
+
+
+
+V. THE ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION
+
+
+Buffeted about from Antwerp to Gallipoli, Egypt, the Greek Islands,
+Salonika, and then to France, first under an admiral, then part of an
+army corps, again under an admiral, and finally back to military
+regime--the life of the Royal Naval Division, which startled an Empire
+by their valour on the Ancre, has been one full of thrills, sorrows,
+threats of extinction, brave deeds, and perilous journeys. They are
+proud of their naval origin, and are also tenacious of their naval
+customs, despite the fact that all their fighting has been done ashore
+and few sailors survive among them.
+
+In August, 1914, Mr. Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the
+Admiralty, mobilised and organised, as a division for land fighting,
+reservist seamen, stokers and marines, and naval volunteers whose
+services were not required afloat, also recruits drawn mainly from among
+the miners of the North of England and Scotland. Guards' officers, naval
+and marine instructors--each in his own ritual--help to train them. To
+the Navy, who raided them when it needed seamen or stokers for its
+ships, they were "dry-land sailors." To the Army, they were just a bunch
+of "so-called salts" or "Winston's Own." But their instructors soon
+recognised that in these grousing, middle-aged stokers, and in these
+silent stolid illiterate miners and ironworkers from the North Country,
+they had the raw material of soldiers as fine as Great Britain can
+breed.
+
+In many respects, the Division has had the worst of both worlds. They
+have beaten their way steadily to the fore without much recognition in
+print; but since Beaucourt fell, both military and naval men have been
+eager to grasp their hands.
+
+Now and again a brief mention fell to their lot while they were in
+Gallipoli, where the military were attracted to them a bit by the idea
+of calling their battalions after famous admirals such as Nelson, Drake,
+Hood, Collingwood, Anson, Howe, Benbow, and Hawke. Sir Ian Hamilton made
+mention of the fearlessness of the division in his despatches, and
+Major-General D'Amade eulogised them for their bravery after the frays
+of the 6th, 7th, and 8th of May, 1915. In June, 1915, the Collingwood
+battalion was wiped out; of the officers of this battalion and of the
+Hood, who went to the attack, not one returned unwounded. The other
+battalions also suffered terribly, having been equally contemptful of
+danger.
+
+Prior to that they had, of course, been to Antwerp. Even if they did not
+have a chance to do much, the Division, at any rate, caused the Belgians
+to hold out for five days longer than they might otherwise have done.
+
+Among the many brave men on the officers' roll are well-known Britishers
+who have given their lives for their country. There was Rupert Brooke,
+the poet; Denis Browne, formerly musical critic of _The Times_; F. S.
+Kelly, holder of the Diamond Sculls record, who also was an
+exceptionally clever composer and pianist; and Arthur Waldene St. Clair
+Tisdall, a great scholar and poet of Cambridge. He was awarded the
+Victoria Cross for his valour on the 25th of April, at Gallipoli, for
+going to the rescue of wounded men on the beach. To accomplish this, he
+pushed a boat in front of him. On his second trip he was obliged to ask
+for help. In all, he made five trips in the face of great danger. He met
+death in action barely three weeks afterwards.
+
+Lieutenant-Commander Arthur M. Asquith, son of the former British
+Premier, is one of the gallant men attached to the Hood battalion. He
+has been through the thick of many fights, and has been wounded more
+than once, escaping death through sheer good fortune.
+
+And one of the men whom all England was wild about is a New
+Zealander from Wellington, twenty-seven years old, now an acting
+lieutenant-colonel, who was described by an eye-witness of the Ancre
+fighting as "a flying figure in bandages plunging over Germans to
+Beaucourt." He is B. C. Freyberg, a born soldier and great athlete.
+
+Before the Great War, this marvel of courage was fighting for Pancho
+Villa in Mexico; and the instant the European conflict started, Freyberg
+realised that he might do better in Europe. He therefore deserted Villa,
+and set out afoot for San Francisco. His splendid constitution stood him
+in good stead, and he arrived there as fit as a fiddle, soon afterwards
+winning enough money in a swimming race to take him to London. In the
+English capital he received a commission as a sub-lieutenant in the
+Royal Naval Division, and his promotion has been rapid.
+
+Colonel Freyberg was caught in a live electric wire in Antwerp; but it
+was of so high a voltage that he was not killed, sustaining only an
+injury to his hand and arm. He was even fired at by his own men, who
+believed that he was a German crawling through the wire. Just before the
+landing in Gallipoli, on the 25th of April, 1915, it was proposed to
+throw dust in the eyes of the Turks by landing a platoon at a point on
+the coast of the Gulf of Saros, where no serious landing was
+contemplated. To save the sacrifice of a platoon, Freyberg, who was at
+that time a company-commander in the Hood battalion, pressed to be
+allowed to achieve the same object single-handed. His wish was granted;
+and on the night of the 24th-25th of April, oiled and naked, he swam
+ashore, towing a canvas canoe containing flares and a revolver. He
+reconnoitred the enemy's trenches, and, under the covering fire of a
+destroyer, lit his flares at intervals along the beach. He had some
+difficulty in finding his boat again. A mysterious fin accompanied him
+during part of the swim. He at first took it to be that of a shark, but
+found later it belonged to a harmless porpoise. After some two hours in
+the water, he was picked up, and for this gallant and successful feat he
+was made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. In Gallipoli
+he was wounded in May, again in July, 1915, and he was mentioned in Sir
+Charles Monro's despatches in connection with the successful evacuation
+of the 9th of January, 1916.
+
+Hence, this sailor-soldier in a comparatively short time attracted a
+good deal of attention among the naval and military authorities; so it
+was not surprising that when he applied for a permanent commission in
+the British Army he was given a captaincy in the Queen's Royal West
+Surrey Regiment. The same day, however, he received this news he was
+seconded to the Royal Naval Division with the temporary rank of
+lieutenant-colonel. So he retained command of his old battalion--the
+Hood.
+
+Inasmuch as the first despatches concerning the storming of Beaucourt
+referred to Lieutenant-Colonel Freyberg as "a naval colonel," all
+Britain was wondering who this hero could be. Some of his friends were
+not long in guessing; but it was not until the next day that Freyberg in
+name received credit for the remarkable exploit on the north bank of the
+Ancre. In the first messages of the British success it was set forth
+that in a battle where every man fought nobly for the honour of his
+regiment and his country, one individual act of leadership stood out
+with peculiar distinctness.
+
+A witness of the battle told of the troops on Freyberg's left being held
+up, and that between him and them ran, roughly parallel with the line of
+advance, a spur which cut off the effect of the enemy's machine guns.
+After fourteen hours of fighting, bit by bit, the sea-dog soldiers had
+plunged through a mile of trenches and ground sorely marked by shells.
+Three machine guns then were pushed forward well beyond that line, and
+the still unsatisfied sailor-colonel, his shoulder and right arm swathed
+in bandages, asked leave to go ahead and attack the village. His men
+were about 1,000 yards in front of the companies on his left,
+endeavouring to advance across the northwesterly slope. It was more like
+a matter of defence than attack. The men were few in numbers, and had
+fought like tigers for long hours without a rest. However, about 500 men
+were collected, and the dark of night was spent in organisation. Then,
+in the misty dawn, some soldier battalions came up to reinforce the
+left, and onward plunged Freyberg.
+
+Out on the Ancre they say that he got so far ahead of his men that he
+rubbed his hand over his head and murmured: "Huh--I believe I forgot to
+tell them to follow me." Whether or not this is true, only Freyberg
+knows. But we do not remain in doubt as to what he and his men did right
+afterwards. They ploughed their way through mud and Germans, with the
+fire of five machine guns peppering them. They stuck right on the heels
+of the barrage fire, and in less than twenty minutes from that time the
+Germans had been driven from their stronghold of Beaucourt. Here and
+there a German post held, and men in the trenches faced the British
+bombs and cold steel. Still the Teutons soon learned that it was
+impossible to stop that alarming Briton and his men.
+
+Freyberg formed a semicircular trench around the far side of the new
+possession, and then they took time to see what had happened to the
+gallant little band. Freyberg had received his fourth wound, and his
+brave 500 had dwindled to a number a good deal smaller. The Britishers,
+somehow, had been unkind in their speed to the Germans, and the enemy
+was left gaping with wonder at the result of what they at first took to
+be nothing more than a bit of bluff.
+
+For this remarkable display of valour Freyberg received the Victoria
+Cross.
+
+Reverting to the division itself, it should be said that every officer
+of these jolly-jack-tar soldiers has panegyrics galore to cast in the
+direction of General Sir Archibald Paris, K.C.B., who was in command of
+the division at Antwerp and the Dardanelles. He lost a leg before the
+Ancre fighting, and thus was disappointed of being with them for their
+great success in France. He was succeeded by Major-General Cameron
+Shute, C.B. What the division has recently accomplished and the way it
+has terrorised the enemy, like Kipling's "Tyneside Tail Twisters," is a
+happy thought to General Shute. In one battalion it is estimated that 90
+per cent. of the casualties in the Ancre fighting were caused by the
+closeness with which the sailors clung to the barrage fire. Their grit
+caused the enemy to pale.
+
+They are pleased and proud of their sea terms, and would not give them
+up for anything--not even if the soldiers of the King do not fathom
+their meaning.
+
+It is a case of going to the "galley," while the red-coat that was
+persists in the "kitchen." The first field dressing-station is nothing
+but "sick bay" to the R.N.D. man. They "go adrift" when they are missing
+from parade, and they ask to "go ashore" when they want leave.
+
+
+
+
+VI. A NAVAL SCHOOL
+
+
+From one of several institutions, every six months Britain turns out
+2,200 boys who have mastered the elementary rudiments of seamanship and
+are ready to take their places as ordinary seamen aboard warships. They
+will not tell you how many of these schools there are in Great Britain
+alone, but you may learn that no undue activity has been brought about
+in these places because John Bull is at war. After having waded through
+the curriculum of these boys, one comes to the conclusion that they are
+not so far from being able seamen by the time they emerge from this
+place on the East Coast.
+
+It is especially striking how speedily the youthful mind snatches up the
+mysteries of signalling and of wireless telegraphy; and one is filled
+with interest in following the boys from the time they first enter the
+school to the day they leave.
+
+In a room where they are "kitting up" are twenty or thirty boys who have
+just arrived. And, as they say in America, there is "no monkey
+business" about the instructors: either the boys are those who are
+wanted or they are not. The youngsters receive their first seafaring
+garb in a large, well-ventilated room. They have been in the bath, and
+their hair is as close as the clippers can make it. One of them said he
+was the son of a lawyer; another that his father was in the Royal Navy;
+a third came of a parson's family; a husky young chap had been a
+blacksmith's assistant; and another had coo-ed milk in London streets.
+
+"An'," declared a petty officer, "they all comes here believin' they'll
+be able to get a pot shot at the Kaiser. Seems to me that they imagine
+that William is always standing on guard on the rocks of Heligoland,
+just waiting for them to come along--what?"
+
+In another section of the school the boys are grounded in discipline by
+a petty officer, and by the time they get through with him they are
+accustomed to saluting. Follows then a whirl of wonders to them. There
+is a model of the forepart of a ship, which they can steer, and so learn
+port from starboard; there is the ingenious manner of dropping a
+lifeboat into the lap of the sea; and then the interesting work of tying
+knots, in which the petty officer instructor takes considerable pride.
+
+One of the most interesting rooms of sub-schools is the one where the
+youthful "salts" are initiated into the mysteries of signalling, where,
+besides the numerous flags for sea conversation, there is a dummy
+wireless station, by which they can become proficient operators. They
+have models of ships, so that they can tell which are British and which
+are German. Then there are gunnery schools, and it speaks well for the
+young Briton that 90 per cent. of the pupils have such keen minds that
+they yearn to learn more of the mysteries of the study of sea fighting;
+they have the ambition to be really good seamen, engine-room men,
+wireless operators, or signalmen.
+
+On a section of the school grounds there is a mast on which is hoisted
+the White Ensign of the British Navy. This spot is known as the
+quarter-deck, and every time one of the youngsters passes where he can
+see that mast he salutes reverently. Beyond that there is the recreation
+ground, where every Saturday afternoon in winter there are half a dozen
+games of football. The officers help them to enjoy that, too, for, like
+Americans, they delight in exercise.
+
+It is remarkable what a change a boy undergoes after a few months at
+the institution. I was told of would-be sailors who were sloppy and
+dirty when they entered the school being transformed into neat, fine
+physical specimens.
+
+"A hair-cut, a wash, a change of underwear and other garments makes all
+the difference in the world," said one of the instructors. "And when you
+add to this lessons in sea-neatness, a good deal of interesting
+headwork, manual labour, good food and plenty of recreation, it's no
+wonder that the mill makes a new boy of one of the seafaring aspirants."
+
+The boys have one great mess-room; and, although they never have been to
+sea, they are taught to treat the school as if it were a war vessel.
+They ate with vigour when I saw them, and I was told that the money
+given to them by the Government is spent for extras in the eating
+line--principally candies. Each table constitutes a mess, and there are
+prizes for the cleanest and best-arranged mess; so they arrange their
+knives, forks, and spoons in a design calculated to catch the
+prize-awarder's eye. And, incidentally, this idea of giving prizes for
+the best-kept mess is followed throughout the service.
+
+Each day is started with prayer on the quarter-deck, and an impressive
+ceremony it is. Honour and glory is what they will tell you they hope
+to get out of the Navy, and not money. And the idea of honour, as it is
+known in the Navy, is drummed into them from the moment they enter the
+school.
+
+To see these youngsters at any meal is to believe that it was the first
+time they had eaten for a week. They are ravenously hungry, and the food
+is of such excellence that it makes a visitor feel as if he would like
+to sit down too. There is little waste here, for I observed that each
+plate was polished clean; and, when eating was over, the boys bounded
+out for an hour's recreation on the spacious grounds. On their way many
+of them paid a visit to the candy-store, and while they were playing
+they munched candy.
+
+The port where this school is located is a healthful spot, and in war
+time no person is permitted to board a ferry to the school without a
+special pass. When you first land you are decidedly struck by the great
+figure-heads of old war vessels, which are set up on the "quarter-deck"
+and in front of some of the buildings. There is one of the old Ganges
+there--a mammoth wooden head of a very black negro. The size of it is
+startling.
+
+The officers have a charmingly comfortable ward-room and mess-room. In
+the bay is the second Ganges, now a sort of mother-ship for
+mine-sweepers and trawlers, and one of the busiest places one can
+imagine. The King not long ago dined aboard this ship, and is said to
+have expressed great interest in the work carried on from the Ganges.
+
+
+
+
+VII. "GENTLEMEN, 'THE KING'"
+
+
+There are many traditions to which the Royal Navy still clings, and
+there are messes afloat and ashore where it is manifest that time has
+not withered impressive and picturesque features of the days of the
+wooden warships. For instance, no layman can help being struck by the
+British naval officers' toast to the King. And the other toasts are
+offered with such splendid solemnity and grace that it makes one wish
+that something of the sort could be done at even the minor affairs where
+civilians are gathered. Of course, the Londoner and the man from
+Manchester offers his toast at a great banquet, as they do in New York
+and other American cities to the President of the United States. But
+although it takes no longer at a naval mess, there is a something about
+it which places the civilian in the shade. With the Navy it is a mess,
+and not a dinner where there are many strangers, and every officer has
+been doing this since he was a boy.
+
+John Bull's naval officers are men who admit the faults of their
+country. They have travelled, and have seen a good many other countries
+and peoples. From Osborne and Britannia days sincerity seems to have
+been inculcated into them. The discipline is inflexible, but kindly. The
+captain of a "Dreadnought" will take pains to ask a young midshipman to
+dine with him, and there exists a wonderful thoughtfulness on the part
+of the officers for the men. British naval officers are lovers of
+sports, and, having believed the Germans good sports before August,
+1914, they cannot condone attacks on non-belligerents or the shooting of
+nurses. His Majesty's naval officers do great things without talking
+about them, and at dinner one of the star heroes of the war may be in
+the next chair to you, but you certainly will not hear it from him.
+
+Opposite me sat a man who had faced death with Scott on the Polar
+expedition. It was after I had left the mess that I learned this from
+one of his friends. But at a mess you may hear stories of men who are
+absent. It was at dinner aboard one of the great, grey sea-fighters that
+we laughed at the yarn of a young middy, in charge of one of the cutters
+off Gallipoli when the Turks were sending shells like rain. This
+midshipman ordered his men to take cover. His men included bearded
+fellows twice his size and age. They obeyed, as they always obey. Then
+the youthful fearnought, to show his contempt for danger, stood on one
+of the cutter's cross-seats, pulled out a cigarette-case almost as large
+as himself, and puffed rings of smoke skywards.
+
+"I made a jolly fine set of rings that time," he told one of the men.
+
+Another of this tribe was in Cairo on leave when he received word that
+his ship was to leave sooner than expected. She was in Alexandria. Not
+having sufficient money to pay his train fare, he requisitioned a
+motor-bicycle and sped on to Alexandria. From his youthful eyes there
+welled tears when he was informed that his ship was weighing anchor.
+Nothing daunted, however, he commandeered a fast motor-boat, and swept
+out after the warship, which he caught on the go. This is the man who in
+later years you are apt to meet at the officers' messes--a man full of
+information and wonderfully versatile. He may have ploughed the seas for
+many years, and dwelt in his steel home in the baking heat of tropical
+suns, and waited for the enemy for many a day. Hence conversation never
+lags at these dinners. The meals are comparatively plain in these days;
+but most of the officers stick to the delight of a cocktail before
+dinner, and after the _pièce de résistance_ they have their glass of
+port.
+
+Just before the dessert the port is poured into glistening glasses, and
+the table is cleared.
+
+"Table cleared, sir," announces the steward to the president of the
+mess; and a second later one hears: "Wine passed, sir."
+
+"Thank God," is the brief grace of the chaplain; or, if one is not
+present, the head of the mess says it. This is followed with a rap on
+the table, and from the president of the mess:--
+
+"Mr. Vice, 'The King.'"
+
+"Gentlemen, 'The King,'" speaks out the vice-president of the mess, who
+is seated at the other end of the table opposite to the head of the
+mess.
+
+Conversation, which a second before had been filling the place, is
+silenced by the grace, and the stranger may be somewhat startled by the
+suddenness of the proceedings. It is the privilege of these officers to
+drink the King's health seated. This is an old custom, which came about
+through the sovereign realising that ships are not the steadiest places
+always, and the fact that the ward-rooms are sometimes not constructed
+so that a tall man can always stand erect.
+
+Immediately "Gentlemen, 'The King,'" is uttered by the mess's
+vice-president each officer repeats in an undertone: "The King." The
+glasses after being held aloft come to the table as one, and the
+conversation is resumed. Garbed in their immaculate monkey-jackets, with
+the glistening gold braid on the cuffs, the men at the carefully set and
+beflowered table make a scene long to be remembered.
+
+Incidentally, there is a marine officers' mess at a certain port which
+naval officers are always ready to talk about. In that place they are
+proud of a wonderful mahogany table which has been polished for many
+years until it is now like a black mirror. The band of this mess is one
+of the best in England; and it is the privilege of the bandmaster to
+play at concerts and in theatres, the proceeds being divided among
+charities, the bandmaster and his men. Hence the leader of this band
+probably had an income of $7,500 a year.
+
+Here, before the toast to the King is offered, servants come along each
+side of the great table and, at a given word, whisk the tablecloth from
+the shiny mahogany. The bandmaster is invited to have a glass of port by
+the president of the mess. The band leader seats himself, and sips his
+wine. Follows then the toast to the King.
+
+At the mess of the largest Royal Naval Air Station in England they have,
+by good fortune, obtained the services of a chef who formerly was of the
+Ritz Hotel in London; and especial attention is given to this mess. No
+matter how hard may have been the day's work or how many men have been
+forced to leave for other billets, the dinners there are a sight for the
+gods. More than 150 expert seaplane pilots from all over the world sit
+down.
+
+It is like a bit of history of olden days to hear: "Gentlemen, 'The
+King,'" with its charm and ceremony.
+
+
+
+
+VIII. THE ROYAL NAVAL AMBULANCE TRAIN
+
+
+Ready to speed to any accessible port on telegraphic or telephonic
+orders from the Admiralty Medical Transport Department are Royal Naval
+Ambulance trains. They are always on the move, picking up wounded or
+sick officers and bluejackets at Scotch and English ports, bearing them
+to stations where there are great hospitals, to relieve the coast
+institutions likely to receive wounded in the event of a North Sea Fleet
+engagement. These grey-painted trains, with the Red Cross and the "R.N."
+on each coach, are the outcome of a great deal of study, and they are
+now run with remarkable efficiency. No millionaire could receive better
+care when wounded or ill than do John Bull's naval officers and seamen.
+
+Sir James Porter, the head of this service, whose pen sends a train to
+all parts of England and Scotland, has a loyal staff, which devotes
+remarkable zeal to their share of the work. They take pride in making a
+time-record in disembarkation and entraining of patients. Naval surgeons
+at each railroad station watch the work of the stretcher-bearers to be
+sure that every cot has the gentlest possible handling when being
+carried from the train to the ambulance which is to take the patient to
+the local hospital.
+
+The "stepping" of the stretcher-bearers seems a trifling thing, but it
+is surprising to note the attention given to this point in the first
+days of the war. Dr. A. V. Elder, staff surgeon of the Royal Naval
+Volunteer Reserve and the right bower of Sir James Porter, practised for
+weeks the carrying of patients, getting into cots to ascertain the most
+comfortable step for the wounded. Prizes were even given to the men who
+carried a pail of water on a cot and reached a fixed point with the most
+liquid in the receptacle. By this means the best method of "stepping off"
+was evolved. There are hundreds of these stretcher-bearers--volunteers
+without compensation--who now perform the task so well that it attracts
+even the attention of the casual observer. The cot-bearers are doing
+their "bit"; they get to the railroad stations at all times to meet the
+ambulance trains, and often have to wait hours and give up their usual
+business.
+
+It may also be interesting to some that in those August days the Naval
+Ambulance trains were not much more than a series of box-cars. The
+present cot--an ingenious arrangement by naval surgeons--was used in the
+naval hospitals and aboard the warships. But the fixtures on the train
+for carrying this cot were far from perfection. The patient was tossed
+about by the movement of the train, and it was realised that in the
+event of hundreds of patients being carried something would have to be
+discovered to steady the beds. Dr. Elder invented a clip-spring to be
+attached to the cot and the side of the coach. It held the bed, and had
+sufficient "give" to make it steady. In lieu of the box-cars, there are
+now coaches of the American type, with windows and great sliding doors
+which permit of easy ingress or egress.
+
+The railroad officials have listened to the bidding of the Medical
+Transport Officer of the Admiralty and have attached some of the best
+locomotives to these trains, usually of twelve coaches. Even when there
+has not been an action, and the trains are bearing mostly medical cases,
+all passenger and freight traffic gives way to the ambulance trains. If
+the surgeon in charge of the train decides that he has a case which
+should be hastened to a hospital he wires ahead, so that when he reaches
+that point the surgeon or the agent there is on hand with an ambulance
+to rush the patient to a local hospital.
+
+Where it is possible, red tape has been eliminated. The cots in which
+the patients are carried are sent with the patient from a hospital or
+ship, and the patient is only taken out when he arrives at the hospital
+of his destination. For the cot bearing the patient, the train surgeon
+receives in exchange a clean cot. This cot has been laundered and
+fumigated, and is kept on the train so that when only patients are
+entrained the surgeon gives a cot for each case taken aboard. Hence the
+surgeon always has the same number of cots on his train, and through
+this means paper and pencil work is avoided. The patient's clothes are
+packed in a bag, and all the valuables of one batch of patients are
+sealed up in one envelope, which is receipted for by the surgeon of the
+hospital to which the patients are sent.
+
+No patient is transferred from a hospital in a critical condition if it
+can be avoided. But sometimes this is necessary, as it was following the
+Jutland Battle. Then the most serious cases were held in the hospitals;
+while, where it was possible, hundreds of cases were despatched to
+institutions at other ports.
+
+The route of these ambulance trains may differ every round trip. One
+ambulance train may go to the North of Scotland, while the next one will
+only go to Glasgow or Edinburgh if there is no call further north. The
+wonderful organisation not only undertakes to relieve hospitals, but
+also to ship the patients to institutions unlikely to be suddenly
+burdened with many cases; and consideration is also given as to where
+the patient can receive the best attention, such as in southern
+hospitals.
+
+Fleet-Surgeon A. Stanley Nance is the Medical Transport Officer for
+Scotland. He is ever on the alert for what is going on in the hospitals
+in his territory. In the event of a great sea conflict, he receives
+orders from Sir James Porter and information concerning all the trains
+which are by that time racing to the ports nearest to the scene of the
+engagement.
+
+In London, the Medical Transport Officer can place his finger on a
+railroad map at any time and tell within a mile or so where his trains
+are. If by any possible chance they are delayed he receives word from
+the train surgeons.
+
+Knowing the probability of further engagements in the North Sea, quite
+a number of wealthy private individuals have interested themselves in
+the hospitals on the East Coast from north to south. And these persons
+take especial interest in the trains, many of them making it a point to
+be at the railroad station whenever a Royal Naval Ambulance train pulls
+in. What with sick men and accidents, the trains now and again may have
+a full quota of patients without there having been a fleet engagement.
+In war time no man who is not physically fit is kept aboard ship, for he
+may not take up another man's place without being able to perform his
+work.
+
+Exigencies of war have caused the speedy transformation of buildings in
+many parts of England into hospitals. There also are institutions
+constructed in temporary form, architecturally not works of art, but
+wonderfully useful. The surgeons at these latter places have wrought
+marvels in obtaining good light in the wards and operating-rooms, and
+creating a comfortable atmosphere in the exteriorly dingy places.
+
+The starting-point or headquarters of the ambulance trains is in the
+South, and when they plough their way North they carry no patients. The
+complement of these trains is from forty to fifty hands, and they all
+look upon the train as a ship, and use sailors' terms. It is the "Sick
+Bay Express."
+
+
+
+
+IX. A RUN IN A ROYAL NAVAL AMBULANCE TRAIN
+
+
+I obtained permission to make a "voyage" in an ambulance train.
+
+On a grey, drizzling morning one of the Royal Naval trains glided into a
+siding at Queensferry--a dozen miles from Edinburgh. In less than ten
+minutes six hefty stretcher-bearers steadily and silently bore the first
+cot patient from a waiting ambulance to the war-coloured train. Cot then
+followed cot with precision, only two of the patients being in the open
+at a time; and as quickly as mortals could accomplish it these cots were
+set swinging in the "eyes" set for the lanyards.
+
+Being about half-past eight o'clock, nobody had much to say. The faces
+of the sick and wounded bluejackets told you nothing as they lazily
+gazed around them while being hoisted into the hospital train. They
+looked like men sewed into white sailcloth sacks. Surgeons, with two and
+three gold stripes, between which runs the red--blood red, some
+say--denoting their department in the Navy, glanced occasionally at the
+patients.
+
+"Carry on, there," then came from the R.N.V.R. lieutenant in charge of
+the stretcher-bearers, when one of the coaches had received its quota of
+sick and wounded. Then the sliding doors of the next coach yawned for
+its measure of sick men, who presented an interesting rather than a
+pathetic picture, for every bluejacket wore his cap, looking like a
+sailor who had gone to bed with his clothes on. That cap travels with
+him like his papers. The bluejacket has many important things which he
+conceals in it, and the most important of all is his package of
+"gaspers," as he terms his particular brand of cigarettes. The cap is
+placed firmly on his head, and occasionally a flannelled arm protruded
+from the cot. No moan or groan escaped from these plucky patients, for
+the sailor always lives up to the traditions of the Royal Navy.
+
+From one of the cots there showed a head covered in bandages with only
+two small openings for the patient's eyes. His cap was on his bed. As
+this sailor was being hoisted into the train a deep voice came from the
+bed:--
+
+"Mind yer eye, Bill, or yer'll get yer feet wet."
+
+Bill was a "sitting case." He had come up on the same ambulance as his
+pal. He had been in the same fo'castle and had been hurt in the same
+accident. And now they were going aboard the same train to the same
+port. Bill paid little heed at that moment to his chum as he picked his
+way through the water and mud. His right arm was in a sling and the
+comforting cigarette between his teeth. Standing on the last rung of the
+little ladder before going into the car, I heard him say to another
+sailor:--
+
+"She's over yonder. Bye-bye for the present."
+
+His cap came off as he looked in the direction of the great deep water
+where lay the hazy forms of ships. Others looked, but said nothing about
+the sailor doffing his cap to his grey-steel sweetheart who had
+weathered the fight against odds.
+
+"That makes 110," said the train surgeon. "Six, four, seventy-three,
+twenty-seven--what?"
+
+The first two numerals denote officers, sitting and cot cases, and the
+latter two those of the men.
+
+"Right-o," quoth the officer of the stretcher-bearers.
+
+Soon the grey train steamed out, with orders to make a stop for a couple
+of cot cases in Edinburgh. In the Waverley Station a few minutes later
+the train took aboard the patients, and then sped on south.
+
+Before "she" had been under way very long, the surgeon in charge and his
+assistant walked through the coaches, observing the cases on board and
+noting whether any of them needed any special attention.
+
+At noon the cooks and stewards were hustling, giving food to men who, I
+supposed, would only require toast and beef-tea. But it takes a lot to
+make a bluejacket lose his hunger.
+
+"They're all 'Oliver Twists,'" declared the train surgeon.
+
+Now, there is nothing that a sailor of His Majesty's Navy likes so much
+to look at as a pretty girl. Hence it was not surprising when I heard a
+voice from one of the cots, after the train had stopped at Newcastle, in
+enthusiastic tones blurt out:--
+
+"From 'ere I can see the purtiest gal I ever laid eyes on."
+
+Business, then, of a movement in every cot. Eyes were all front, gazing
+in the direction of a golden-haired beauty, who blushed a deep pink when
+she realised how many pairs of eyes from the train were focussed on her.
+Soon horny hands were being kissed in her direction. Shyly, she sent a
+kiss or two back, and then retired to the shadows.
+
+As I said before, the train is considered a ship. It is a case of going
+to "Sick Bay" and of "out pipes" at nine o'clock. They talk of
+"darkening the ship" when the blinds are pulled and the lights covered.
+We arrived at Hull when it was dusk, and at the station was, among other
+persons, Lady Nunburnholme, whose husband is the chief owner of the
+Wilson Line of steamships, and who takes a deep interest in the
+ambulance trains and the sailors' hospital in her town. No matter at
+what hour one of the Royal Naval trains is due, Lady Nunburnholme is at
+the depot, always eager to have a word with the men, and give them
+cigarettes and cheer them up.
+
+By error, that evening a clergyman or naval chaplain, who had been hurt
+on a warship, was put in the coach with the men. The surgeon made the
+discovery, and said he would have the padre moved into the officers'
+quarters at the next stop.
+
+"I'm a humbug," said the cheery pastor. "There's nothing wrong with me.
+Just go ahead looking after the men."
+
+Plymouth was to be the next stop. We were due there at half-past seven
+o'clock the following morning. At midnight the chief surgeon walked
+through the train to see that all was well, and he was attracted by a
+man coughing. He directed that something be given to this patient.
+
+"Don't want to have one man keep half a dozen awake needlessly," said
+the surgeon.
+
+Then there was an officer who could not go to sleep. He was a medical
+case, suffering from rheumatism. But what kept him awake was the thought
+that he might lose his ship. There was a sailor who had fallen on his
+vessel, knocked four of his teeth out, and cut his head. Why he had to
+go to "Sick Bay" for such a trifle was beyond him. In the dark hours of
+the early morning one might have seen the faithful surgeon again going
+through his train, speaking in whispers to those who lay awake, asking
+them if there was anything they needed and what pain they had.
+
+"I've got pains all over me, and me 'ead feels scorchin' with the
+bangin' that's goin' on inside," said one man.
+
+"That's a grumble to get a drink," said the surgeon, who told the man to
+try to go to sleep.
+
+Devonshire was the scene of gladsome sunshine when the train steamed
+into the station, delivered certain patients, and picked up others for
+another port. In his anxiety to get a truck out of the way to permit the
+stretcher-bearers uninterrupted passage to the ambulances, a porter
+tipped over six and a half dollars' worth of milk. The patients grinned
+at this, and the Surgeon-General on the platform appeared to be sorry
+that so much good milk had gone to waste.
+
+The terminus of the train was reached at half-past seven in the evening.
+There the coaches were cleared of all patients and the train split in
+two to permit of traffic passing. The train-surgeon, having delivered
+the valuables of the patients, walked with me to the naval barracks,
+where for the first time in thirty-six hours he had a chance to really
+rest.
+
+"Chin-chin," said he, lifting his glass. "Another run over, and the
+Germans have not come out yet for the real fight."
+
+
+
+
+X. A TRIP IN A SUBMARINE
+
+
+The man who craves excitement is apt to get his fill for a while after a
+trip in a British submarine under the North Sea. He may dream of the
+experience for many nights afterwards, and the lip of the conning-tower
+well seems to get higher and higher until the water rushes over like an
+incipient Niagara--then he awakens.
+
+The wind was blowing about 30 knots when I boarded the mother ship of
+the submarines in the English East Coast port. It was an unsettled sort
+of morning, and just after I had walked over two narrow planks to the
+under-sea craft, aboard which I was to make a cruise under the North
+Sea, the sun shot forth a widening streak of blurred silver like a
+searchlight on the prancing green-grey waves. With care, the two-striper
+skipper gave his orders to get the submarine under way, and soon he
+stuck her nose at the east. One felt the frost in the air, and fingers
+grasping the canvas shield of the conning tower were benumbed.
+
+Three men stood in line on the aft hatch while the submersible glided
+through the port waters. Four other sailors were getting a last good
+lungful of fine fresh sea air for'd. At the conning tower were the
+commander, his helmsman, and a young lieutenant--the boss of the
+torpedoes. Now and again another officer popped up his head through the
+conning-tower well, and that opening to the boat's bowels appeared just
+about large enough for his broad shoulders. The nose of the shark-like
+craft passed through white-caps as steadily as a ship on a calm ocean.
+
+"Hands for'd, sir," announced the junior lieutenant.
+
+The commander mumbled an answer, and the men were ordered to close the
+for'd hatches, and soon the iron doors were screwed down. The gas
+engines shot off black smoke into the curdling wake of the vessel's twin
+propellers, and as we surged along into the uninteresting sea the
+skipper sang out to have the aft hatches shut. The well-disciplined
+bluejackets instantly obeyed the order, and the iron slabs banged to,
+and I knew that those men were busying themselves in their particular
+work of seeing that everything was ready for submerging.
+
+The commander of the submarine was an agile man, about 5 feet 7 inches
+tall. His face looked tired, and there were lines about his eyes, which
+were only for his ship. I do not think that he had the chance to give me
+a look--a real look--all the time I was aboard. There was always
+something which needed his attention. I found that the speed we were
+making against the wind closed my eyes, for there is very little
+protection on the conning tower of a submarine; and that alone might
+have given the commander that tired look. But I gathered afterwards that
+the eyes are strained a good deal in looking for enemy craft. There, in
+the distance, was the port whence we had emerged, and we now were out on
+the breast of the sea in war time. Two miles off our port bow was a grey
+vessel, to which our skipper gave his attention for a while. She was a
+British destroyer plunging through the water at 22 knots.
+
+The sun had disappeared behind a bank of clouds, but there were still
+streaks of blue in the sky. The commander shot his gaze aft, to
+starboard, port, and before him. Although we were heading straight out
+to sea, the skipper was ever on the alert.
+
+"Motors ready?" asked the commander of the sub-lieutenant, whose head
+showed up from the well after communicating with the engine-room chief
+artificer.
+
+"Motors ready, sir," was the answer, and the younger man wrung his cold
+hands.
+
+By that time England's coast was a hazy outline. But on we cut through
+the waves until England disappeared, and soon after the real thrill
+came--the thrill of going down under an angry ocean. The gas engines
+were stopped, and the way on the craft was allowed to carry her a good
+distance, following the order from the commander.
+
+That officer looked around, and signalled to a British
+destroyer--another of the warships ploughing the waters of the North
+Sea. A sailor expert signalman used his arms as semaphores, and an
+answer soon was received by our skipper.
+
+On the engine-room telegraph of the submarine is a word that does not
+figure on the apparatus of other types of warships: it is "Dive." The
+commander told me that we were going down very soon. I observed that the
+destroyer had turned around and was heading out to sea. We were almost
+at a stop, when our skipper told me to get into the conning-tower well
+and to be down far enough to give him room. It must be realised that
+immediately after the order to submerge has been rung in the
+engine-room the conning-tower hatch is closed. Hence the commander and
+his helmsman have no time to lose when the submarine is going under, as
+it takes forty-five seconds to submerge an under-sea craft, and at
+times, if pressed, it can be accomplished in thirty seconds.
+
+Up to that time I had not devoted much attention to the inside of the
+conning-tower hatch, beyond glancing at the brass ladder. Soon I
+discovered that there were two ladders, and that the distance to the
+inside deck of the boat was about twice as great as I had imagined.
+
+After I had taken my foot off the last rung of the ladder and stepped on
+the chilled, wet canvas-covered iron deck, my head was in a whirl at the
+sight of the bowels of brass and steel. The skipper had set the arrow at
+"Dive," and we were going down and down--a motion which is hardly
+perceptible to the layman.
+
+The activity below and the intricate mechanism of the craft caused me to
+think more of what the men were doing than of my own sensations. I
+wondered how one man could learn it all, for the skipper must have an
+intimate knowledge of all the complicated machinery of his vessel. There
+were engines everywhere and little standing room--at least, that is how
+it appeared on the first glance, and even afterwards it was clear that
+no adipose person could hope to survive aboard a submarine.
+
+No sooner had the engine-room received the order to submerge than the
+captain followed his helmsman down the conning-tower hatch, and he lost
+not a second in getting to the periscope--the eye of his vessel. Soon my
+attention was arrested by the sight of two men sitting side by side
+turning two large wheels. One kept his eye on a bubble and turned his
+wheel to control the hydroplanes to keep the craft level, and the other
+man's eyes also watched a bubble in a level. His share of the work was
+to keep the vessel at the depth ordered by the commander.
+
+Although I was deeply interested in everything that went on under the
+sea in that craft, my eyes were continually on the captain, who looked
+like a photographer about to take the picture of a wilful baby. The
+skipper's face was concealed behind two black canvas wings of the
+reflector, which keep the many electric lights aboard from interfering
+with his view through the glass. I then noticed a door in the stern of
+the craft--about amid-ships--a door which is closed on the sight of
+danger. To me it looked like a reflection, but you soon find out that
+you are looking at the engines of the submarine. There, four or five
+men, ignoring whether they were under the water or on the surface, were
+concentrated on their work. One mistake, and the submarine and its crew
+are lost. Hence there is no inattention to duty. Finally, this door was
+slammed to.
+
+The air below is not much different to what it is when the vessel is on
+the surface--or not noticeably different until the craft has been
+submerged for several hours. It is then that the "bottles" or air tanks
+are brought into play. I walked to the bows of the boat, where a giant
+torpedo was greased and ready for the shutting of its compartment. The
+air-tight tube was then locked down, and the missile was ready for its
+victim. But, as I said, lured as you may be to gaze at the other parts
+of the wonderful craft, you will find that your gaze comes back to the
+captain--always at the periscope, hands on those brass bars that turn
+the periscope, and eyes glued to the reflector.
+
+"Lower periscope!" he orders. And then: "Raise periscope!" He gives
+these orders with clearness; not surprising, as no command must be
+misunderstood when you are 25 or 30 feet under the water.
+
+"Lower periscope!"
+
+A man in a corner, next to one who has charge of the gyroscopic compass,
+turns a handle, and the greased steel cylinder sinks until the captain,
+who had been stretched with toes tipped, now is on bended knees, his
+hands extended to stop the periscope man from taking the "eye" further
+down. The captain turns the periscope around, scanning the waters. At
+his right, when the skipper is facing the bows, is another officer, with
+his hand on the trigger of what looks like an upward-pointed pistol of
+brass and steel. This officer waits for the command to send off the
+torpedo.
+
+"Lower foremost periscope into the well," ordered the captain. This
+periscope was not in use and had not been above the surface. It is the
+duplicate "eye," in case the other is out of order.
+
+"Yes," said the captain, not looking at me, "she's mostly guts below.
+Have a look at that destroyer. We are going to send a practice torpedo
+at her, and she will pick it up and return it when we get back home."
+
+The sleek, lean warship was knifing the waters at 22 knots. It was like
+looking at a picture--a moving picture--and all was beautifully
+distinct. Our commander consulted a card, decided the speed of the
+warship, and then again propped his head against the reflector.
+
+"Raise periscope," ordered the two-striper.
+
+For the first time aboard the submarine, there was something akin to
+silence, except for the swishing of engines and the continuous buzz of
+other mechanism.
+
+"Light to starboard," voiced the captain.
+
+"Light to starboard," repeated the helmsman at the compass.
+
+"Tube ready?" asked the commander, his head hidden between the black
+flaps of the periscope.
+
+"Tube ready, sir."
+
+The officer at the trigger stood like a starter at a race, his finger on
+the tongue that was to release the torpedo. It was just as it is in the
+real moment of moments and a war craft is the target. The men at the two
+wheels watched their dials and their bubbles, and the helmsman had his
+nose on the needle. The commander, the gold braid on his cuffs streaked
+with oil and rust, then had but one thought in his mind--to hit the
+target. He looked neither to right nor left but was still at the
+periscope. The warship was there. We were there, and one could imagine
+the tiny periscope just above the water. The situation was tense, even
+if the vessel to be fired at was not an enemy craft.
+
+"Fire!" snapped the captain.
+
+It was no order for men to spring "over the top," no battle-cry that was
+heard by the enemy, but the word under the water that is the order for
+the deadly destroyer to be released and speed on its way to the
+unsuspecting craft. Practice torpedo or not, when under the waves of the
+North Sea the word works up a dramatic situation hard to equal. The
+other officers and men are interested, and they told me that never does
+the word "Fire" fail to stir the soul of everybody aboard. Though the
+effect is heightened by the knowledge that a great vessel is the target
+and has been bored in twain, the interest is still thrilling when the
+submarine is practising. With a shot at the enemy there is, of course,
+the explosion to dread. If the submarine does not get away far enough,
+the explosion of the torpedo may be the cause of extinguishing all
+lights aboard the submarine, and lamps have then to be used.
+
+There was a tiger-like growl or "g-r-rh" of anger as the tube sent out
+the greased steel complicated missile, and outside I pictured the white
+wake that streaked in the direction of the warship. It was not visible
+from the periscope, which a second after the signal to fire had been
+brought down under the surface. The comparative stillness was gone, and
+the inside of the submarine seemed to have awakened from a doze. There
+was all bustle and hurry around me. The captain shot a look at the
+gyroscopic compass and gave orders for the motors to go ahead, and for
+half an hour the submarine pushed about under the surface. Then the
+commander had the periscope raised, and on the distant horizon I made
+out the destroyer--a tiny thing even in the glass of the magnifying lens
+of the under-sea boat's "eye."
+
+My feet were numbed with cold as I walked for'd and looked at the empty
+tube. These torpedoes cost £500 (two thousand, five hundred dollars),
+and in war time they are all set to sink if they fail to hit the target;
+set to sink because they might be used by the enemy or get in our own
+way.
+
+The next thrilling moment came when the commander decided to bring his
+craft to the surface.
+
+"Come to surface and blow external tanks!" ordered the two-striper.
+"Open five, six, seven, eight, to blow!"
+
+The round, white perforated lungs of the submarine sucked in the air in
+the craft.
+
+"Open one, two, three, four, to blow," came from the skipper.
+
+"One, two, three, four, to blow," I heard repeated.
+
+I felt no perceptible motion of ascending; but those lungs were working
+hard, which could be learned by placing your hand over them. The captain
+shot a glance at the dial, which told him how far up his vessel had
+gone, and then mounted the conning-hatch ladder, and soon one observed a
+spot of daylight. A sea washed over the submarine, filling the
+commander's boots with water. He was followed by a sailor, who quickly
+attached the lowered sailcloth bridge to the rails of the conning tower.
+Then the captain's expert and watchful eye caught bubbles coming from
+one of the tanks.
+
+"Close one!" he shouted down the hatch.
+
+"Close one," repeated the sub-lieutenant.
+
+"Two, five, and seven," came from the voice outside, and so on, until
+soon all the tanks had pumped out their water and were filled with air;
+and, for the sake of accuracy, each order was sounded again below.
+
+"Bring her around to north," said the commander.
+
+When we submerged it had been a chilly day, with a peep of the sun every
+now and again. The weather had changed since we left our berth under the
+sea. The sky was overcast, and snow was falling. And this change in the
+weather had taken place while the captain had been accomplishing one of
+Jules Verne's dreams.
+
+We sped farther out to sea; this time on the _qui vive_ for enemy craft.
+But the enemy is careful not to give the British submarine much of a
+chance at his warships, only sneaking out occasionally under cover of
+darkness with a couple of destroyers. Nevertheless, John Bull's diving
+boats are ever on the alert; and the man with whom I went under the
+North Sea had performed deeds of daring which never involved the sinking
+of a neutral vessel or of endangering the life of a non-belligerent.
+
+It was the time for luncheon. Luncheon! You get an idea that the life
+aboard a submarine is not all sunshine and white uniforms when you see
+the berth for the commander and his chief officer. They are just a
+couple of shelves, and are not used very often at that. It was
+explained to me that when you are running a submarine you do not go in
+much for sleep. Luncheon consisted of a cup of coffee and a piece of
+canned beef on a stale slice of bread. Tinned food is about all that can
+be used aboard a submarine. It does not take up much room, and it
+requires little in the way of cooking utensils. We were still having our
+luncheon below when we dived again, so for the first time in my life I
+found myself having a meal under the sea.
+
+It was hours afterwards that we slipped into the darkened harbour and
+found the mother ship, where the officers enjoy some of the real
+comforts of life.
+
+"Have a Pandora cocktail?" asked my captain.
+
+We imbibed joyfully. The commander then changed his clothes, and we sat
+down to dinner--a late dinner, most of the other members of the mess
+having finished half an hour before.
+
+And if you ask me about sensations while under the water, again I must
+confess that I was too busy looking and learning to experience anything
+but a fear that I might omit something of importance during the time the
+captain was getting ready for his target. Being under the sea, however,
+gave me a thrill felt long afterwards, and I left knowing something of
+the hardships that England's sea dogs suffer while guarding their island
+kingdom.
+
+
+
+
+XI. LIFE IN A LIGHTHOUSE
+
+
+The old man led the way to the sturdy stone structure on top of which
+were the great horns which sound the warning in foggy weather to ships
+at sea. He was proud of the lighthouse, of which he was the principal
+keeper; and just before he started to explain to me the wonders of the
+compressed-air engines, he remarked:--
+
+"First, you must know that a lighthouse-keeper's job is to watch for a
+fog."
+
+"What's your name?" I asked. He was the first real lighthouse-keeper I
+had met.
+
+The lighthouseman looked at me and then at one of the coast-watchers. He
+was a slender man of about sixty years, who, I had been told, was
+enjoying the work he had set out to do long, long before there was a
+thought of a great war.
+
+"T. G. Cutting," he replied, "the P.K. here."
+
+It was on the western Cornish coast, where, as in other places in and
+off English shores, the lighthouses, war or no war, from sunset to
+sunrise cut the darkness with their long beams of whiteness and, when
+necessary, sound the foghorn. You do not see any young men who are not
+in khaki or navy blue, and the old men are wonders, with their
+binoculars and telescopes. Mr. Cutting had been within sound of the sea
+ever since he was born. First, he had seen service on a lighthouse on
+the rocks, as they say, and from the rocks he graduated to a land job,
+and thence back to the rocks, and again on to the land. We read stories
+of the lighthouse-keeper; but little is written on the modern man of
+this species. Mr. Cutting is not accustomed to the glare of the city's
+lights, but he knows the glare of a lighthouse-lantern and all the
+various wonders of the work.
+
+Inside the annex to the lighthouse were the duplicate engines for
+filling tanks with compressed air. This air is used for blowing the
+foghorns, and when they sound everybody in the locality knows it.
+
+"Enough air is stored in those tanks," declared Mr. Cutting, "to keep
+the foghorns going for twenty minutes. That gives us time to get the
+engines running."
+
+He went into details of the engines, showing that he knew them by heart,
+and I could almost imagine the blurring, deafening sound which for
+seven seconds rent the air through the roar of winds every minute and a
+half.
+
+"Fog, as you know, is the dread of every sea captain," said Mr. Cutting.
+"Out yonder you see the 'Three Stone Orr Rocks.' This is a dangerous bit
+of scenery in foggy weather. When we have a fog, two men are on duty;
+one if it is clear."
+
+We then went to the lighthouse tower, which stands nearly 200 feet above
+high water. To the right, on entering that building, was a blacksmith's
+shop, with an anvil, forge, and various implements. This forge is
+occasionally needed to make repairs, spare parts, and accessories of the
+engines of the lighthouse. To the right, in a corridor, were
+speaking-tubes.
+
+"Those tubes go to the bedside of every man employed here," said Mr.
+Cutting. "We have only to blow, and in a few minutes he comes up to the
+lighthouse. Our houses are over there, in the same structure as the
+tower. They are practically the lower portion of the main building."
+
+He conducted the way up the narrow, winding stairs. At the head of the
+first flight I saw a green-covered book, in which every man on watch
+makes his entry of the weather, the velocity of the wind, and so forth.
+
+"Many a man's word has been corrected by that book," said the P.K. "And
+here's the book for privileged visitors, for nobody comes here without
+the proper credentials."
+
+There were names of famous persons inscribed in the book, which was kept
+as neatly and cleanly as everything else in the place.
+
+"Now we'll go up to the lantern," said the old man. Old, but lithe,
+strong, and keen-eyed. He is particularly fond of this lantern, and was
+remarkably lucid in explaining everything concerning the working of it.
+
+"Does the sea ever come up as high as this?" I asked.
+
+"We get the spray, and that is all," answered the P.K. "It's dirty
+weather when that happens. But the water usually has spent its force
+when it reaches this height."
+
+The exterior windows of the lantern were diamond shaped and of plate
+glass. In the middle of the lantern was the large concentric-ringed
+glass of great magnifying power.
+
+"You can turn it round with your little finger," said the P.K. "That's
+because it floats in a mercury bath. And in turning that you are moving
+four tons. When the lantern is lighted, it shows dark for seven and a
+half seconds, then two sets of four flashes, making a complete
+revolution every half-minute. They can see the light at sea on a clear
+night for nineteen miles. The light is worked by vaporised oil. The
+compressed air drives the oil to the lantern, up through that burner in
+a hole hardly big enough to take a pin point. It is nearly half a
+million candle-power. This type of light is considered even better than
+electricity. In the old-style oil-lights they burned five quarts in the
+same time that this one consumes a pint with better results."
+
+The actual burner of the lantern is disappointing, as one expects to see
+a giant burner. Really, it is only about twice the size of the average
+household one.
+
+Mr. Cutting observed that the light was carefully timed, and called
+attention to the half-minute hand on the clock in the tower. Persons are
+always asking the P.K. how he spends his time, and he wondered why. He
+believed that anybody ought to see that there was plenty for a man to do
+while he is on a four hours' watch in the tower. The turning of the
+light, showing black outside and then flashing its warnings, after his
+many years of experience of such things, is only taken for granted by
+this P.K.
+
+"And when I've finished lighting the lamp, trimming up things a bit,"
+said the P.K., "I sit down like anybody else. Lots of people seem to
+forget that the lighthouse-keeper is not the coast-guard or the head of
+the crew of a life-saving station. They have their work to attend to,
+but we watch for fogs night and day. When a man is stationed at a
+lighthouse like the Longships, which is a little distance out on a rock,
+he may be a couple of months without being relieved. But he has others
+with him, and a good stock of food. If he wishes to communicate with the
+land, he does so by signals; and that's the way men over there talk with
+their wives who live in cottages on shore. The telephone has not been
+found feasible, wires breaking all the time; so their wives have learned
+to wig-wag to them.
+
+"One night they got a scare on shore; thought that the men on the
+Longships were sending up distress signals. It was bad weather, and
+every now and again the coast-watcher saw a green light on the
+Longships. And what do you think that green light was? Just the water
+running over the bright light when it flashed! As it washed the glasses
+it showed up green."
+
+There were curtains of sailcloth put over the windows to obscure the
+sunlight. I asked the P.K. about this, and he told me that the great
+magnifying lens of the light would burn things if the sun got on it for
+long enough. So, much as they like the sun in Cornwall, they have to
+keep it out.
+
+"I shall be on duty to-night from twelve until four o'clock," observed
+the P.K. "But I've got accustomed to the running of the machinery."
+
+So down we went. The last I saw of the P.K. was when the old Cornishman,
+emptying cans of oil into the tank to supply the light which warns
+mariners, shouted:--
+
+"Getting pretty fresh now. Hope to see you again."
+
+
+
+
+XII. WATCHERS OF THE COAST
+
+
+Circling Great Britain are thousands of expert coast-watchers, whose
+duty not only is to watch for ships, wrecks, and smugglers, as in the
+days before the war, but also to be on guard for enemy submarines and
+suspicious craft. It is the oft-spoken opinion of many an inland
+inhabitant that certain sections of the coast would afford a base for
+U-boats. However, these persons have no conception of the thoroughness
+with which John Bull guards his coast-lines. Mile after mile, shores and
+rocks are under the eye of alert navy men and volunteers, the latter
+being civilians who have spent their lives by the sea. They know their
+business, and even though they are volunteers, the discipline is rigid.
+But they are not the type of men to shirk their duty, for they would
+take it as missing a God-given opportunity if their eyes were closed at
+the time they could help their country most. After travelling around
+part of the coast-line, a stranger leaves with the opinion that there is
+little chance for a man even to swim ashore under cover of night.
+
+From John o' Groat's to Land's End and all around Ireland, these
+coast-watchers--men over military age, wiry and strong, with eyes like
+ferrets--scan the rocks and beaches hour after hour, noting passing
+vessels, receiving and detailing information, and always keeping up
+communication with the ring and its various centres. Their little stone
+huts are on the highest point in their particular area, and their homes
+usually are only a couple of hundred yards distant. Their chiefs are
+coast-guards of the old days called back to their former service in the
+Royal Navy. These men rule the volunteers with a rod of iron. No matter
+what section of the coast one may pick, the coast-watcher is ready with
+his glasses or telescope. Suspicious acts of any individuals receive
+speedy attention, and each batch of the guards vies with the next for
+keen performance of duty.
+
+There is a halo of interest around these men, tame as their work may
+appear to them at times. Take the watchers on the Scilly Isles, for
+instance. They are as good as any around Great Britain. It is second
+nature for them to watch the sea. It is a desire with them, something
+they would not miss. Their fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers
+were watch-dogs on that area of the ocean. Go to St. Mary's, and you
+will see a coast-watcher, up soon after dawn, take a stroll along the
+beach, even when he is not supposed to be on duty and before he has
+tasted his morning tea. The family telescope is at his eye, as he wants
+to get a good look at what the sea has been doing, and what is there. To
+the uninitiated, it seems to have the same paucity of interest as any
+other shipless stretch of water; but to this expert it has a story. He
+notes the clouds, the sun, the very rocks; and they say that his gaze is
+so sharp that it would spot a champagne-cork floating some distance
+away. But be that as it may, there is no enemy periscope that is going
+to pass unobserved at a certain distance by this hawk-eyed, wind-seared
+man.
+
+He goes to his cottage for breakfast, and talks about the sea, then
+leaves the table, and has another good look; and it is sadly
+disappointing to any of these men to have missed a passing ship. Prior
+to the declaration of hostilities, a wreck was the greatest piece of
+news to the community; but now it is the glimpse of fast English
+warships, and the anticipation of sighting a German U-boat, and thus
+being the cause of the craft's doom.
+
+"Gun-firing heard at ten minutes past twelve o'clock to-day," said one
+man, reading from a slip he had just made out on the subject.
+
+The man to whom he spoke happened to have been out of hearing distance,
+and he could not believe it until a second man came along with the same
+report. It was handed down the line, over to other shores, and the
+watchers speculated as to what had taken place.
+
+Arthur Oddy, who has charge of half a dozen watchers, told me that his
+one great regret was that he had not seen a sign of the war, barring
+uniforms. Nevertheless, for more than two and a half years he has
+scanned the sea and shore of his district with dutiful care, and has
+seen to it that his men have not been amiss in their share of the
+tedious task. His station is very near the Last House in England, at
+Land's End--a tea place kept by Mrs. E. James.
+
+"What is that out there?" exclaimed a stranger, suddenly. "Looks like
+part of a boat."
+
+"That," declared Oddy, "is the Shark's Fin--a rock."
+
+True enough, the rock of that name might have at times been a giant fish
+or a wrecked submarine. It was lashed by the foamy waters, disappeared,
+and then showed a bit, again was swallowed up, and seemed to reappear a
+yard or so further along from where it first was seen. Finally, you
+observed that it was a sharp, dangerous rock.
+
+A mile or so farther along that coast I encountered John Thomas Wheeler,
+the wearer of several medals, including a gold one received since the
+war commenced from the King of Sweden. In peace time, just before the
+war, Wheeler did his bit to save wrecked mariners. He is still doing it
+in war time, with his eyes open for everything. As we stood there, with
+the sea lashing the shingly beach and hammering the rocks, Wheeler,
+chief officer of that station, recalled the story of the wreck of the
+_Trifolium_, a Swedish sailing ship.
+
+"It was terrible rough," said Wheeler, "when through the darkness we saw
+the green light of the distress-signals. I shot off a rocket with a rope
+to the forepart of the vessel. The men, who were clinging to the
+rigging, paid no attention to it. Then I sent off another rope between
+the main and the mizzen masts. First, they paid no heed to that; but,
+finally, one man in oilskins jumped into the sea to catch hold of part
+of the rope. He was followed by others. Perilous though it was on that
+night, we walked out to help the men ashore. One after another, gasping
+and unconscious sailors were landed. Then the ship broke in half, and
+soon was torn to bits by the sea. I was looking for more men, as I had
+seen one poor chap under the steel mast when it fell. A wave struck me,
+and I found myself caught between two rocks. It looked all up for me, as
+I could not move."
+
+Wheeler's awful position was not at first realised, and his cries for
+help could not be heard through the din of the ocean. Finally, he was
+struck down by the turbulent sea, and one of his men, signalling to
+another, went to their chief's rescue. Wheeler was unconscious when he
+was brought up on the beach. For his share in the rescue work, besides
+the King of Sweden's medal, Wheeler received medals from the Royal
+Humane Society and the Board of Trade.
+
+In that corner of England every one is on the _qui vive_ for the
+unexpected. The women have their telescopes and glasses, and they do
+their share, despite the fact that the regular men of that locality are
+on duty. Mrs. James's tea-refreshment place is often the near-by house
+to where men are scanning the horizon with their glasses, noting the
+flags on vessels, if they have any in these days, and keeping up a
+peace-time look out, for it is a dangerous point in bad weather. The
+Last or First House in England, whichever one wishes to consider it, is
+covered with names and initials of persons from all over the world.
+Curiously enough, since the war there have been no wrecks in that
+theatre, while in the six months prior to the great conflict there were
+two or three.
+
+Local heads of the coast-watchers or guards have the prerogative of
+commandeering horses or automobiles when necessary. If there is a ship
+ashore or on the rocks, signal-rockets are sent up to collect the
+coast-guards; and it would seem that a couple of these would wake most
+of the persons in that corner of England.
+
+The real business of the coast-guards, and that to which they devote
+themselves in peace or war, is firing rockets over a ship in distress
+and trying to land the crew.
+
+It was ten or twelve miles from that point that I met a chief watcher
+who had been blown up in a British battleship, and had thus earned a
+period of shore duty. He was "carrying on" for humanity and country, and
+only a short time before he had been the means of rescuing the crew of
+a small neutral sailing ship--a German victim.
+
+We sped on farther north, and every three or four miles there was the
+inevitable watcher, who can telephone, telegraph, and fire rockets when
+occasion demands. It is all a modernised coast-guard system, the men
+being first ready for ships in distress, but always on the alert for the
+enemy.
+
+
+
+
+XIII. CROSSING THE CHANNEL IN WAR TIME
+
+
+This is the story of a British naval officer's trip to the Western
+fighting ground as he told it to me the day he returned to London:--
+
+"'Four days!' said I to myself. 'Not very long in which to get a real
+taste of the World War on land.' However, the morning after I had
+received 'leave' I departed from London in an automobile and as we sped
+through the country there seemed, at first, to be little to remind us
+that England was at war--except, perhaps, the many busy persons on all
+farms and fields. Finally, we came across a mobile air-station on which
+were two aeroplanes with folded wings. It was something which made you
+think.
+
+"In a South Coast port, however, there was military activity everywhere.
+On the waters, far out from the harbour, which one imagines as denuded
+of craft, I saw dozens of ships. There were large and small tramps,
+mine-sweepers, and trawlers, and you were fascinated by the sight.
+There was a dread lest one of them might disappear through a mine or a
+torpedo any instant.
+
+"Thousands of soldiers were at the dock, waiting to embark on ships for
+France. A couple of thousand of them belonged to the Scotch Labour
+Battalion, ready for work with pick and shovel. Their speech was almost
+like a foreign language as they 'Jock'd' and 'Donal'd,' joked and sang,
+when they swung aboard the vessel in single file.
+
+"There was no waving of handkerchiefs and no shouting good-byes when the
+black-and-tan craft was ready to leave. The skipper was on the bridge.
+He looked down at an officer ashore, nodded his head, and the other
+returned the nod. Hawsers were instantly slipped, and the steamer
+skipped away from the British port on the minute, and soon met her
+escort--destroyers, out of sight not long since, now ready for their
+job. These slender speedsters of the sea never stop; so everything must
+be done according to schedule. Four of the destroyers surrounded us as
+we ploughed through the water.
+
+"From the bridge came the order for every soul aboard to put on a
+life-belt, and our friends from Scotland hastened aft to obtain the
+equipment, scurrying and bustling about the damp cabin for the best
+belts.
+
+"Half-way across the straits we met the opposite number vessel to ours.
+She had an escort of three warships, so that for a flash there were
+seven destroyers on the breast of that water. But it was not for long. A
+swish, and they were nearer England and we nearer France, they getting
+some of our smoke and we some of theirs. Steamers go into the French
+port stern first, and soon I found myself treading French soil. Our
+Scotch labourers were hurried off the vessel, and they vanished with
+extraordinary quickness; and this also reminds me that no sooner was our
+steamship safe in the harbour than the warships nipped off to England,
+and all you could see in a few minutes was a wreath of water and smoke
+as they raced homewards.
+
+"The skipper of the passenger craft has seen exciting times. While I
+stood on the bridge with him and his first officer, he told me of a
+night he won't easily forget. He was running the _Queen_, and going over
+empty, having smuggled aboard a staff officer who had missed the other
+vessel. It was darkening, and the _Queen_ was about four miles off the
+British coast when this skipper saw dark hulls, blanched lines, and
+flaming funnels--all showing terrific speed. First, he took the strange
+craft to be new French destroyers; but they hailed him in English, and,
+of course, for an instant he thought then they were British warships,
+when suddenly it dawned on him. 'By God, they're Germans!' he ejaculated
+to the staff officer. 'Nip into the cabin, and get those clothes off and
+into an oilskin, fast as you like.'
+
+"The army man got it done just in time, for an officer and two men from
+one of the German destroyers sprang aboard the _Queen_ after the enemy
+warship had bumped the passenger craft. The German demanded the
+captain's papers, and was told that everything had been thrown
+overboard.
+
+"The Germans were pale, and the pistol in the officer's hand shook
+dangerously. The skipper declared that the only papers relating to the
+_Queen_ were in his cabin.
+
+"'Get those papers, or I'll blow your head off,' said the German. Below,
+the captain moved his hand to his hip pocket to get his keys, the German
+started, and put the muzzle of his revolver close to the Britisher's
+head. As the captain was unlocking a drawer, the German again became
+suspicious, and warned the skipper. The Briton told the German to get
+the papers himself, and, finally, the useless document relating to the
+_Queen_ was taken from the drawer. It was snatched up and pocketed by
+the German officer. Meanwhile, his men had fixed bombs in vital parts
+aboard the passenger craft, and the order was given to abandon ship.
+
+"Just before the bang came and the _Queen_ sank, the German decided that
+he wanted to take the skipper with him. Fortunately, the captain had
+been missed in their tremulous excitement. However, the Germans could
+not wait, and they had to go away without the skipper. It was an
+experience no man would forget; and the British of it is that this same
+man, who had a pretty good chance of spending many months in a German
+prison camp, is still guiding vessels flying our flag from France to
+England and England to France.
+
+"In Boulogne, I had to take a train for Paris. It was the longest train
+I ever set eyes on. One end of it seemed to be in the dock station while
+the other was on the outskirts of the town. You can get an idea of its
+length when I say that it had to stop twice at all stations. There was
+no attempt at speed until we got within twenty miles of Paris."
+
+In a railroad station in Paris this officer encountered a friend who was
+a commander in the Royal Naval Air Service, and the traveller thereupon
+decided that nobody could give him a better idea of the war in the brief
+time at his disposal than this man. Hence, after a dash to the hotel and
+taking chances of getting his suitcase, the sea-fighter, with only a
+tooth-brush and a piece of soap, finally joined the flying man, and off
+they went to the war. My naval friend continued:--
+
+"War stared at us after we had passed through Chantilly, and on the way
+to Amiens we sped by forty or fifty ambulances. It was at the Café
+Gobert, in Amiens, that we got out of the automobile and had luncheon.
+That town was thronged with nonchalant women and blue-clad poilus.
+Following our refreshment, we continued our journey. We ran into
+soldiers and guns, aeroplanes, and more guns of all calibres; there must
+have been two miles of them in one batch that we passed on the way to
+Arras, as well as 'umpty' parks of lorries.
+
+"The first steam engine that I got a chance of seeing since leaving
+England was an antiquated London, Chatham, and Dover locomotive attached
+to a long train of cars filled with provisions and so forth, helped out
+by Belgian and French engines. The rail-head, not far from that
+particular 'somewhere,' reminded me of Whiteley's shop in London. Then I
+observed a dozen fire-engines painted khaki colour. There were officers'
+baths, coal and wood on lorries, tents, and everything you can think
+of--and a lot you can't. Ammunition dumps were on our right and left,
+and the occasional gleam of a sentry's bayonet let you know that
+somebody was on watch.
+
+"As I was the guest of the Royal Naval Air Service, it was naturally
+gratifying to come to the home of that service or section of it; the
+spot which had been barren land two days before was now the scene of
+great activity. Mess tents were comfortably fixed up, electric light
+being obtained from lorries. There were workshops on lorries. The Royal
+Flying Corps also had a station near by. These ingenious Air Service men
+do all their repairing on the spot. If a lorry gets stuck in the mud
+they just use enough lorries until they pull it out.
+
+"Our Rolls-Royce darted into the air on one stretch of bad road. It
+bumped out our dynamo, and we made the rest of the way along the dark
+road behind a staff car.
+
+"By that time there was no doubt but that we were at the war--passing
+between two lines of our heavy artillery on the snow covered ground. The
+splashes of fire--red on the glistening white--formed a memorable
+picture.
+
+"Every now and again, the snow was lighted up by the star-shells, which
+hung in the air and then dropped like a rain of gold on the silver
+ground. The thunder of the guns was pleasing, and as each shell sped on
+its errand, the unforgettable scene became more beautiful, with the glow
+from the star-shells and the sight of men, silhouetted in the temporary
+light against the white-blanketed earth, going about their duty, as some
+of them had done for more than two and a half years. On we dashed, until
+we heard a challenging voice, and discerned a French poilu.
+
+"'Aviation anglaise,' announced my friend. After satisfying himself, the
+sentry permitted us to continue on our way. A little further on, to our
+chagrin, we learned that a lorry had broken down on a bridge, and that
+if our car could not pass it, it would mean a detour of nine miles.
+However, our excellent chauffeur was equal to the occasion. After
+bending the mud-guards, following the taking of measurements, he drove
+the machine over in safety with not half an inch to spare.
+
+"Guns boomed as they had been booming for thirty months. This gives you
+food for thought at the front. Finally, we came to Dunkirk, and there
+enjoyed uninterrupted repose after our long ride in the biting weather.
+Next morning I was up early, and before I had breakfast I watched a
+seaplane turning and twisting, riding first tail downward and then head
+downward, dropping a thousand feet, and then righting itself, and
+outdoing the looping-the-loop idea. I ventured commendation for this
+pilot's exploits.
+
+"'Pretty good youngster,' said the commander. 'Soon be able to give him
+a journey he's been longing to have.'
+
+"This _youngster_ certainly seemed to me a past master in the flying
+art.
+
+"My interest next was centred on several barges probing their way
+through the canal. They were manned by soldiers in khaki, and these
+soldier-sailors belonged to the I.W.T.--the Inland Water Transport.
+
+"Later, I had the satisfaction of firing off one of the big guns at the
+Huns, and then of going into an observation post from whence we watched
+shells bursting on the German lines. The Germans were fairly silent,
+while we were putting over quite a lot of stuff. My next shot at the
+Boche was with 'Polly,' whose shell spat forth at her opposite number,
+known on our side of the lines as 'Peanought.'
+
+"It was decidedly interesting in the trenches, almost as near the German
+lines as we are at any point. There was the occasional thunder of the
+artillery, coupled with the report of a rifle, which told that the
+sniper was on the job, and now and again the 'bang-zizz' of the German
+trench mortar projectile--known better as 'Minnie.'
+
+"At the seaplane station I met a young officer who two days before had
+flown over from England in the early morning and was to dine that same
+night with friends in London. His only worry was that he might possibly
+miss the boat to take him back to keep the dinner engagement. Then there
+was a young man--eighteen years old, to be specific--who had accounted
+for thirteen of the enemy aeroplanes.
+
+"My next experience was aboard a destroyer which took me to England. I
+had not worn an overcoat during my trip, but I was glad of a duffel coat
+on that speedy craft."
+
+The commander glanced at his watch, and observed he had just half an
+hour in which to get to King's Cross Station.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+    Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Some Naval Yarns, by Mordaunt Hall
+
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Some Naval Yarns, by Mordaunt Hall
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Some Naval Yarns
+
+Author: Mordaunt Hall
+
+Contributor: Ethel Beatty
+
+Release Date: August 29, 2008 [EBook #26474]
+
+Language: English
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+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOME NAVAL YARNS ***
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+
+
+<h1><big>SOME NAVAL<br />
+YARNS</big></h1>
+
+<h2><b><small>BY</small><br />
+MORDAUNT HALL</b></h2>
+
+<p class="p1"><b>WITH A PREFACE BY<br />
+<big>LADY BEATTY</big></b></p>
+
+<p class="p2"><b>NEW YORK<br />
+GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY<br />
+<span class="fsm">PUBLISHERS IN AMERICA FOR HODDER &amp; STOUGHTON</span><br />
+MCMXVII</b></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p class="p1"><small>COPYRIGHT, 1917,<br />
+BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY</small></p>
+
+<p class="ctr"><small>PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</small></p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p>
+<h2>PREFACE</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A book</span> containing accounts of the work continually
+and unceasingly being carried on by the
+gallant officers and men of the Royal Navy
+should prove of considerable interest to all, and,
+at the present time, especially to the American
+reader. I am glad that a New York journalist
+has had the opportunity of witnessing a part of
+the titanic task of our courageous sea-fighters, and
+of personally gaining an idea of the hardships
+endured by the plucky men who are watching
+our coast. This little book may help considerably
+to enlighten the general public on the work
+of the branches of the Navy, and prove that the
+men engaged in this tedious, hazardous, and
+nerve-racking vigil are going about it with the
+same old valour befitting the traditions of the
+Royal Navy. They have fought the savage
+beasts like true sportsmen. They have rescued
+enemy sailors, clothed and fed them, without a
+sign of animus, knowing that victory will crown
+their efforts to throttle the enemy of humanity
+and of civilisation. And that enemy is now the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span>
+common foe of the United States as well as of
+England. He has been the sly enemy of the
+United States even before the declaration of
+hostilities by the American Congress, while he
+was the avowed enemy of other countries engaged
+in this terrible war.</p>
+
+<p>These stories, light though they be, give a
+conception of what it is to search the seas in a
+submarine, and the bravery of the youngest
+branch of the Navy&mdash;the Royal Naval Air
+Service&mdash;is palpable even from the modest accounts
+given by these seaplane pilots. They have
+confidence in their supremacy over the enemy,
+and are all smiles even in the face of imminent
+danger. It shows that often British coolness and
+pluck have saved a machine as well as the lives
+of men.</p>
+
+<p>Of special interest is the talk with the captain
+of a mine-sweeper while he is on the bridge of
+his vessel. He tells of the many neutral lives
+that have been saved by English seamen at the
+risk of their own vessels and the lives of their
+crews. Noteworthy is it that Great Britain in
+the course of this war has not been the cause of
+the loss of a single neutral life. Mines have been
+placed at random by Germany's pirate craft.</p>
+
+<p>The grit of the English seaman comes to light<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span>
+in the author's journey in a naval ambulance
+train, as does also the fact that the service takes
+the utmost care of its wounded and sick. In the
+account of the Royal Naval Division it is touching
+to note that the men who are fighting in
+France and who distinguished themselves so valiantly
+in the Ancre and other battles, still cling
+to sea terms or talk.</p>
+
+<p>The accounts in this volume may cause the
+people of my native country to appreciate the
+necessity for silence on the part of the British
+Admiralty, as now that their ships are linked
+with ours in the effort to defeat a common enemy
+the same idea of giving no information to the
+enemy even at the cost of criticism undoubtedly
+will be included in orders. Nevertheless, while
+playing the trump of silence, it is encouraging to
+read stories of the Navy so that the readers have
+certain knowledge that silence and brief reports
+do not mean that nothing is being accomplished.
+We have recently had an instance of the efficiency
+and courage of the officers and men in the
+fight between two British destroyers and half a
+dozen of the enemy craft, in which the Germans
+lost two vessels and the British none. Commanders
+and others greatly distinguished themselves
+in this conflict, which occurred in the dead<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span>
+of a moonless night. And the deeds of the
+Royal Navy are certain to be emulated by the
+officers and men of the United States Navy, for
+blood will tell.</p>
+
+<p class="td2"><span class="smcap">Ethel Beatty.</span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<div class='ctr'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td class="td2" colspan="3"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2"><span class="smcap">Preface</span></td><td class="td2" colspan="2"><a href="#Page_v">v</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">I.</td><td class="td1">The Log of a Naval Airman</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">II.</td><td class="td1">Over the North Sea in a Seaplane</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_10">10</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">III.</td><td class="td1">Adventures in a Seaplane</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">IV.</td><td class="td1">Sweeping the Seas for Mines</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">V.</td><td class="td1">The Royal Naval Division</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">VI.</td><td class="td1">A Naval School</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">VII.</td><td class="td1">"Gentlemen, 'The King'"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">VIII.</td><td class="td1">The Royal Naval Ambulance Train</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">IX.</td><td class="td1">A Run in a Royal Naval Ambulance Train</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">X.</td><td class="td1">A Trip in a Submarine</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">XI.</td><td class="td1">Life in a Lighthouse</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_82">82</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">XII.</td><td class="td1">Watchers of the Coast</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">XIII.</td><td class="td1">Crossing the Channel in War Time</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<hr />
+<h1>SOME NAVAL YARNS</h1>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p>
+<h1>SOME NAVAL YARNS</h1>
+
+<h2>I. THE LOG OF A NAVAL AIRMAN</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Men</span> of the British services are exasperatingly
+modest. You are forced to wring stories of experiences
+from them, and when you are thrilled
+to the core over their yarns they coolly inform
+you that their names must not appear. Fortunately,
+there is something about a story which
+"rings true." From one of the soundest pilots
+of the Royal Naval Air Service I heard his experience
+of the previous day. We will call him
+"Q," as he happens to be known in the station. It
+is his middle initial. He is a tall, well-built man
+of thirty, who knows a seaplane backwards, and
+it has been woe to the enemy when he met him.</p>
+
+<p>"We started at dawn," he began. "There's
+not much flying in the dark, only occasionally.
+First, we ran the machine out of the hangar, and,
+as usual, tried the engines. In the fading darkness
+or growing light it is a great sight to see the
+flames flashing from the exhaust. In the beginning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>
+you run your engines slowly. Yesterday
+one of them kicked a bit. The cause for the
+hitch was discovered, and they were once more
+started. Remember that it is expedient that the
+engines be thoroughly tested before a flight, as
+you may spend anxious hours if something goes
+wrong. The spluttering ended, and we ran them
+up to full speed. This done, we waited for more
+light before hauling the machine down to the
+water. Once the seaplane was water-born, we
+taxied ourselves across the port at moderate
+speed. As we rose in the air we had to be careful
+of the masts of the ships in the harbour, especially
+as it was foggy. We then opened up the
+engines, and the seaplane rose. It was very thick,
+so we kept 300 feet above the water, flying on a
+course. There were two pilots and an observer
+in the machine. Our next work was to estimate
+the velocity of the wind. This is always rather
+difficult, and, at the same time, it is most important
+to have an accurate estimate of the wind.
+We steered ahead, hoping to see a mark which
+would guide the observer in his course; but because
+of the fog, we were not able to pick up our
+mark. Hence we had to go on and hope for the
+best.</p>
+
+<p>"We flew higher, about 1,500 feet, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>
+clouds were about 800 feet, so we were far above
+them. For two and a half hours we steered
+straight ahead on the lonely fog-covered sea.
+We were to meet some warships which expected
+us. But even after covering all that distance, we
+saw nothing at all, and therefore resolved to descend
+and see what prospects there were of 'landing'
+and saving our engines. The sea always
+appears calm to the man flying above it; and
+even when we were 30 feet only above the water
+we could not tell whether or no it would be dangerous
+to the machine to 'land.'</p>
+
+<p>"By that time we were naturally anxious, as
+we thought that in steering straight ahead, as we
+had done, we ought to have reached the ships
+with which we had the rendezvous. So far as
+we could, with the roar of the wind and the propeller,
+we held a consultation&mdash;nothing verbose&mdash;in
+mid-air to determine what would be the best
+move. We decided to alter our course so as to be
+sure of getting in sight of land. Half an hour
+later we saw the first sign of life since we had
+been out&mdash;an old tramp steamship. Ten minutes
+after we sighted land. When you are flying at
+sea the land, especially when it is low-lying,
+takes you by surprise; it suddenly looms up when
+you least expect it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"We then picked up a mark and set off on our
+course for the rendezvous. So dense was the
+mist that we could not see more than one and a
+half miles ahead. However, we raced along at
+70 knots on our new course, and in twenty minutes
+came in sight of the flotilla of warships
+spread out below in fan-like form, but all moving
+fast. These ships, you see, keep on the move;
+but they stay for the time being near the point
+selected for the meeting. Instructions were signalled
+to us, and we came up, and flew nearer
+and nearer the water.</p>
+
+<p>"'Can we land?' was our first question. 'Land'
+is always used by a seaplane pilot even if there
+is no land within a hundred miles of him. Our
+aerial had been thrown out. It was too rough to
+go on the water&mdash;or, at least, not worth risking
+damage to the seaplane. We carried on our conversation
+partly by shouting and partly by signals,
+which were quickly understood. From the
+ships we received further instructions, and sped
+on to carry them out. We had no further difficulties,
+and reached home just before sunset."</p>
+
+<p>As an illustration of modern warfare, and the
+fact that single British flyers are feared even
+by two of the enemy's planes, here is a story told
+by a young Englishman, who knows no nerves<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>
+when he is in the air, no matter how near he
+comes to being snuffed out by the shrapnel and
+bullets. He is a man of 5 feet 10 inches, with
+clear blue eyes and blond hair&mdash;one of those
+truth-loving Britishers who prefers to err against
+himself in his reports rather than tell of an uncertainty
+as a certainty.</p>
+
+<p>"'Saw and attacked a German submarine,
+which dived before we could close in on her,'"
+read this man from a log-book. He turned the
+pages, and a little afterwards came on this:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"'Sighted German patrol, and exchanged fire.
+Got over Zeebrugge&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>"That reminds me," he said, looking up from
+the little book which held the notes of so many
+exciting events. "They sent me out then when
+I ought to have been off duty."</p>
+
+<p>He smiled, as did his hearers.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I got over the Mohl," he added.
+"That's the German pier at Zeebrugge. The
+Mohl showed up black, and the water looked
+lighter in the darkness. I was up about 2,500
+feet, and dropped bombs on the seaplane base.
+I mean, of course, the German air base. Only
+a few moments, and they showed that they were
+ready for me, as the heavens around were lighted
+up with searchlights. I dropped a few more of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>
+my 'eggs,' and could not be certain of what damage
+I accomplished, although I saw flames spurt
+up from several places. Then the enemy sent
+up two long rows of rockets, making an avenue
+of light so that I could have read by it. These
+infernal things parachute when they get to a certain
+height and, with the fire hanging from them,
+stay stationary, leaving but one exit. If I had
+run the machine into the rockets it would have
+been ablaze in no time. These fireworks stay in
+the air for about two minutes, which is a devil of
+a long time when you are up there. Thanks to
+this lighted avenue, I showed up more distinctly
+than I would have done in the daytime. The
+end of the avenue, I knew, was the target of their
+anti-aircraft gunnery. I flew out, and shrapnel
+tore all around me. My machine was struck several
+times, and, as bad luck would have it, the
+patent point of my magneto fell out just when I
+got to the spot where shrapnel was thickest.</p>
+
+<p>"My chances of getting home then seemed
+pretty slim&mdash;engines out of order, lit up by fireworks,
+up 2,500 feet, and a target clear as a pikestaff
+for the gunnery. However, I managed to
+slide in the direction of the ship on the French
+coast. It seems easy to keep out of the way of the
+guns; but, of course, they have a demoralising<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>
+effect on a man in the air. Not so much at dark
+as in the day, though. Well, I got home all
+right.</p>
+
+<p>"Only a day or so afterwards I dropped a
+bomb on or near a German U-boat, and I can't
+say to this day whether I struck or damaged her.</p>
+
+<p>"'Very lonely,'" murmured the pilot, reading
+from his log. "'Just saw a torpedo boat.' On the
+next day, let's see.... Oh, yes.... 'Saw two
+German destroyers, and raced back to our ship,
+and British ships sped after the Germans.'</p>
+
+<p>"A day or so later I had run in with two
+German machines. It chanced that there was a
+wind blowing about 30 knots, and I was merely
+out scouting, and did not carry a gun. The two
+enemy ships were joined by a third, and then
+they gained sufficient courage to come a bit close.
+They shot away my aileron control, and we were
+in a very bad way. For twenty minutes we were
+continually under fire, and below there was a
+heavy swell. It really was only through knowing
+how scared is the enemy flyer when you go
+for him that I am here to-night. I let the enemy
+planes get nearer and nearer to me, and by the
+time they were ready for firing I dived at one of
+them. This so upset the poise of the three machines
+that they turned tail and swung around<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>
+to come at me. They made huge circles to get on
+my flanks again. All this took time, and during
+it I was getting nearer and nearer my base. Now
+and again the enemy machines were like too
+many cooks and the broth; they nearly crashed
+into each other. This also upset their nerves.
+Incidentally, when you are in the air, only the
+other machine appears to be moving, and you
+seem perfectly still. My escape is due in part
+to the arrival of one of our fighting seaplanes.
+A German is desperately afraid of them, unless
+there are four Germans to one Britisher. When
+they saw this fighting Britisher coming they did
+not take long to get away. They knew who the
+flyer was, too, for a man's style in the air is always
+characteristic. They had heard of this
+flyer before. So they turned tail, and I got back
+with a machine out of order. 'The Prussian
+code of politeness,' we call it when they retire
+with two or three machines against one of ours.
+It is the respect that they show for our fighting
+seaplanes. Of course, this does not detract from
+the confidence we have in our superiority."</p>
+
+<p>I heard also that seaplanes have been called
+upon to serve at all sorts of tasks on the dismal
+briny. On one occasion a senior naval officer of
+an English port received word that neutrals were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>
+out in boats, and that they had no water or food.
+Their steamship had been torpedoed, and their
+last message by wireless had been caught by the
+British. The naval officer despatched a seaplane
+with bread and water, and the pilot delivered it,
+with other trifling necessities.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most beautiful sights that meets the
+eye of a seaplane pilot is when he comes on the
+scouting parties of British warships. They are
+never at a standstill, and to keep moving and in
+the same place they all make a wonderful circle
+at full speed, with one vessel in the centre. That
+ship is to receive the message or whatever is
+brought by the seaplane, which in the event of
+calm weather lands on the water and sometimes
+sends off one of her officers to talk to those
+aboard the vessel protected by the ring of speeding
+grey warcraft.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p>
+<h2>II. OVER THE NORTH SEA IN A SEAPLANE</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">To</span> have an accurate conception of some of the
+experiences of a seaplane pilot of the Royal
+Naval Air Service, I took advantage of an opportunity
+to go aloft over the North Sea.</p>
+
+<p>"Come with me, and we'll get you togged out
+for the ride," said the gunnery lieutenant. He
+was a Canadian, who had lived many years in
+Rochester, N. Y., and it was he who remembered
+that I would need something warmer than the
+clothes I wore.</p>
+
+<p>In the room to which he conducted me were
+many different styles of air garb. He picked
+down a hat and coat of black leather, observing
+that they would serve the purpose.</p>
+
+<p>The morning sun shed a yellowish glow on the
+dancing sea, and the wind was blowing at the
+rate of 32 knots. It was agreed by all that there
+would be an excellent view from the aircraft as
+the day was clear. By the time the gunnery lieutenant
+and I reached the ways on which the great
+seaplane rested, men in overalls, begrimed with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
+oil and dirt, were testing the engine. As the
+great propeller spun round, coats ballooned out
+with the rush of air, and the noise was such that
+one could hardly hear one's own efforts to shout.
+It was a sound which filled you with awe. The
+propeller was stopped after a few minutes, and
+the mechanicians shot up the sides of the craft,
+and punched oil and gasolene into the places
+where it was needed. Young officers in naval
+uniforms stood around the machine&mdash;all are usually
+interested in a departing seaplane. Not far
+from us were many immense sheds in which were
+some of the newest types of England's youngest
+branch of the Navy. There were aircraft there
+which bespoke the inventive genius of the
+Briton, and the confidence of the young pilots
+inspired you with pleasure&mdash;it was a confidence
+that they could beat the enemy at one to two.</p>
+
+<p>Presently the chief mechanician announced to
+the pilot that all was well, and the man who was
+to take me above the North Sea, attired in his uniform
+and a thick white woollen scarf, climbed
+up the seaplane's port side. He signalled to
+me to follow, showing the places for me to put
+my feet. The climb was more difficult than I
+had imagined, and a literal <i>faux pas</i> might not
+have aided the flying ability of the machine.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There was no lashing the passenger to a seat
+in the plane. The place in which I sat would
+not have cramped three men, the pilot being in
+front. There was a loose leather seat cover atop
+a wooden box as the only sign of comfort.</p>
+
+<p>"Make the best of it," said the pilot. With
+that, he turned on a switch, and the propeller
+whirred a warning of departure to the clouds.
+It was a parting shot to ascertain that the engines
+were in trim, and after the engine had been
+stopped the craft was wheeled out into the waters
+of the bay, and then again the propeller rent
+the air with a burring noise which is surprising
+even if you are more or less prepared for it.</p>
+
+<p>For the first few seconds we apparently swung
+along on the water's surface, then skimmed
+along, the floats at the sides of the plane bobbing
+on the slightly crested sea. It was only a matter of
+less than a minute before I realised that we were
+rising in the air between sky and water, and with
+amazing speed we soared, and soon were 300 feet
+in the air. Still our aircraft climbed and
+climbed. The ocean, which had been beating on
+the sands now outside, seemed peaceful and
+green. The town which I thought had such winding
+streets when I walked through them now
+looked as if it had been laid out by a landscape<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+architect. Up, up we travelled, and the higher we
+were the more deceptive was the North Sea.</p>
+
+<p>Through, or, at least, far above, the opening
+to the port the pilot steered the seaplane, and
+far down in the sea I saw a strip of dusky something
+pushing a white speck before it. The pilot
+signalled for me to look down. It was then
+that I realised that this funny little thing was
+a British submarine going out to sea. The pilot
+bellowed something; but I could only see that
+he was shouting, no sound coming to me above
+the din of the propeller. We steered straight
+out to sea, and miles away I saw a grey speck&mdash;a
+warship prowling over the lonely depths.</p>
+
+<p>After listening to stories of pilots who have
+been tossed on the bosom of the waters for twenty
+and thirty hours, the thought of the hardships
+these pilots have to undergo came vividly
+to me. I thought of how I might feel if a dozen
+anti-aircraft guns made us their target. Behind
+us the town now had almost disappeared. The
+officer kept the nose of his machine towards
+France, and I thought, as we sped on, of the
+young officer who had an appointment for dinner
+with his fianc&eacute;e, and who had descended in
+the wrong territory only a week before. These
+daring pilots, however, think nothing of cutting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+through the air from England to France and taking
+a bomb or so with them for Zeebrugge on the
+way.</p>
+
+<p>I began to think a great deal of my pilot. He
+was about twenty-seven years old, and was cool
+and certain. He was a dare-devil, and had only
+been over in England a short time after spending
+months on the coast near the front.</p>
+
+<p>The town had disappeared, and it was evident
+that we were practically at the mercy of the
+compass. I felt no dizziness at the great height.
+In fact, I had no conception of the altitude of
+the seaplane then. Perhaps I was comforted by
+the whirring of the propeller, the thundering
+rumble of which was increased by the stiff wind.
+I looked headlong down, and experienced no
+sensation of fear. I seemed to be in a solid moving
+thing as stable as a machine on earth or water.
+We must have been up 4,000 feet and possibly
+100 miles out at sea. There was a sameness
+about the travelling. You heard the roaring
+blades, and saw the deceitful sea and clouds
+on a line with you here and there. The pilot
+turned the plane, and soon we were headed for
+land. We kept at the same altitude, and after a
+while beheld the shore line. The marvellous
+speed of the aircraft appealed to me then, as it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+was not long before we were over the harbour
+gates. At the same time, the seaplane just then
+did not seem to be making any headway. From
+a height of 4,000 feet the great vessels looked
+like fair-sized matches. How impossible it
+seemed to aim straight enough ever to hit one
+of those narrow things. As we turned around
+above the town in the direction of the hangars
+the trembling wings appeared to waver a bit
+more than usual. I looked down at the town,
+and we appeared at a standstill. You can tell
+sometimes when persons are looking at the planes
+by a speck of white, which is a face. The earth
+and sea rose nearer, for, as one does not appreciate,
+the plane was descending.</p>
+
+<p>Our seaplane swung around and around like
+a bird about to settle, and, as the seagulls do,
+alighted on the waters against the wind. With
+remarkable skill and patience the pilot carefully
+steered the machine until she faced the ways on
+which waited a throng of air-station officers and
+waders. Soon we were properly placed, and a
+dozen men clad in waterproof clothes splashed
+forward into the water, and caught the floats of
+the seaplane's wings. As the engine had been
+stopped before we landed, I got the first chance
+to speak to my pilot. He told me to get on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>
+back of one of the waders, and in a few minutes
+I was again on dry land. Then the first thing
+I thought of was how the machine looked in the
+air. The officers congratulated my pilot on a
+remarkably fine landing.</p>
+
+<p>We had been more than two hours and ten
+minutes in the air, and we were both glad of a
+good stretch as we walked to the hangar, the
+burring buzz of the propeller still in my ears.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p>
+<h2>III. ADVENTURES IN A SEAPLANE</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">It</span> was an interesting gathering which faced the
+warm fire in a smoking-room of an East Coast
+station of the Royal Naval Air Service. Many
+of the seaplane pilots who were attired in the
+blue and gold of naval officers had recently returned
+from successful endeavours in their hazardous
+life in the North Sea and on the Belgian
+Coast. And here they were in old England chatting
+about their experiences without brag or
+boast&mdash;just telling modestly what had happened.</p>
+
+<p>On one side of the spacious room, on a long,
+deep leather-cushioned sofa, were an officer of
+the guards who was known to have an income
+of at least ten thousand dollars a year, and who
+had taken to flying for the excitement; a stocky
+youth of twenty from Salt Lake City, Utah, who
+was known to have eked out a livelihood on fifty
+cents a day at Dayton, O., so that he could pay
+for his training as a pilot; another youngster,
+scion of a wealthy Argentine family with English
+connections; and an Englishman, just over
+thirty, who had been born in California and had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
+heard the 1914 call of the mother country. They
+were cramped, but comfortable.</p>
+
+<p>In other chairs of the deep, comfy English variety
+were a rancher from Canada; an Olympic
+champion, whose name has often figured in big
+type in New York's evening newspapers; a lieutenant-commander
+of the Royal Navy, who had
+hunted big game in three continents; a wind-seared
+first mate of a British tramp; a tanned tea-planter
+from Ceylon; a 'Varsity man from Cambridge,
+whose aim had been a curacy in the
+English Church; a newspaper man from Rochester,
+N. Y.; a London broker; the head of a
+London print and lithographing business, looked
+upon as one of the best pilots in the service; and
+a publisher, who in pre-war days had been more
+interested in "best sellers" than in seaplanes.</p>
+
+<p>All were dreadnoughts who looked upon it as
+a privilege to give their lives to smash Prussian
+militarism. If you had asked any one of them
+for an interview he would have scoffed at the
+idea. But ordinary newspapermen cannot be
+blamed for being enthralled at the share of these
+pilots in the World War. What's printed about
+them? Just a paragraph to the effect that "Several
+seaplanes last night bombed Zeebrugge or
+Cuxhaven." They dashed out into the frigid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
+North Sea with an errand, but their share in
+the fights and the valuable assistance they have
+been to Great Britain as scouts are seldom mentioned.
+Still, they "carry on," asking for no encouragement.
+And right here it must be explained
+that "carry on" means to do or die
+in this war. It is the byword of the British of
+the day.</p>
+
+<p>It chanced that "Tidy," as we will call him,
+was the first speaker who had something to say.
+He had a reason for talking, for some evil genius
+had followed him for two days. The yarn is best
+told in his own words, so far as they can be
+remembered.</p>
+
+<p>"It was my patrol and I started from France
+at half-past five o'clock in the morning," began
+the seaplane pilot. "I shot out to sea for about
+thirty miles, and then continued to run along
+the coast for about 63 miles. I caught sight of
+a Dutch ship, and a little while afterwards observed
+a submarine. Almost as soon as I saw the
+vessel there was a cloud of smoke. I raced to the
+scene, knowing then that the Dutch tramp had
+been torpedoed by a German U-boat. Four
+miles further on I espied a second submarine. I
+opened fire on the first submarine, which then
+I saw had taken in tow a boat evidently containing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>
+the survivors of the Dutch vessel. I observed
+one of the Dutch sailors crawl to the
+bows of the boat attached to the submarine and
+cut the rope. At that instant I dropped a bomb,
+which fell about 25 or 30 feet from the submarine.
+The under-sea craft went down very
+quickly, and I descended further and dropped
+my aerial, and the mechanician-operator sent
+out a message. I threw other bombs when I
+thought I detected about where the submarine
+was in the sea. It was like a hawk after a fish.
+The other submarine fled without giving me a
+chance.</p>
+
+<p>"I continued scouting, having warned the
+British warships that two submarines were in the
+vicinity. It came over very misty, and in the
+deep haze I saw three or four German vessels
+coming out. As I turned, deciding to race home
+and give the word, my engines failed me. I
+went down and down, holding off from the white
+caps of the sea for two and one-quarter hours.
+My next adventure was the sight of some German
+aeroplanes. After fiddling around, I got
+my engine started, and flew up to 1,000 feet
+above the sea. It was lucky that I started the
+engine when I did, for the sea was becoming
+unpleasant. But then my magneto failed me,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
+and I realised what was in store on those wind-torn
+waters. I was forced to dodge about like a
+bird with a broken wing. The wind freshened
+to 40 knots. Although we did our utmost to keep
+the seaplane off the water, it, of course, had to
+rest there, and I became horribly seasick. The
+mechanician and I tried to keep the craft afloat.
+We fired off our rockets, hoping to attract the attention
+of a friendly or neutral vessel, but at the
+same time realising that we might fall victims
+to the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>"All night the mechanician and I were tossed
+on the sea without a chance of attracting anyone,
+as our rockets had given out. The cold was
+unbearable, and both of us were very seasick.</p>
+
+<p>"Dawn came, and there did not even then
+seem much more chance of our being rescued
+than at night time. You could not imagine anything
+lonelier than a seaplane on the bosom of
+the North Sea when you are without food or
+drink. The rocking of the light craft would
+have made a good sailor keel over with seasickness.
+The happy moment, however, did come.
+We were spotted by a mine-sweeper, and she
+raced to the rescue. Our mangled machine was
+hoisted on the kite crane of the little vessel. We
+had been thirty-six hours without food and water,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+and most of the time bumped about on the
+sea.</p>
+
+<p>"That would seem to be about enough for the
+evil genius to perform, eh? But we were
+doomed to have another surprise in store. I
+went to bed in a room in a little hotel, and had
+hardly closed my eyes when there was a great
+explosion; the whole place seemed about to fall
+down. I put on an overcoat, and tore outside to
+discover that those blamed destroyers which I
+had seen earlier were bombarding the place
+where I went to sleep. A lucky shot demolished
+the building next to the one in which I was in
+bed; then I went back to bed, too tired to care
+what else happened."</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p>
+<h2>IV. SWEEPING THE SEAS FOR MINES</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> are days when a mine-sweeper captain,
+who is continually running the gauntlet of death,
+reckons that he has been fortunate. Usually
+this is when he just escapes being blown to bits
+with his vessel or sees what can happen to a
+steamship when it strikes one of the enemy mines
+planted at random in the North Sea. There
+are days when he goes out and sees nothing
+worth while. However, despite the great danger,
+unseen and unheard until all is over, these
+mine-sweeper men guide their vessels out daybreak
+after daybreak, with the same old carefree
+air, to perform their allotted task in this
+war.</p>
+
+<p>Many of these men were fishermen, who
+looked as if they had slipped out of funny stories
+in their thick jerseys and sou'-westers; now
+they are part and parcel of the British Navy,
+proud of the blue uniform and brass buttons and&mdash;when
+they have them&mdash;of the wavy gold bands
+on their sleeves. There are others who were officers
+and so forth in the mercantile marine in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
+pre-war days. They have sailed the seas from
+John o' Groats to Tokio: and to them New York
+is merely a jaunt.</p>
+
+<p>One of the latter, who was a passenger-vessel
+officer, attracted a deal of attention at an East
+English port by his indefatigable labour and
+fearlessness in his risky job, until he was rewarded
+for more than two years of grinning at
+death by the Distinguished Service Cross.</p>
+
+<p>He knows Broadway well, can tell you where
+he likes best to get his hair cut, and where he
+considers they put up the best cocktail. One
+day I was permitted to take a trip with this captain-lieutenant&mdash;and
+get back. Mine-sweeping
+has been written about by persons from Kipling
+down, so I will just tell you the story as I then
+saw it.</p>
+
+<p>The skipper stood on the bridge of his dusky-coloured
+vessel as she soused through the waters
+of the grim North Sea, his keen eyes ever on the
+alert fore and aft, and occasionally on the sister
+ship to his, coupled along with the "broom."
+They were "carrying on," as usual. This skipper
+was a man just in his thirties. His face was
+cheery and round, and body was muscular and
+thick-set. In spite of the watch he and his first
+mate kept on this particular occasion, he found<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
+time to give me his opinion on certain things
+interesting to the men who go down to the sea in
+ships, and also an idea of what it means to be in
+command of a mine-sweeper.</p>
+
+<p>"You should have been with us on Sunday,"
+he said, as he lighted his cigarette between his
+cupped hands. "It was more interesting than
+usual&mdash;had something of this damn thrill you
+talk about ashore and don't know what it is until
+you've been at the firing front or in one of
+these blessed ocean brooms. That chap across
+the way found a mine in his kite, and we had to
+cut the hawser in double-quick time, and get far
+enough away from it before we pegged a bullet
+in one of the horns."</p>
+
+<p>The skipper explained that none of the mines
+are exploded less than 200 yards from the vessels.
+He said that the experience he had just related
+would have sufficed for a day, but that an hour
+later, when he was still brushing up a part of the
+North Sea, not far from the coast, he received
+a warning from a trawler that a mine exposed
+at low water was just ahead of him. Not in his
+time had he seen a steamer go astern quicker.
+Afterwards, they deftly fished around for the
+mine, snapped its mooring rope, and brought it
+to the surface. When the mine was at a safe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+distance from all vessels, a couple of men then
+aimed their rifles at it until there was a loud explosion
+which sent sand-coloured water 35 feet
+and more into the air.</p>
+
+<p>But the affairs of that Sunday were not yet
+complete. Twenty minutes after the mine had
+been exploded a great rumble was heard way out
+at sea, and soon it was ascertained by the captain
+of the mine-sweeper that a Scandinavian tramp
+had met her doom by striking a German mine.</p>
+
+<p>"We went off to see if we could pick up some
+of the poor chaps," observed the skipper.
+"Among the twenty-one men and boys we rescued
+were four who'd been passengers aboard a
+passenger vessel which had been torpedoed by a
+German U-boat without warning near Malta.
+They told us, when they got down into our engine-room,
+that they were just having one hell of
+a time getting home. I don't blame them for
+thinking that. Through good fortune, and taking
+chances of being sent to the bottom ourselves,
+we have saved the lives of many of these
+neutrals who might have perished. Yes, here we
+are mine-sweeping as a job, flying the white ensign
+of the British Navy; and yet we have found
+time to save life imperilled by the enemy.
+Sometimes I wonder what sly Fritz would have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
+to say if he'd even saved a single neutral. He'd
+be blowing yet. Did you ever stop to think that
+our Government never has jeopardised a single
+neutral life? On the other hand, the lives of
+neutrals that have been rescued at this port run
+into the thousands. They talk about the freedom
+of the seas. What else has there been until
+Germany showed that what she wants is the
+'tyranny of the seas.' Leastways, that's how it
+strikes me. Ever stop to&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>His attention was caught by a signal from the
+other vessel, and a keen-eyed sailor wig-wagged
+back an answer. It was all right, although at
+first I still remembered the timely warning regarding
+the slightly submerged mine. As a
+matter of fact, it was merely a desire of the sister
+ship's captain to turn around and "sweep
+back," as the land-lubber might term it.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's see," said the commander, "where was
+I.... Oh, yes.... Realise that we go out
+and save lives that the enemy imperils far out
+at sea? They are lives that don't concern us, but
+we don't feel like letting a poor chap drown if
+we can help it. On the other hand, our enemy
+stops at nothing, and, moreover, takes advantage
+of our humanity. I think that it should be
+known that we dash out to the rescue never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+knowing when the ship may go up against one
+of Fritz's eggs, which may be anywhere in the
+sea. Why do we go? Just to pick up a benighted
+lot from an ill-fated tramp, and there's
+nothing in it. Yet we do it all the time, and the
+C.O. commends us for it, too."</p>
+
+<p>We came to a new spot in the green sea to
+sweep. It was fairly rough, and the little vessel
+bumped and jumped. And this is the work that
+goes on from daybreak to dusk seven days a
+week. If a trawler strikes a mine she usually
+counts on saying good-bye to herself and 80
+per cent. of her crew, and the other type of
+mine-sweeper is lucky if she gets off with a loss
+of less than 40 per cent.</p>
+
+<p>Back and forth in a monotonous sea we
+steamed, and you had an idea how dull this work
+can be sometimes; also that when it comes to
+sweeping you saw that the North Sea is a big
+place.</p>
+
+<p>"It's become a science," observed the skipper.
+"Fritz has a hard time many a night 'laying his
+eggs,' and the many ways we have of bringing
+them to the surface has baffled him a good
+deal."</p>
+
+<p>A torpedo-boat destroyer hove within signalling
+distance. The commander was handed a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>
+message by a sailor. The alert skipper read it,
+and said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Tell 'em 'yes.'... Just want to know if we
+had swept around there."</p>
+
+<p>Still the smoke-coloured little vessels kept up
+the job of plying back and forth in the waters.
+Men were busy at the stern of the ships watching
+the wooden kites that are made so as to catch the
+mines by the hawser that is slung between the
+two steamers. The slightest sign of a ball-like
+piece of steel in the sea and the dullness of
+sweeping is relieved, for then the skipper knows
+that he has unhooked one of the mines. Along
+came a submarine, flying the white ensign of the
+Royal Navy. The mine-sweepers realise that
+these men have no arm-chair job, and admire the
+commander and crew of the under-water boats
+accordingly. A sailor semaphored with his
+arms, and the commander of the mine-sweeper
+sent a message back, and the submarine passed
+slowly on her way.</p>
+
+<p>"If some of those people at home and abroad
+at their firesides realised what the men at sea
+have to suffer to keep this coast free they might
+have a different way of talking," declared the
+commander, now taking to his much-burned old
+pipe. "Those chaps that have just come in have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>
+had a week without any sleep&mdash;or next to none&mdash;and
+their food has all been canned stuff. There
+are many persons who think the North Sea's a
+pond&mdash;same as they do over in America."</p>
+
+<p>On we steamed in our section of the waters
+with never a sign of a German mine. Finally,
+the day came to a close, and the captain ordered
+the hawser to be slipped and the kite hoisted in
+the stern crane of his vessel, the like being done
+by the other sweeper.</p>
+
+<p>As if glad that the day's work was over, the
+small craft pressed forward to the harbour, and
+were disappointed to find that a big tramp was
+taking up the room of their berths. They anchored
+outside, waiting for the big steamer to
+get away.</p>
+
+<p>"Do they tell you when you can come alongside
+the dock?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No need to," said the captain with a smile.
+"You'll see."</p>
+
+<p>We had been in the open harbour for about
+twenty minutes when the bows of the ugly vessel
+came slowly on. An instant later all the small
+craft were ready to speed to their respective
+berths in their turns, and it was not so very
+long before the mine-sweeper was tied to her
+part of the dock. The commander of the sister<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+vessel to the one I had been aboard came over
+to us.</p>
+
+<p>"Good ship that of yours?" I said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," muttered the man with two rings of
+the Royal Naval Reserve on his sleeve. "She's
+all right; but I love this ship. I had her a year
+ago, and she's a little wonder. It would take
+me a long while to love another vessel."</p>
+
+<p>My skipper laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Just one of those days," he said. "Come, let's
+go and have a spot."</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p>
+<h2>V. THE ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Buffeted</span> about from Antwerp to Gallipoli,
+Egypt, the Greek Islands, Salonika, and then
+to France, first under an admiral, then part of
+an army corps, again under an admiral, and
+finally back to military regime&mdash;the life of the
+Royal Naval Division, which startled an Empire
+by their valour on the Ancre, has been one
+full of thrills, sorrows, threats of extinction,
+brave deeds, and perilous journeys. They are
+proud of their naval origin, and are also tenacious
+of their naval customs, despite the fact that
+all their fighting has been done ashore and few
+sailors survive among them.</p>
+
+<p>In August, 1914, Mr. Winston Churchill,
+then First Lord of the Admiralty, mobilised and
+organised, as a division for land fighting, reservist
+seamen, stokers and marines, and naval volunteers
+whose services were not required afloat,
+also recruits drawn mainly from among the
+miners of the North of England and Scotland.
+Guards' officers, naval and marine instructors&mdash;each
+in his own ritual&mdash;help to train them. To<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
+the Navy, who raided them when it needed seamen
+or stokers for its ships, they were "dry-land
+sailors." To the Army, they were just a bunch
+of "so-called salts" or "Winston's Own." But
+their instructors soon recognised that in these
+grousing, middle-aged stokers, and in these silent
+stolid illiterate miners and ironworkers
+from the North Country, they had the raw material
+of soldiers as fine as Great Britain can
+breed.</p>
+
+<p>In many respects, the Division has had the
+worst of both worlds. They have beaten their
+way steadily to the fore without much recognition
+in print; but since Beaucourt fell, both military
+and naval men have been eager to grasp
+their hands.</p>
+
+<p>Now and again a brief mention fell to their lot
+while they were in Gallipoli, where the military
+were attracted to them a bit by the idea of calling
+their battalions after famous admirals such as
+Nelson, Drake, Hood, Collingwood, Anson,
+Howe, Benbow, and Hawke. Sir Ian Hamilton
+made mention of the fearlessness of the division
+in his despatches, and Major-General D'Amade
+eulogised them for their bravery after the frays
+of the 6th, 7th, and 8th of May, 1915. In June,
+1915, the Collingwood battalion was wiped out;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+of the officers of this battalion and of the Hood,
+who went to the attack, not one returned unwounded.
+The other battalions also suffered
+terribly, having been equally contemptful of
+danger.</p>
+
+<p>Prior to that they had, of course, been to
+Antwerp. Even if they did not have a chance
+to do much, the Division, at any rate, caused the
+Belgians to hold out for five days longer than
+they might otherwise have done.</p>
+
+<p>Among the many brave men on the officers'
+roll are well-known Britishers who have given
+their lives for their country. There was Rupert
+Brooke, the poet; Denis Browne, formerly
+musical critic of <i>The Times</i>; F. S. Kelly, holder
+of the Diamond Sculls record, who also was an
+exceptionally clever composer and pianist; and
+Arthur Waldene St. Clair Tisdall, a great
+scholar and poet of Cambridge. He was
+awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour on the
+25th of April, at Gallipoli, for going to the rescue
+of wounded men on the beach. To accomplish
+this, he pushed a boat in front of him. On
+his second trip he was obliged to ask for help.
+In all, he made five trips in the face of great
+danger. He met death in action barely three
+weeks afterwards.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant-Commander Arthur M. Asquith,
+son of the former British Premier, is one of the
+gallant men attached to the Hood battalion. He
+has been through the thick of many fights, and
+has been wounded more than once, escaping
+death through sheer good fortune.</p>
+
+<p>And one of the men whom all England was
+wild about is a New Zealander from Wellington,
+twenty-seven years old, now an acting lieutenant-colonel,
+who was described by an eye-witness
+of the Ancre fighting as "a flying figure in
+bandages plunging over Germans to Beaucourt."
+He is B. C. Freyberg, a born soldier and great
+athlete.</p>
+
+<p>Before the Great War, this marvel of courage
+was fighting for Pancho Villa in Mexico; and
+the instant the European conflict started, Freyberg
+realised that he might do better in Europe.
+He therefore deserted Villa, and set out afoot
+for San Francisco. His splendid constitution
+stood him in good stead, and he arrived there as
+fit as a fiddle, soon afterwards winning enough
+money in a swimming race to take him to London.
+In the English capital he received a commission
+as a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Naval
+Division, and his promotion has been rapid.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Freyberg was caught in a live electric<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+wire in Antwerp; but it was of so high a voltage
+that he was not killed, sustaining only an injury
+to his hand and arm. He was even fired at by
+his own men, who believed that he was a German
+crawling through the wire. Just before the
+landing in Gallipoli, on the 25th of April, 1915,
+it was proposed to throw dust in the eyes of the
+Turks by landing a platoon at a point on the
+coast of the Gulf of Saros, where no serious
+landing was contemplated. To save the sacrifice
+of a platoon, Freyberg, who was at that time
+a company-commander in the Hood battalion,
+pressed to be allowed to achieve the same object
+single-handed. His wish was granted; and
+on the night of the 24th-25th of April, oiled and
+naked, he swam ashore, towing a canvas canoe
+containing flares and a revolver. He reconnoitred
+the enemy's trenches, and, under the covering
+fire of a destroyer, lit his flares at intervals
+along the beach. He had some difficulty in finding
+his boat again. A mysterious fin accompanied
+him during part of the swim. He at first
+took it to be that of a shark, but found later
+it belonged to a harmless porpoise. After some
+two hours in the water, he was picked up, and
+for this gallant and successful feat he was made
+a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+In Gallipoli he was wounded in May,
+again in July, 1915, and he was mentioned in
+Sir Charles Monro's despatches in connection
+with the successful evacuation of the 9th of January,
+1916.</p>
+
+<p>Hence, this sailor-soldier in a comparatively
+short time attracted a good deal of attention
+among the naval and military authorities; so it
+was not surprising that when he applied for a
+permanent commission in the British Army he
+was given a captaincy in the Queen's Royal
+West Surrey Regiment. The same day, however,
+he received this news he was seconded to
+the Royal Naval Division with the temporary
+rank of lieutenant-colonel. So he retained command
+of his old battalion&mdash;the Hood.</p>
+
+<p>Inasmuch as the first despatches concerning
+the storming of Beaucourt referred to Lieutenant-Colonel
+Freyberg as "a naval colonel," all
+Britain was wondering who this hero could be.
+Some of his friends were not long in guessing;
+but it was not until the next day that Freyberg
+in name received credit for the remarkable exploit
+on the north bank of the Ancre. In the
+first messages of the British success it was set
+forth that in a battle where every man fought
+nobly for the honour of his regiment and his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+country, one individual act of leadership stood
+out with peculiar distinctness.</p>
+
+<p>A witness of the battle told of the troops on
+Freyberg's left being held up, and that between
+him and them ran, roughly parallel with the
+line of advance, a spur which cut off the effect of
+the enemy's machine guns. After fourteen hours
+of fighting, bit by bit, the sea-dog soldiers had
+plunged through a mile of trenches and ground
+sorely marked by shells. Three machine guns
+then were pushed forward well beyond that line,
+and the still unsatisfied sailor-colonel, his shoulder
+and right arm swathed in bandages, asked
+leave to go ahead and attack the village. His
+men were about 1,000 yards in front of the companies
+on his left, endeavouring to advance
+across the northwesterly slope. It was more like
+a matter of defence than attack. The men were
+few in numbers, and had fought like tigers for
+long hours without a rest. However, about 500
+men were collected, and the dark of night was
+spent in organisation. Then, in the misty dawn,
+some soldier battalions came up to reinforce the
+left, and onward plunged Freyberg.</p>
+
+<p>Out on the Ancre they say that he got so far
+ahead of his men that he rubbed his hand over
+his head and murmured: "Huh&mdash;I believe I forgot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>
+to tell them to follow me." Whether or not
+this is true, only Freyberg knows. But we do
+not remain in doubt as to what he and his men
+did right afterwards. They ploughed their way
+through mud and Germans, with the fire of five
+machine guns peppering them. They stuck
+right on the heels of the barrage fire, and in less
+than twenty minutes from that time the Germans
+had been driven from their stronghold of
+Beaucourt. Here and there a German post held,
+and men in the trenches faced the British bombs
+and cold steel. Still the Teutons soon learned
+that it was impossible to stop that alarming Briton
+and his men.</p>
+
+<p>Freyberg formed a semicircular trench
+around the far side of the new possession, and
+then they took time to see what had happened
+to the gallant little band. Freyberg had received
+his fourth wound, and his brave 500 had
+dwindled to a number a good deal smaller. The
+Britishers, somehow, had been unkind in their
+speed to the Germans, and the enemy was left
+gaping with wonder at the result of what they at
+first took to be nothing more than a bit of bluff.</p>
+
+<p>For this remarkable display of valour Freyberg
+received the Victoria Cross.</p>
+
+<p>Reverting to the division itself, it should be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
+said that every officer of these jolly-jack-tar soldiers
+has panegyrics galore to cast in the direction
+of General Sir Archibald Paris, K.C.B.,
+who was in command of the division at Antwerp
+and the Dardanelles. He lost a leg before the
+Ancre fighting, and thus was disappointed of
+being with them for their great success in
+France. He was succeeded by Major-General
+Cameron Shute, C.B. What the division has recently
+accomplished and the way it has terrorised
+the enemy, like Kipling's "Tyneside Tail
+Twisters," is a happy thought to General Shute.
+In one battalion it is estimated that 90 per cent.
+of the casualties in the Ancre fighting were
+caused by the closeness with which the sailors
+clung to the barrage fire. Their grit caused the
+enemy to pale.</p>
+
+<p>They are pleased and proud of their sea terms,
+and would not give them up for anything&mdash;not
+even if the soldiers of the King do not fathom
+their meaning.</p>
+
+<p>It is a case of going to the "galley," while the
+red-coat that was persists in the "kitchen." The
+first field dressing-station is nothing but "sick
+bay" to the R.N.D. man. They "go adrift"
+when they are missing from parade, and they ask
+to "go ashore" when they want leave.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p>
+<h2>VI. A NAVAL SCHOOL</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">From</span> one of several institutions, every six
+months Britain turns out 2,200 boys who have
+mastered the elementary rudiments of seamanship
+and are ready to take their places as ordinary
+seamen aboard warships. They will not
+tell you how many of these schools there are in
+Great Britain alone, but you may learn that no
+undue activity has been brought about in these
+places because John Bull is at war. After having
+waded through the curriculum of these boys,
+one comes to the conclusion that they are not so
+far from being able seamen by the time they
+emerge from this place on the East Coast.</p>
+
+<p>It is especially striking how speedily the
+youthful mind snatches up the mysteries of signalling
+and of wireless telegraphy; and one is
+filled with interest in following the boys from
+the time they first enter the school to the day
+they leave.</p>
+
+<p>In a room where they are "kitting up" are
+twenty or thirty boys who have just arrived.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+And, as they say in America, there is "no monkey
+business" about the instructors: either the
+boys are those who are wanted or they are not.
+The youngsters receive their first seafaring garb
+in a large, well-ventilated room. They have been
+in the bath, and their hair is as close as the clippers
+can make it. One of them said he was the
+son of a lawyer; another that his father was in
+the Royal Navy; a third came of a parson's family;
+a husky young chap had been a blacksmith's
+assistant; and another had coo-ed milk in London
+streets.</p>
+
+<p>"An'," declared a petty officer, "they all comes
+here believin' they'll be able to get a pot shot at
+the Kaiser. Seems to me that they imagine that
+William is always standing on guard on the
+rocks of Heligoland, just waiting for them to
+come along&mdash;what?"</p>
+
+<p>In another section of the school the boys are
+grounded in discipline by a petty officer, and by
+the time they get through with him they are
+accustomed to saluting. Follows then a whirl of
+wonders to them. There is a model of the forepart
+of a ship, which they can steer, and so learn
+port from starboard; there is the ingenious manner
+of dropping a lifeboat into the lap of the
+sea; and then the interesting work of tying knots,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
+in which the petty officer instructor takes considerable
+pride.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most interesting rooms of sub-schools
+is the one where the youthful "salts" are
+initiated into the mysteries of signalling, where,
+besides the numerous flags for sea conversation,
+there is a dummy wireless station, by which they
+can become proficient operators. They have
+models of ships, so that they can tell which are
+British and which are German. Then there are
+gunnery schools, and it speaks well for the young
+Briton that 90 per cent. of the pupils have such
+keen minds that they yearn to learn more of the
+mysteries of the study of sea fighting; they have
+the ambition to be really good seamen, engine-room
+men, wireless operators, or signalmen.</p>
+
+<p>On a section of the school grounds there is a
+mast on which is hoisted the White Ensign of the
+British Navy. This spot is known as the quarter-deck,
+and every time one of the youngsters
+passes where he can see that mast he salutes reverently.
+Beyond that there is the recreation
+ground, where every Saturday afternoon in winter
+there are half a dozen games of football.
+The officers help them to enjoy that, too, for,
+like Americans, they delight in exercise.</p>
+
+<p>It is remarkable what a change a boy undergoes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+after a few months at the institution. I was
+told of would-be sailors who were sloppy and
+dirty when they entered the school being transformed
+into neat, fine physical specimens.</p>
+
+<p>"A hair-cut, a wash, a change of underwear
+and other garments makes all the difference in
+the world," said one of the instructors. "And
+when you add to this lessons in sea-neatness, a
+good deal of interesting headwork, manual labour,
+good food and plenty of recreation, it's
+no wonder that the mill makes a new boy of one
+of the seafaring aspirants."</p>
+
+<p>The boys have one great mess-room; and, although
+they never have been to sea, they are
+taught to treat the school as if it were a war
+vessel. They ate with vigour when I saw them,
+and I was told that the money given to them by
+the Government is spent for extras in the eating
+line&mdash;principally candies. Each table constitutes
+a mess, and there are prizes for the cleanest
+and best-arranged mess; so they arrange their
+knives, forks, and spoons in a design calculated
+to catch the prize-awarder's eye. And, incidentally,
+this idea of giving prizes for the best-kept
+mess is followed throughout the service.</p>
+
+<p>Each day is started with prayer on the quarter-deck,
+and an impressive ceremony it is. Honour<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+and glory is what they will tell you they
+hope to get out of the Navy, and not money.
+And the idea of honour, as it is known in the
+Navy, is drummed into them from the moment
+they enter the school.</p>
+
+<p>To see these youngsters at any meal is to believe
+that it was the first time they had eaten for
+a week. They are ravenously hungry, and the
+food is of such excellence that it makes a visitor
+feel as if he would like to sit down too. There
+is little waste here, for I observed that each plate
+was polished clean; and, when eating was over,
+the boys bounded out for an hour's recreation on
+the spacious grounds. On their way many of
+them paid a visit to the candy-store, and while
+they were playing they munched candy.</p>
+
+<p>The port where this school is located is a
+healthful spot, and in war time no person is permitted
+to board a ferry to the school without a
+special pass. When you first land you are decidedly
+struck by the great figure-heads of old
+war vessels, which are set up on the "quarter-deck"
+and in front of some of the buildings.
+There is one of the old Ganges there&mdash;a mammoth
+wooden head of a very black negro. The
+size of it is startling.</p>
+
+<p>The officers have a charmingly comfortable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+ward-room and mess-room. In the bay is the
+second Ganges, now a sort of mother-ship for
+mine-sweepers and trawlers, and one of the busiest
+places one can imagine. The King not long
+ago dined aboard this ship, and is said to have
+expressed great interest in the work carried on
+from the Ganges.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p>
+<h2>VII. "GENTLEMEN, 'THE KING'"</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> are many traditions to which the Royal
+Navy still clings, and there are messes afloat and
+ashore where it is manifest that time has not
+withered impressive and picturesque features
+of the days of the wooden warships. For instance,
+no layman can help being struck by the
+British naval officers' toast to the King. And
+the other toasts are offered with such splendid
+solemnity and grace that it makes one wish that
+something of the sort could be done at even the
+minor affairs where civilians are gathered. Of
+course, the Londoner and the man from Manchester
+offers his toast at a great banquet, as they
+do in New York and other American cities to the
+President of the United States. But although
+it takes no longer at a naval mess, there is a
+something about it which places the civilian in
+the shade. With the Navy it is a mess, and not
+a dinner where there are many strangers, and
+every officer has been doing this since he was a
+boy.</p>
+
+<p>John Bull's naval officers are men who admit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
+the faults of their country. They have travelled,
+and have seen a good many other countries and
+peoples. From Osborne and Britannia days
+sincerity seems to have been inculcated into
+them. The discipline is inflexible, but kindly.
+The captain of a "Dreadnought" will take pains
+to ask a young midshipman to dine with him,
+and there exists a wonderful thoughtfulness on
+the part of the officers for the men. British
+naval officers are lovers of sports, and, having believed
+the Germans good sports before August,
+1914, they cannot condone attacks on non-belligerents
+or the shooting of nurses. His Majesty's
+naval officers do great things without talking
+about them, and at dinner one of the star
+heroes of the war may be in the next chair to you,
+but you certainly will not hear it from him.</p>
+
+<p>Opposite me sat a man who had faced death
+with Scott on the Polar expedition. It was after
+I had left the mess that I learned this from one
+of his friends. But at a mess you may hear stories
+of men who are absent. It was at dinner
+aboard one of the great, grey sea-fighters that we
+laughed at the yarn of a young middy, in charge
+of one of the cutters off Gallipoli when the
+Turks were sending shells like rain. This midshipman
+ordered his men to take cover. His<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
+men included bearded fellows twice his size and
+age. They obeyed, as they always obey. Then
+the youthful fearnought, to show his contempt
+for danger, stood on one of the cutter's cross-seats,
+pulled out a cigarette-case almost as large
+as himself, and puffed rings of smoke skywards.</p>
+
+<p>"I made a jolly fine set of rings that time," he
+told one of the men.</p>
+
+<p>Another of this tribe was in Cairo on leave
+when he received word that his ship was to
+leave sooner than expected. She was in Alexandria.
+Not having sufficient money to pay his
+train fare, he requisitioned a motor-bicycle and
+sped on to Alexandria. From his youthful eyes
+there welled tears when he was informed that his
+ship was weighing anchor. Nothing daunted,
+however, he commandeered a fast motor-boat,
+and swept out after the warship, which he
+caught on the go. This is the man who in later
+years you are apt to meet at the officers' messes&mdash;a
+man full of information and wonderfully versatile.
+He may have ploughed the seas for many
+years, and dwelt in his steel home in the baking
+heat of tropical suns, and waited for the enemy
+for many a day. Hence conversation never lags
+at these dinners. The meals are comparatively
+plain in these days; but most of the officers stick<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>
+to the delight of a cocktail before dinner, and
+after the <i>pi&egrave;ce de r&eacute;sistance</i> they have their
+glass of port.</p>
+
+<p>Just before the dessert the port is poured into
+glistening glasses, and the table is cleared.</p>
+
+<p>"Table cleared, sir," announces the steward to
+the president of the mess; and a second later one
+hears: "Wine passed, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank God," is the brief grace of the chaplain;
+or, if one is not present, the head of the
+mess says it. This is followed with a rap on
+the table, and from the president of the mess:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Vice, 'The King.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen, 'The King,'" speaks out the vice-president
+of the mess, who is seated at the other
+end of the table opposite to the head of the mess.</p>
+
+<p>Conversation, which a second before had been
+filling the place, is silenced by the grace, and the
+stranger may be somewhat startled by the suddenness
+of the proceedings. It is the privilege
+of these officers to drink the King's health seated.
+This is an old custom, which came about through
+the sovereign realising that ships are not the
+steadiest places always, and the fact that the
+ward-rooms are sometimes not constructed so
+that a tall man can always stand erect.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately "Gentlemen, 'The King,'" is uttered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
+by the mess's vice-president each officer repeats
+in an undertone: "The King." The
+glasses after being held aloft come to the table
+as one, and the conversation is resumed. Garbed
+in their immaculate monkey-jackets, with the
+glistening gold braid on the cuffs, the men at
+the carefully set and beflowered table make a
+scene long to be remembered.</p>
+
+<p>Incidentally, there is a marine officers' mess
+at a certain port which naval officers are always
+ready to talk about. In that place they are proud
+of a wonderful mahogany table which has been
+polished for many years until it is now like a
+black mirror. The band of this mess is one of
+the best in England; and it is the privilege of the
+bandmaster to play at concerts and in theatres,
+the proceeds being divided among charities, the
+bandmaster and his men. Hence the leader of
+this band probably had an income of $7,500 a
+year.</p>
+
+<p>Here, before the toast to the King is offered,
+servants come along each side of the great table
+and, at a given word, whisk the tablecloth from
+the shiny mahogany. The bandmaster is invited
+to have a glass of port by the president of the
+mess. The band leader seats himself, and sips
+his wine. Follows then the toast to the King.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At the mess of the largest Royal Naval Air
+Station in England they have, by good fortune,
+obtained the services of a chef who formerly was
+of the Ritz Hotel in London; and especial attention
+is given to this mess. No matter how
+hard may have been the day's work or how many
+men have been forced to leave for other billets,
+the dinners there are a sight for the gods. More
+than 150 expert seaplane pilots from all over the
+world sit down.</p>
+
+<p>It is like a bit of history of olden days to hear:
+"Gentlemen, 'The King,'" with its charm and
+ceremony.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p>
+<h2>VIII. THE ROYAL NAVAL AMBULANCE TRAIN</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Ready</span> to speed to any accessible port on telegraphic
+or telephonic orders from the Admiralty
+Medical Transport Department are Royal
+Naval Ambulance trains. They are always on
+the move, picking up wounded or sick officers
+and bluejackets at Scotch and English ports,
+bearing them to stations where there are great
+hospitals, to relieve the coast institutions likely
+to receive wounded in the event of a North Sea
+Fleet engagement. These grey-painted trains,
+with the Red Cross and the "R.N." on each
+coach, are the outcome of a great deal of study,
+and they are now run with remarkable efficiency.
+No millionaire could receive better care when
+wounded or ill than do John Bull's naval officers
+and seamen.</p>
+
+<p>Sir James Porter, the head of this service,
+whose pen sends a train to all parts of England
+and Scotland, has a loyal staff, which devotes
+remarkable zeal to their share of the work.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+They take pride in making a time-record in disembarkation
+and entraining of patients. Naval
+surgeons at each railroad station watch the work
+of the stretcher-bearers to be sure that every cot
+has the gentlest possible handling when being
+carried from the train to the ambulance which is
+to take the patient to the local hospital.</p>
+
+<p>The "stepping" of the stretcher-bearers seems
+a trifling thing, but it is surprising to note the
+attention given to this point in the first days of
+the war. Dr. A. V. Elder, staff surgeon of the
+Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and the right
+bower of Sir James Porter, practised for weeks
+the carrying of patients, getting into cots to ascertain
+the most comfortable step for the wounded.
+Prizes were even given to the men who carried
+a pail of water on a cot and reached a fixed
+point with the most liquid in the receptacle. By
+this means the best method of "stepping off" was
+evolved. There are hundreds of these stretcher-bearers&mdash;volunteers
+without compensation&mdash;who
+now perform the task so well that it attracts
+even the attention of the casual observer. The
+cot-bearers are doing their "bit"; they get to the
+railroad stations at all times to meet the ambulance
+trains, and often have to wait hours and
+give up their usual business.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It may also be interesting to some that in those
+August days the Naval Ambulance trains were
+not much more than a series of box-cars. The
+present cot&mdash;an ingenious arrangement by naval
+surgeons&mdash;was used in the naval hospitals and
+aboard the warships. But the fixtures on the
+train for carrying this cot were far from perfection.
+The patient was tossed about by the movement
+of the train, and it was realised that in the
+event of hundreds of patients being carried
+something would have to be discovered to steady
+the beds. Dr. Elder invented a clip-spring to be
+attached to the cot and the side of the coach. It
+held the bed, and had sufficient "give" to make
+it steady. In lieu of the box-cars, there are now
+coaches of the American type, with windows and
+great sliding doors which permit of easy ingress
+or egress.</p>
+
+<p>The railroad officials have listened to the bidding
+of the Medical Transport Officer of the
+Admiralty and have attached some of the best
+locomotives to these trains, usually of twelve
+coaches. Even when there has not been an action,
+and the trains are bearing mostly medical
+cases, all passenger and freight traffic gives way
+to the ambulance trains. If the surgeon in charge
+of the train decides that he has a case which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>
+should be hastened to a hospital he wires ahead,
+so that when he reaches that point the surgeon
+or the agent there is on hand with an ambulance
+to rush the patient to a local hospital.</p>
+
+<p>Where it is possible, red tape has been eliminated.
+The cots in which the patients are carried
+are sent with the patient from a hospital or
+ship, and the patient is only taken out when he
+arrives at the hospital of his destination. For
+the cot bearing the patient, the train surgeon receives
+in exchange a clean cot. This cot has been
+laundered and fumigated, and is kept on the
+train so that when only patients are entrained
+the surgeon gives a cot for each case taken
+aboard. Hence the surgeon always has the same
+number of cots on his train, and through this
+means paper and pencil work is avoided. The
+patient's clothes are packed in a bag, and all
+the valuables of one batch of patients are sealed
+up in one envelope, which is receipted for by the
+surgeon of the hospital to which the patients are
+sent.</p>
+
+<p>No patient is transferred from a hospital in a
+critical condition if it can be avoided. But sometimes
+this is necessary, as it was following the
+Jutland Battle. Then the most serious cases were
+held in the hospitals; while, where it was possible,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>
+hundreds of cases were despatched to institutions
+at other ports.</p>
+
+<p>The route of these ambulance trains may differ
+every round trip. One ambulance train may
+go to the North of Scotland, while the next one
+will only go to Glasgow or Edinburgh if there
+is no call further north. The wonderful organisation
+not only undertakes to relieve hospitals,
+but also to ship the patients to institutions
+unlikely to be suddenly burdened with many
+cases; and consideration is also given as to where
+the patient can receive the best attention, such
+as in southern hospitals.</p>
+
+<p>Fleet-Surgeon A. Stanley Nance is the Medical
+Transport Officer for Scotland. He is ever
+on the alert for what is going on in the hospitals
+in his territory. In the event of a great sea conflict,
+he receives orders from Sir James Porter
+and information concerning all the trains which
+are by that time racing to the ports nearest to
+the scene of the engagement.</p>
+
+<p>In London, the Medical Transport Officer
+can place his finger on a railroad map at any
+time and tell within a mile or so where his trains
+are. If by any possible chance they are delayed
+he receives word from the train surgeons.</p>
+
+<p>Knowing the probability of further engagements<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
+in the North Sea, quite a number of
+wealthy private individuals have interested
+themselves in the hospitals on the East Coast
+from north to south. And these persons take
+especial interest in the trains, many of them
+making it a point to be at the railroad station
+whenever a Royal Naval Ambulance train pulls
+in. What with sick men and accidents, the trains
+now and again may have a full quota of patients
+without there having been a fleet engagement.
+In war time no man who is not physically fit is
+kept aboard ship, for he may not take up another
+man's place without being able to perform
+his work.</p>
+
+<p>Exigencies of war have caused the speedy
+transformation of buildings in many parts of
+England into hospitals. There also are institutions
+constructed in temporary form, architecturally
+not works of art, but wonderfully useful.
+The surgeons at these latter places have wrought
+marvels in obtaining good light in the wards and
+operating-rooms, and creating a comfortable atmosphere
+in the exteriorly dingy places.</p>
+
+<p>The starting-point or headquarters of the ambulance
+trains is in the South, and when they
+plough their way North they carry no patients.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+The complement of these trains is from forty to
+fifty hands, and they all look upon the train as a
+ship, and use sailors' terms. It is the "Sick Bay
+Express."</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p>
+<h2>IX. A RUN IN A ROYAL NAVAL AMBULANCE TRAIN</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">I obtained</span> permission to make a "voyage" in an
+ambulance train.</p>
+
+<p>On a grey, drizzling morning one of the
+Royal Naval trains glided into a siding at
+Queensferry&mdash;a dozen miles from Edinburgh.
+In less than ten minutes six hefty stretcher-bearers
+steadily and silently bore the first cot patient
+from a waiting ambulance to the war-coloured
+train. Cot then followed cot with precision,
+only two of the patients being in the open at a
+time; and as quickly as mortals could accomplish
+it these cots were set swinging in the "eyes"
+set for the lanyards.</p>
+
+<p>Being about half-past eight o'clock, nobody
+had much to say. The faces of the sick and
+wounded bluejackets told you nothing as they
+lazily gazed around them while being hoisted
+into the hospital train. They looked like men
+sewed into white sailcloth sacks. Surgeons, with
+two and three gold stripes, between which runs<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+the red&mdash;blood red, some say&mdash;denoting their
+department in the Navy, glanced occasionally at
+the patients.</p>
+
+<p>"Carry on, there," then came from the
+R.N.V.R. lieutenant in charge of the stretcher-bearers,
+when one of the coaches had received its
+quota of sick and wounded. Then the sliding
+doors of the next coach yawned for its measure
+of sick men, who presented an interesting rather
+than a pathetic picture, for every bluejacket
+wore his cap, looking like a sailor who had gone
+to bed with his clothes on. That cap travels with
+him like his papers. The bluejacket has many
+important things which he conceals in it, and
+the most important of all is his package of "gaspers,"
+as he terms his particular brand of cigarettes.
+The cap is placed firmly on his head, and
+occasionally a flannelled arm protruded from
+the cot. No moan or groan escaped from these
+plucky patients, for the sailor always lives up
+to the traditions of the Royal Navy.</p>
+
+<p>From one of the cots there showed a head covered
+in bandages with only two small openings
+for the patient's eyes. His cap was on his bed.
+As this sailor was being hoisted into the train a
+deep voice came from the bed:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Mind yer eye, Bill, or yer'll get yer feet wet."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Bill was a "sitting case." He had come up on
+the same ambulance as his pal. He had been in
+the same fo'castle and had been hurt in the same
+accident. And now they were going aboard the
+same train to the same port. Bill paid little heed
+at that moment to his chum as he picked his way
+through the water and mud. His right arm was
+in a sling and the comforting cigarette between
+his teeth. Standing on the last rung of the little
+ladder before going into the car, I heard him say
+to another sailor:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"She's over yonder. Bye-bye for the present."</p>
+
+<p>His cap came off as he looked in the direction
+of the great deep water where lay the hazy forms
+of ships. Others looked, but said nothing about
+the sailor doffing his cap to his grey-steel sweetheart
+who had weathered the fight against odds.</p>
+
+<p>"That makes 110," said the train surgeon.
+"Six, four, seventy-three, twenty-seven&mdash;what?"</p>
+
+<p>The first two numerals denote officers, sitting
+and cot cases, and the latter two those of the
+men.</p>
+
+<p>"Right-o," quoth the officer of the stretcher-bearers.</p>
+
+<p>Soon the grey train steamed out, with orders
+to make a stop for a couple of cot cases in Edinburgh.
+In the Waverley Station a few minutes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+later the train took aboard the patients, and
+then sped on south.</p>
+
+<p>Before "she" had been under way very long,
+the surgeon in charge and his assistant walked
+through the coaches, observing the cases on
+board and noting whether any of them needed
+any special attention.</p>
+
+<p>At noon the cooks and stewards were hustling,
+giving food to men who, I supposed, would only
+require toast and beef-tea. But it takes a lot to
+make a bluejacket lose his hunger.</p>
+
+<p>"They're all 'Oliver Twists,'" declared the
+train surgeon.</p>
+
+<p>Now, there is nothing that a sailor of His
+Majesty's Navy likes so much to look at as a
+pretty girl. Hence it was not surprising when I
+heard a voice from one of the cots, after the train
+had stopped at Newcastle, in enthusiastic tones
+blurt out:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"From 'ere I can see the purtiest gal I ever
+laid eyes on."</p>
+
+<p>Business, then, of a movement in every cot.
+Eyes were all front, gazing in the direction of a
+golden-haired beauty, who blushed a deep pink
+when she realised how many pairs of eyes from
+the train were focussed on her. Soon horny
+hands were being kissed in her direction. Shyly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
+she sent a kiss or two back, and then retired to
+the shadows.</p>
+
+<p>As I said before, the train is considered a ship.
+It is a case of going to "Sick Bay" and of "out
+pipes" at nine o'clock. They talk of "darkening
+the ship" when the blinds are pulled and the
+lights covered. We arrived at Hull when it was
+dusk, and at the station was, among other persons,
+Lady Nunburnholme, whose husband is
+the chief owner of the Wilson Line of steamships,
+and who takes a deep interest in the ambulance
+trains and the sailors' hospital in her
+town. No matter at what hour one of the Royal
+Naval trains is due, Lady Nunburnholme is at
+the depot, always eager to have a word with the
+men, and give them cigarettes and cheer them
+up.</p>
+
+<p>By error, that evening a clergyman or naval
+chaplain, who had been hurt on a warship, was
+put in the coach with the men. The surgeon
+made the discovery, and said he would have the
+padre moved into the officers' quarters at the
+next stop.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm a humbug," said the cheery pastor.
+"There's nothing wrong with me. Just go ahead
+looking after the men."</p>
+
+<p>Plymouth was to be the next stop. We were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+due there at half-past seven o'clock the following
+morning. At midnight the chief surgeon walked
+through the train to see that all was well, and he
+was attracted by a man coughing. He directed
+that something be given to this patient.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't want to have one man keep half a
+dozen awake needlessly," said the surgeon.</p>
+
+<p>Then there was an officer who could not go to
+sleep. He was a medical case, suffering from
+rheumatism. But what kept him awake was the
+thought that he might lose his ship. There was
+a sailor who had fallen on his vessel, knocked
+four of his teeth out, and cut his head. Why he
+had to go to "Sick Bay" for such a trifle was beyond
+him. In the dark hours of the early morning
+one might have seen the faithful surgeon
+again going through his train, speaking in whispers
+to those who lay awake, asking them if there
+was anything they needed and what pain they
+had.</p>
+
+<p>"I've got pains all over me, and me 'ead feels
+scorchin' with the bangin' that's goin' on inside,"
+said one man.</p>
+
+<p>"That's a grumble to get a drink," said the
+surgeon, who told the man to try to go to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Devonshire was the scene of gladsome sunshine
+when the train steamed into the station, delivered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+certain patients, and picked up others
+for another port. In his anxiety to get a truck
+out of the way to permit the stretcher-bearers
+uninterrupted passage to the ambulances, a porter
+tipped over six and a half dollars' worth of
+milk. The patients grinned at this, and the Surgeon-General
+on the platform appeared to be
+sorry that so much good milk had gone to waste.</p>
+
+<p>The terminus of the train was reached at half-past
+seven in the evening. There the coaches
+were cleared of all patients and the train split in
+two to permit of traffic passing. The train-surgeon,
+having delivered the valuables of the patients,
+walked with me to the naval barracks,
+where for the first time in thirty-six hours he had
+a chance to really rest.</p>
+
+<p>"Chin-chin," said he, lifting his glass. "Another
+run over, and the Germans have not come
+out yet for the real fight."</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p>
+<h2>X. A TRIP IN A SUBMARINE</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> man who craves excitement is apt to get his
+fill for a while after a trip in a British submarine
+under the North Sea. He may dream of the
+experience for many nights afterwards, and the
+lip of the conning-tower well seems to get higher
+and higher until the water rushes over like an
+incipient Niagara&mdash;then he awakens.</p>
+
+<p>The wind was blowing about 30 knots when
+I boarded the mother ship of the submarines in
+the English East Coast port. It was an unsettled
+sort of morning, and just after I had walked
+over two narrow planks to the under-sea craft,
+aboard which I was to make a cruise under the
+North Sea, the sun shot forth a widening streak
+of blurred silver like a searchlight on the prancing
+green-grey waves. With care, the two-striper
+skipper gave his orders to get the submarine
+under way, and soon he stuck her nose at
+the east. One felt the frost in the air, and fingers
+grasping the canvas shield of the conning
+tower were benumbed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Three men stood in line on the aft hatch while
+the submersible glided through the port waters.
+Four other sailors were getting a last good
+lungful of fine fresh sea air for'd. At the conning
+tower were the commander, his helmsman,
+and a young lieutenant&mdash;the boss of the torpedoes.
+Now and again another officer popped up
+his head through the conning-tower well, and
+that opening to the boat's bowels appeared just
+about large enough for his broad shoulders. The
+nose of the shark-like craft passed through
+white-caps as steadily as a ship on a calm ocean.</p>
+
+<p>"Hands for'd, sir," announced the junior lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>The commander mumbled an answer, and the
+men were ordered to close the for'd hatches, and
+soon the iron doors were screwed down. The gas
+engines shot off black smoke into the curdling
+wake of the vessel's twin propellers, and as we
+surged along into the uninteresting sea the skipper
+sang out to have the aft hatches shut. The
+well-disciplined bluejackets instantly obeyed the
+order, and the iron slabs banged to, and I knew
+that those men were busying themselves in their
+particular work of seeing that everything was
+ready for submerging.</p>
+
+<p>The commander of the submarine was an agile<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>
+man, about 5 feet 7 inches tall. His face looked
+tired, and there were lines about his eyes, which
+were only for his ship. I do not think that he
+had the chance to give me a look&mdash;a real look&mdash;all
+the time I was aboard. There was always
+something which needed his attention. I found
+that the speed we were making against the wind
+closed my eyes, for there is very little protection
+on the conning tower of a submarine; and that
+alone might have given the commander that
+tired look. But I gathered afterwards that the
+eyes are strained a good deal in looking for enemy
+craft. There, in the distance, was the port
+whence we had emerged, and we now were out
+on the breast of the sea in war time. Two miles
+off our port bow was a grey vessel, to which our
+skipper gave his attention for a while. She was
+a British destroyer plunging through the water
+at 22 knots.</p>
+
+<p>The sun had disappeared behind a bank of
+clouds, but there were still streaks of blue in the
+sky. The commander shot his gaze aft, to starboard,
+port, and before him. Although we were
+heading straight out to sea, the skipper was ever
+on the alert.</p>
+
+<p>"Motors ready?" asked the commander of the
+sub-lieutenant, whose head showed up from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+well after communicating with the engine-room
+chief artificer.</p>
+
+<p>"Motors ready, sir," was the answer, and the
+younger man wrung his cold hands.</p>
+
+<p>By that time England's coast was a hazy outline.
+But on we cut through the waves until
+England disappeared, and soon after the real
+thrill came&mdash;the thrill of going down under an
+angry ocean. The gas engines were stopped, and
+the way on the craft was allowed to carry her a
+good distance, following the order from the
+commander.</p>
+
+<p>That officer looked around, and signalled to a
+British destroyer&mdash;another of the warships
+ploughing the waters of the North Sea. A sailor
+expert signalman used his arms as semaphores,
+and an answer soon was received by our skipper.</p>
+
+<p>On the engine-room telegraph of the submarine
+is a word that does not figure on the apparatus
+of other types of warships: it is "Dive." The
+commander told me that we were going down
+very soon. I observed that the destroyer had
+turned around and was heading out to sea. We
+were almost at a stop, when our skipper told me
+to get into the conning-tower well and to be
+down far enough to give him room. It must be
+realised that immediately after the order to submerge<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>
+has been rung in the engine-room the
+conning-tower hatch is closed. Hence the commander
+and his helmsman have no time to lose
+when the submarine is going under, as it takes
+forty-five seconds to submerge an under-sea
+craft, and at times, if pressed, it can be accomplished
+in thirty seconds.</p>
+
+<p>Up to that time I had not devoted much attention
+to the inside of the conning-tower hatch,
+beyond glancing at the brass ladder. Soon I discovered
+that there were two ladders, and that
+the distance to the inside deck of the boat was
+about twice as great as I had imagined.</p>
+
+<p>After I had taken my foot off the last rung of
+the ladder and stepped on the chilled, wet canvas-covered
+iron deck, my head was in a whirl
+at the sight of the bowels of brass and steel. The
+skipper had set the arrow at "Dive," and we
+were going down and down&mdash;a motion which is
+hardly perceptible to the layman.</p>
+
+<p>The activity below and the intricate mechanism
+of the craft caused me to think more of what
+the men were doing than of my own sensations.
+I wondered how one man could learn it all, for
+the skipper must have an intimate knowledge of
+all the complicated machinery of his vessel.
+There were engines everywhere and little standing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>
+room&mdash;at least, that is how it appeared on
+the first glance, and even afterwards it was clear
+that no adipose person could hope to survive
+aboard a submarine.</p>
+
+<p>No sooner had the engine-room received the
+order to submerge than the captain followed his
+helmsman down the conning-tower hatch, and
+he lost not a second in getting to the periscope&mdash;the
+eye of his vessel. Soon my attention was
+arrested by the sight of two men sitting side by
+side turning two large wheels. One kept his eye
+on a bubble and turned his wheel to control the
+hydroplanes to keep the craft level, and the
+other man's eyes also watched a bubble in a
+level. His share of the work was to keep the vessel
+at the depth ordered by the commander.</p>
+
+<p>Although I was deeply interested in everything
+that went on under the sea in that craft, my
+eyes were continually on the captain, who looked
+like a photographer about to take the picture of
+a wilful baby. The skipper's face was concealed
+behind two black canvas wings of the reflector,
+which keep the many electric lights aboard from
+interfering with his view through the glass. I
+then noticed a door in the stern of the craft&mdash;about
+amid-ships&mdash;a door which is closed on the
+sight of danger. To me it looked like a reflection,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>
+but you soon find out that you are looking
+at the engines of the submarine. There, four
+or five men, ignoring whether they were under
+the water or on the surface, were concentrated
+on their work. One mistake, and the submarine
+and its crew are lost. Hence there is no inattention
+to duty. Finally, this door was slammed
+to.</p>
+
+<p>The air below is not much different to what it
+is when the vessel is on the surface&mdash;or not noticeably
+different until the craft has been submerged
+for several hours. It is then that the
+"bottles" or air tanks are brought into play. I
+walked to the bows of the boat, where a giant
+torpedo was greased and ready for the shutting
+of its compartment. The air-tight tube was then
+locked down, and the missile was ready for its
+victim. But, as I said, lured as you may be to
+gaze at the other parts of the wonderful craft,
+you will find that your gaze comes back to the
+captain&mdash;always at the periscope, hands on those
+brass bars that turn the periscope, and eyes glued
+to the reflector.</p>
+
+<p>"Lower periscope!" he orders. And then:
+"Raise periscope!" He gives these orders with
+clearness; not surprising, as no command must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>
+be misunderstood when you are 25 or 30 feet under
+the water.</p>
+
+<p>"Lower periscope!"</p>
+
+<p>A man in a corner, next to one who has charge
+of the gyroscopic compass, turns a handle, and
+the greased steel cylinder sinks until the captain,
+who had been stretched with toes tipped, now is
+on bended knees, his hands extended to stop the
+periscope man from taking the "eye" further
+down. The captain turns the periscope around,
+scanning the waters. At his right, when the skipper
+is facing the bows, is another officer, with
+his hand on the trigger of what looks like an
+upward-pointed pistol of brass and steel. This
+officer waits for the command to send off the
+torpedo.</p>
+
+<p>"Lower foremost periscope into the well," ordered
+the captain. This periscope was not in
+use and had not been above the surface. It is
+the duplicate "eye," in case the other is out of
+order.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said the captain, not looking at me,
+"she's mostly guts below. Have a look at that
+destroyer. We are going to send a practice torpedo
+at her, and she will pick it up and return
+it when we get back home."</p>
+
+<p>The sleek, lean warship was knifing the waters<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>
+at 22 knots. It was like looking at a picture&mdash;a
+moving picture&mdash;and all was beautifully distinct.
+Our commander consulted a card, decided
+the speed of the warship, and then again
+propped his head against the reflector.</p>
+
+<p>"Raise periscope," ordered the two-striper.</p>
+
+<p>For the first time aboard the submarine, there
+was something akin to silence, except for the
+swishing of engines and the continuous buzz of
+other mechanism.</p>
+
+<p>"Light to starboard," voiced the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"Light to starboard," repeated the helmsman
+at the compass.</p>
+
+<p>"Tube ready?" asked the commander, his
+head hidden between the black flaps of the periscope.</p>
+
+<p>"Tube ready, sir."</p>
+
+<p>The officer at the trigger stood like a starter at
+a race, his finger on the tongue that was to release
+the torpedo. It was just as it is in the real
+moment of moments and a war craft is the target.
+The men at the two wheels watched their dials
+and their bubbles, and the helmsman had his
+nose on the needle. The commander, the gold
+braid on his cuffs streaked with oil and rust,
+then had but one thought in his mind&mdash;to hit
+the target. He looked neither to right nor left<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>
+but was still at the periscope. The warship was
+there. We were there, and one could imagine
+the tiny periscope just above the water. The
+situation was tense, even if the vessel to be fired
+at was not an enemy craft.</p>
+
+<p>"Fire!" snapped the captain.</p>
+
+<p>It was no order for men to spring "over the
+top," no battle-cry that was heard by the enemy,
+but the word under the water that is the order
+for the deadly destroyer to be released and speed
+on its way to the unsuspecting craft. Practice
+torpedo or not, when under the waves of the
+North Sea the word works up a dramatic situation
+hard to equal. The other officers and men
+are interested, and they told me that never does
+the word "Fire" fail to stir the soul of everybody
+aboard. Though the effect is heightened
+by the knowledge that a great vessel is the target
+and has been bored in twain, the interest is
+still thrilling when the submarine is practising.
+With a shot at the enemy there is, of course, the
+explosion to dread. If the submarine does not
+get away far enough, the explosion of the torpedo
+may be the cause of extinguishing all lights
+aboard the submarine, and lamps have then to
+be used.</p>
+
+<p>There was a tiger-like growl or "g-r-rh" of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>
+anger as the tube sent out the greased steel complicated
+missile, and outside I pictured the white
+wake that streaked in the direction of the warship.
+It was not visible from the periscope,
+which a second after the signal to fire had been
+brought down under the surface. The comparative
+stillness was gone, and the inside of the
+submarine seemed to have awakened from a
+doze. There was all bustle and hurry around
+me. The captain shot a look at the gyroscopic
+compass and gave orders for the motors to go
+ahead, and for half an hour the submarine
+pushed about under the surface. Then the commander
+had the periscope raised, and on the distant
+horizon I made out the destroyer&mdash;a tiny
+thing even in the glass of the magnifying lens
+of the under-sea boat's "eye."</p>
+
+<p>My feet were numbed with cold as I walked
+for'd and looked at the empty tube. These torpedoes
+cost &pound;500 (two thousand, five hundred
+dollars), and in war time they are all set to sink
+if they fail to hit the target; set to sink because
+they might be used by the enemy or get in our
+own way.</p>
+
+<p>The next thrilling moment came when the
+commander decided to bring his craft to the
+surface.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Come to surface and blow external tanks!"
+ordered the two-striper. "Open five, six, seven,
+eight, to blow!"</p>
+
+<p>The round, white perforated lungs of the submarine
+sucked in the air in the craft.</p>
+
+<p>"Open one, two, three, four, to blow," came
+from the skipper.</p>
+
+<p>"One, two, three, four, to blow," I heard
+repeated.</p>
+
+<p>I felt no perceptible motion of ascending; but
+those lungs were working hard, which could be
+learned by placing your hand over them. The
+captain shot a glance at the dial, which told him
+how far up his vessel had gone, and then mounted
+the conning-hatch ladder, and soon one observed
+a spot of daylight. A sea washed over the
+submarine, filling the commander's boots with
+water. He was followed by a sailor, who quickly
+attached the lowered sailcloth bridge to the
+rails of the conning tower. Then the captain's
+expert and watchful eye caught bubbles coming
+from one of the tanks.</p>
+
+<p>"Close one!" he shouted down the hatch.</p>
+
+<p>"Close one," repeated the sub-lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>"Two, five, and seven," came from the voice
+outside, and so on, until soon all the tanks had
+pumped out their water and were filled with air;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
+and, for the sake of accuracy, each order was
+sounded again below.</p>
+
+<p>"Bring her around to north," said the commander.</p>
+
+<p>When we submerged it had been a chilly day,
+with a peep of the sun every now and again.
+The weather had changed since we left our berth
+under the sea. The sky was overcast, and snow
+was falling. And this change in the weather
+had taken place while the captain had been accomplishing
+one of Jules Verne's dreams.</p>
+
+<p>We sped farther out to sea; this time on the
+<i>qui vive</i> for enemy craft. But the enemy is careful
+not to give the British submarine much of
+a chance at his warships, only sneaking out occasionally
+under cover of darkness with a couple
+of destroyers. Nevertheless, John Bull's diving
+boats are ever on the alert; and the man with
+whom I went under the North Sea had performed
+deeds of daring which never involved
+the sinking of a neutral vessel or of endangering
+the life of a non-belligerent.</p>
+
+<p>It was the time for luncheon. Luncheon!
+You get an idea that the life aboard a submarine
+is not all sunshine and white uniforms when you
+see the berth for the commander and his chief
+officer. They are just a couple of shelves, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>
+are not used very often at that. It was explained
+to me that when you are running a submarine
+you do not go in much for sleep. Luncheon consisted
+of a cup of coffee and a piece of canned
+beef on a stale slice of bread. Tinned food is
+about all that can be used aboard a submarine.
+It does not take up much room, and it requires
+little in the way of cooking utensils. We were
+still having our luncheon below when we dived
+again, so for the first time in my life I found
+myself having a meal under the sea.</p>
+
+<p>It was hours afterwards that we slipped into
+the darkened harbour and found the mother
+ship, where the officers enjoy some of the real
+comforts of life.</p>
+
+<p>"Have a Pandora cocktail?" asked my captain.</p>
+
+<p>We imbibed joyfully. The commander then
+changed his clothes, and we sat down to dinner&mdash;a
+late dinner, most of the other members of
+the mess having finished half an hour before.</p>
+
+<p>And if you ask me about sensations while
+under the water, again I must confess that I was
+too busy looking and learning to experience
+anything but a fear that I might omit something
+of importance during the time the captain was
+getting ready for his target. Being under the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>
+sea, however, gave me a thrill felt long afterwards,
+and I left knowing something of the
+hardships that England's sea dogs suffer while
+guarding their island kingdom.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p>
+<h2>XI. LIFE IN A LIGHTHOUSE</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> old man led the way to the sturdy stone
+structure on top of which were the great horns
+which sound the warning in foggy weather to
+ships at sea. He was proud of the lighthouse,
+of which he was the principal keeper; and just
+before he started to explain to me the wonders
+of the compressed-air engines, he remarked:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"First, you must know that a lighthouse-keeper's
+job is to watch for a fog."</p>
+
+<p>"What's your name?" I asked. He was the
+first real lighthouse-keeper I had met.</p>
+
+<p>The lighthouseman looked at me and then at
+one of the coast-watchers. He was a slender man
+of about sixty years, who, I had been told, was
+enjoying the work he had set out to do long, long
+before there was a thought of a great war.</p>
+
+<p>"T. G. Cutting," he replied, "the P.K. here."</p>
+
+<p>It was on the western Cornish coast, where, as
+in other places in and off English shores, the
+lighthouses, war or no war, from sunset to sunrise
+cut the darkness with their long beams of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>
+whiteness and, when necessary, sound the foghorn.
+You do not see any young men who are
+not in khaki or navy blue, and the old men are
+wonders, with their binoculars and telescopes.
+Mr. Cutting had been within sound of the sea
+ever since he was born. First, he had seen service
+on a lighthouse on the rocks, as they say, and
+from the rocks he graduated to a land job, and
+thence back to the rocks, and again on to the
+land. We read stories of the lighthouse-keeper;
+but little is written on the modern man of this
+species. Mr. Cutting is not accustomed to the
+glare of the city's lights, but he knows the glare
+of a lighthouse-lantern and all the various wonders
+of the work.</p>
+
+<p>Inside the annex to the lighthouse were the
+duplicate engines for filling tanks with compressed
+air. This air is used for blowing the
+foghorns, and when they sound everybody in the
+locality knows it.</p>
+
+<p>"Enough air is stored in those tanks," declared
+Mr. Cutting, "to keep the foghorns going for
+twenty minutes. That gives us time to get the
+engines running."</p>
+
+<p>He went into details of the engines, showing
+that he knew them by heart, and I could almost
+imagine the blurring, deafening sound which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
+for seven seconds rent the air through the roar
+of winds every minute and a half.</p>
+
+<p>"Fog, as you know, is the dread of every sea
+captain," said Mr. Cutting. "Out yonder you see
+the 'Three Stone Orr Rocks.' This is a dangerous
+bit of scenery in foggy weather. When we
+have a fog, two men are on duty; one if it is
+clear."</p>
+
+<p>We then went to the lighthouse tower, which
+stands nearly 200 feet above high water. To the
+right, on entering that building, was a blacksmith's
+shop, with an anvil, forge, and various
+implements. This forge is occasionally needed
+to make repairs, spare parts, and accessories of
+the engines of the lighthouse. To the right, in a
+corridor, were speaking-tubes.</p>
+
+<p>"Those tubes go to the bedside of every man
+employed here," said Mr. Cutting. "We have
+only to blow, and in a few minutes he comes up
+to the lighthouse. Our houses are over there, in
+the same structure as the tower. They are practically
+the lower portion of the main building."</p>
+
+<p>He conducted the way up the narrow, winding
+stairs. At the head of the first flight I saw a
+green-covered book, in which every man on
+watch makes his entry of the weather, the velocity
+of the wind, and so forth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Many a man's word has been corrected by
+that book," said the P.K. "And here's the book
+for privileged visitors, for nobody comes here
+without the proper credentials."</p>
+
+<p>There were names of famous persons inscribed
+in the book, which was kept as neatly and cleanly
+as everything else in the place.</p>
+
+<p>"Now we'll go up to the lantern," said the old
+man. Old, but lithe, strong, and keen-eyed.
+He is particularly fond of this lantern, and was
+remarkably lucid in explaining everything concerning
+the working of it.</p>
+
+<p>"Does the sea ever come up as high as this?"
+I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"We get the spray, and that is all," answered
+the P.K. "It's dirty weather when that happens.
+But the water usually has spent its force
+when it reaches this height."</p>
+
+<p>The exterior windows of the lantern were diamond
+shaped and of plate glass. In the middle
+of the lantern was the large concentric-ringed
+glass of great magnifying power.</p>
+
+<p>"You can turn it round with your little finger,"
+said the P.K. "That's because it floats in
+a mercury bath. And in turning that you are
+moving four tons. When the lantern is lighted,
+it shows dark for seven and a half seconds, then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>
+two sets of four flashes, making a complete revolution
+every half-minute. They can see the
+light at sea on a clear night for nineteen miles.
+The light is worked by vaporised oil. The compressed
+air drives the oil to the lantern, up
+through that burner in a hole hardly big enough
+to take a pin point. It is nearly half a million
+candle-power. This type of light is considered
+even better than electricity. In the old-style oil-lights
+they burned five quarts in the same time
+that this one consumes a pint with better results."</p>
+
+<p>The actual burner of the lantern is disappointing,
+as one expects to see a giant burner. Really,
+it is only about twice the size of the average
+household one.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cutting observed that the light was carefully
+timed, and called attention to the half-minute
+hand on the clock in the tower. Persons
+are always asking the P.K. how he spends his
+time, and he wondered why. He believed that
+anybody ought to see that there was plenty for
+a man to do while he is on a four hours' watch
+in the tower. The turning of the light, showing
+black outside and then flashing its warnings,
+after his many years of experience of such
+things, is only taken for granted by this P.K.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And when I've finished lighting the lamp,
+trimming up things a bit," said the P.K., "I sit
+down like anybody else. Lots of people seem to
+forget that the lighthouse-keeper is not the coast-guard
+or the head of the crew of a life-saving
+station. They have their work to attend to, but
+we watch for fogs night and day. When a man
+is stationed at a lighthouse like the Longships,
+which is a little distance out on a rock, he may be
+a couple of months without being relieved. But
+he has others with him, and a good stock of food.
+If he wishes to communicate with the land, he
+does so by signals; and that's the way men over
+there talk with their wives who live in cottages
+on shore. The telephone has not been found
+feasible, wires breaking all the time; so their
+wives have learned to wig-wag to them.</p>
+
+<p>"One night they got a scare on shore; thought
+that the men on the Longships were sending up
+distress signals. It was bad weather, and every
+now and again the coast-watcher saw a green
+light on the Longships. And what do you think
+that green light was? Just the water running
+over the bright light when it flashed! As it
+washed the glasses it showed up green."</p>
+
+<p>There were curtains of sailcloth put over the
+windows to obscure the sunlight. I asked the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+P.K. about this, and he told me that the great
+magnifying lens of the light would burn things
+if the sun got on it for long enough. So, much
+as they like the sun in Cornwall, they have to
+keep it out.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be on duty to-night from twelve until
+four o'clock," observed the P.K. "But I've got
+accustomed to the running of the machinery."</p>
+
+<p>So down we went. The last I saw of the P.K.
+was when the old Cornishman, emptying cans of
+oil into the tank to supply the light which warns
+mariners, shouted:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Getting pretty fresh now. Hope to see you
+again."</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p>
+<h2>XII. WATCHERS OF THE COAST</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Circling</span> Great Britain are thousands of expert
+coast-watchers, whose duty not only is to watch
+for ships, wrecks, and smugglers, as in the days
+before the war, but also to be on guard for enemy
+submarines and suspicious craft. It is the oft-spoken
+opinion of many an inland inhabitant
+that certain sections of the coast would afford
+a base for U-boats. However, these persons have
+no conception of the thoroughness with which
+John Bull guards his coast-lines. Mile after
+mile, shores and rocks are under the eye of alert
+navy men and volunteers, the latter being civilians
+who have spent their lives by the sea. They
+know their business, and even though they are
+volunteers, the discipline is rigid. But they are
+not the type of men to shirk their duty, for they
+would take it as missing a God-given opportunity
+if their eyes were closed at the time they
+could help their country most. After travelling
+around part of the coast-line, a stranger leaves
+with the opinion that there is little chance for a
+man even to swim ashore under cover of night.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>From John o' Groat's to Land's End and all
+around Ireland, these coast-watchers&mdash;men over
+military age, wiry and strong, with eyes like ferrets&mdash;scan
+the rocks and beaches hour after hour,
+noting passing vessels, receiving and detailing
+information, and always keeping up communication
+with the ring and its various centres.
+Their little stone huts are on the highest point
+in their particular area, and their homes usually
+are only a couple of hundred yards distant.
+Their chiefs are coast-guards of the old days
+called back to their former service in the Royal
+Navy. These men rule the volunteers with a
+rod of iron. No matter what section of the coast
+one may pick, the coast-watcher is ready with
+his glasses or telescope. Suspicious acts of any
+individuals receive speedy attention, and each
+batch of the guards vies with the next for keen
+performance of duty.</p>
+
+<p>There is a halo of interest around these men,
+tame as their work may appear to them at times.
+Take the watchers on the Scilly Isles, for instance.
+They are as good as any around Great
+Britain. It is second nature for them to watch
+the sea. It is a desire with them, something they
+would not miss. Their fathers, grandfathers,
+and great-grandfathers were watch-dogs on that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>
+area of the ocean. Go to St. Mary's, and you
+will see a coast-watcher, up soon after dawn,
+take a stroll along the beach, even when he is
+not supposed to be on duty and before he has
+tasted his morning tea. The family telescope
+is at his eye, as he wants to get a good look at
+what the sea has been doing, and what is there.
+To the uninitiated, it seems to have the same
+paucity of interest as any other shipless stretch of
+water; but to this expert it has a story. He
+notes the clouds, the sun, the very rocks; and
+they say that his gaze is so sharp that it would
+spot a champagne-cork floating some distance
+away. But be that as it may, there is no enemy
+periscope that is going to pass unobserved at a
+certain distance by this hawk-eyed, wind-seared
+man.</p>
+
+<p>He goes to his cottage for breakfast, and talks
+about the sea, then leaves the table, and has
+another good look; and it is sadly disappointing
+to any of these men to have missed a passing ship.
+Prior to the declaration of hostilities, a wreck
+was the greatest piece of news to the community;
+but now it is the glimpse of fast English warships,
+and the anticipation of sighting a German
+U-boat, and thus being the cause of the craft's
+doom.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Gun-firing heard at ten minutes past twelve
+o'clock to-day," said one man, reading from a
+slip he had just made out on the subject.</p>
+
+<p>The man to whom he spoke happened to have
+been out of hearing distance, and he could not
+believe it until a second man came along with
+the same report. It was handed down the line,
+over to other shores, and the watchers speculated
+as to what had taken place.</p>
+
+<p>Arthur Oddy, who has charge of half a dozen
+watchers, told me that his one great regret was
+that he had not seen a sign of the war, barring
+uniforms. Nevertheless, for more than two and
+a half years he has scanned the sea and shore
+of his district with dutiful care, and has seen
+to it that his men have not been amiss in their
+share of the tedious task. His station is very
+near the Last House in England, at Land's End&mdash;a
+tea place kept by Mrs. E. James.</p>
+
+<p>"What is that out there?" exclaimed a stranger,
+suddenly. "Looks like part of a boat."</p>
+
+<p>"That," declared Oddy, "is the Shark's Fin&mdash;a
+rock."</p>
+
+<p>True enough, the rock of that name might
+have at times been a giant fish or a wrecked submarine.
+It was lashed by the foamy waters, disappeared,
+and then showed a bit, again was swallowed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>
+up, and seemed to reappear a yard or so
+further along from where it first was seen. Finally,
+you observed that it was a sharp, dangerous
+rock.</p>
+
+<p>A mile or so farther along that coast I encountered
+John Thomas Wheeler, the wearer of several
+medals, including a gold one received since
+the war commenced from the King of Sweden.
+In peace time, just before the war, Wheeler did
+his bit to save wrecked mariners. He is still
+doing it in war time, with his eyes open for
+everything. As we stood there, with the sea
+lashing the shingly beach and hammering the
+rocks, Wheeler, chief officer of that station, recalled
+the story of the wreck of the <i>Trifolium</i>,
+a Swedish sailing ship.</p>
+
+<p>"It was terrible rough," said Wheeler, "when
+through the darkness we saw the green light of
+the distress-signals. I shot off a rocket with a
+rope to the forepart of the vessel. The men,
+who were clinging to the rigging, paid no attention
+to it. Then I sent off another rope between
+the main and the mizzen masts. First,
+they paid no heed to that; but, finally, one man
+in oilskins jumped into the sea to catch hold of
+part of the rope. He was followed by others.
+Perilous though it was on that night, we walked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>
+out to help the men ashore. One after another,
+gasping and unconscious sailors were landed.
+Then the ship broke in half, and soon was torn
+to bits by the sea. I was looking for more men,
+as I had seen one poor chap under the steel mast
+when it fell. A wave struck me, and I found
+myself caught between two rocks. It looked all
+up for me, as I could not move."</p>
+
+<p>Wheeler's awful position was not at first
+realised, and his cries for help could not be
+heard through the din of the ocean. Finally,
+he was struck down by the turbulent sea, and
+one of his men, signalling to another, went to
+their chief's rescue. Wheeler was unconscious
+when he was brought up on the beach. For his
+share in the rescue work, besides the King of
+Sweden's medal, Wheeler received medals from
+the Royal Humane Society and the Board of
+Trade.</p>
+
+<p>In that corner of England every one is on
+the <i>qui vive</i> for the unexpected. The women
+have their telescopes and glasses, and they do
+their share, despite the fact that the regular
+men of that locality are on duty. Mrs. James's
+tea-refreshment place is often the near-by house
+to where men are scanning the horizon with
+their glasses, noting the flags on vessels, if they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>
+have any in these days, and keeping up a peace-time
+look out, for it is a dangerous point in bad
+weather. The Last or First House in England,
+whichever one wishes to consider it, is covered
+with names and initials of persons from all over
+the world. Curiously enough, since the war
+there have been no wrecks in that theatre, while
+in the six months prior to the great conflict there
+were two or three.</p>
+
+<p>Local heads of the coast-watchers or guards
+have the prerogative of commandeering horses
+or automobiles when necessary. If there is a
+ship ashore or on the rocks, signal-rockets are
+sent up to collect the coast-guards; and it would
+seem that a couple of these would wake most of
+the persons in that corner of England.</p>
+
+<p>The real business of the coast-guards, and that
+to which they devote themselves in peace or war,
+is firing rockets over a ship in distress and trying
+to land the crew.</p>
+
+<p>It was ten or twelve miles from that point that
+I met a chief watcher who had been blown up in
+a British battleship, and had thus earned a period
+of shore duty. He was "carrying on" for
+humanity and country, and only a short time before
+he had been the means of rescuing the crew<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>
+of a small neutral sailing ship&mdash;a German victim.</p>
+
+<p>We sped on farther north, and every three or
+four miles there was the inevitable watcher, who
+can telephone, telegraph, and fire rockets when
+occasion demands. It is all a modernised coast-guard
+system, the men being first ready for ships
+in distress, but always on the alert for the enemy.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p>
+<h2>XIII. CROSSING THE CHANNEL IN WAR TIME</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">This</span> is the story of a British naval officer's trip
+to the Western fighting ground as he told it to
+me the day he returned to London:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"'Four days!' said I to myself. 'Not very
+long in which to get a real taste of the World
+War on land.' However, the morning after I
+had received 'leave' I departed from London
+in an automobile and as we sped through the
+country there seemed, at first, to be little to remind
+us that England was at war&mdash;except, perhaps,
+the many busy persons on all farms and
+fields. Finally, we came across a mobile air-station
+on which were two aeroplanes with folded
+wings. It was something which made you think.</p>
+
+<p>"In a South Coast port, however, there was
+military activity everywhere. On the waters,
+far out from the harbour, which one imagines as
+denuded of craft, I saw dozens of ships. There
+were large and small tramps, mine-sweepers,
+and trawlers, and you were fascinated by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>
+sight. There was a dread lest one of them might
+disappear through a mine or a torpedo any instant.</p>
+
+<p>"Thousands of soldiers were at the dock, waiting
+to embark on ships for France. A couple of
+thousand of them belonged to the Scotch Labour
+Battalion, ready for work with pick and shovel.
+Their speech was almost like a foreign language
+as they 'Jock'd' and 'Donal'd,' joked and sang,
+when they swung aboard the vessel in single
+file.</p>
+
+<p>"There was no waving of handkerchiefs and
+no shouting good-byes when the black-and-tan
+craft was ready to leave. The skipper was on
+the bridge. He looked down at an officer ashore,
+nodded his head, and the other returned the
+nod. Hawsers were instantly slipped, and the
+steamer skipped away from the British port on
+the minute, and soon met her escort&mdash;destroyers,
+out of sight not long since, now ready for
+their job. These slender speedsters of the sea
+never stop; so everything must be done according
+to schedule. Four of the destroyers surrounded
+us as we ploughed through the water.</p>
+
+<p>"From the bridge came the order for every
+soul aboard to put on a life-belt, and our friends
+from Scotland hastened aft to obtain the equipment,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>
+scurrying and bustling about the damp
+cabin for the best belts.</p>
+
+<p>"Half-way across the straits we met the opposite
+number vessel to ours. She had an escort
+of three warships, so that for a flash there
+were seven destroyers on the breast of that water.
+But it was not for long. A swish, and they
+were nearer England and we nearer France,
+they getting some of our smoke and we some of
+theirs. Steamers go into the French port stern
+first, and soon I found myself treading French
+soil. Our Scotch labourers were hurried off the
+vessel, and they vanished with extraordinary
+quickness; and this also reminds me that no
+sooner was our steamship safe in the harbour
+than the warships nipped off to England, and
+all you could see in a few minutes was a wreath
+of water and smoke as they raced homewards.</p>
+
+<p>"The skipper of the passenger craft has seen
+exciting times. While I stood on the bridge
+with him and his first officer, he told me of a
+night he won't easily forget. He was running the
+<i>Queen</i>, and going over empty, having smuggled
+aboard a staff officer who had missed the other
+vessel. It was darkening, and the <i>Queen</i> was
+about four miles off the British coast when this
+skipper saw dark hulls, blanched lines, and flaming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>
+funnels&mdash;all showing terrific speed. First,
+he took the strange craft to be new French destroyers;
+but they hailed him in English, and, of
+course, for an instant he thought then they were
+British warships, when suddenly it dawned on
+him. 'By God, they're Germans!' he ejaculated
+to the staff officer. 'Nip into the cabin, and get
+those clothes off and into an oilskin, fast as you
+like.'</p>
+
+<p>"The army man got it done just in time, for
+an officer and two men from one of the German
+destroyers sprang aboard the <i>Queen</i> after the
+enemy warship had bumped the passenger craft.
+The German demanded the captain's papers,
+and was told that everything had been thrown
+overboard.</p>
+
+<p>"The Germans were pale, and the pistol in
+the officer's hand shook dangerously. The skipper
+declared that the only papers relating to the
+<i>Queen</i> were in his cabin.</p>
+
+<p>"'Get those papers, or I'll blow your head
+off,' said the German. Below, the captain
+moved his hand to his hip pocket to get his keys,
+the German started, and put the muzzle of his
+revolver close to the Britisher's head. As the
+captain was unlocking a drawer, the German
+again became suspicious, and warned the skipper.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>
+The Briton told the German to get the
+papers himself, and, finally, the useless document
+relating to the <i>Queen</i> was taken from the
+drawer. It was snatched up and pocketed by
+the German officer. Meanwhile, his men had
+fixed bombs in vital parts aboard the passenger
+craft, and the order was given to abandon ship.</p>
+
+<p>"Just before the bang came and the <i>Queen</i>
+sank, the German decided that he wanted to take
+the skipper with him. Fortunately, the captain
+had been missed in their tremulous excitement.
+However, the Germans could not wait, and they
+had to go away without the skipper. It was an
+experience no man would forget; and the British
+of it is that this same man, who had a pretty
+good chance of spending many months in a German
+prison camp, is still guiding vessels flying
+our flag from France to England and England
+to France.</p>
+
+<p>"In Boulogne, I had to take a train for Paris.
+It was the longest train I ever set eyes on. One
+end of it seemed to be in the dock station while
+the other was on the outskirts of the town. You
+can get an idea of its length when I say that it
+had to stop twice at all stations. There was no
+attempt at speed until we got within twenty
+miles of Paris."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In a railroad station in Paris this officer encountered
+a friend who was a commander in the
+Royal Naval Air Service, and the traveller
+thereupon decided that nobody could give him
+a better idea of the war in the brief time at his
+disposal than this man. Hence, after a dash to
+the hotel and taking chances of getting his suitcase,
+the sea-fighter, with only a tooth-brush and
+a piece of soap, finally joined the flying man,
+and off they went to the war. My naval friend
+continued:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"War stared at us after we had passed through
+Chantilly, and on the way to Amiens we sped by
+forty or fifty ambulances. It was at the Caf&eacute;
+Gobert, in Amiens, that we got out of the automobile
+and had luncheon. That town was
+thronged with nonchalant women and blue-clad
+poilus. Following our refreshment, we continued
+our journey. We ran into soldiers and
+guns, aeroplanes, and more guns of all calibres;
+there must have been two miles of them in one
+batch that we passed on the way to Arras, as
+well as 'umpty' parks of lorries.</p>
+
+<p>"The first steam engine that I got a chance of
+seeing since leaving England was an antiquated
+London, Chatham, and Dover locomotive attached
+to a long train of cars filled with provisions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+and so forth, helped out by Belgian and
+French engines. The rail-head, not far from
+that particular 'somewhere,' reminded me of
+Whiteley's shop in London. Then I observed
+a dozen fire-engines painted khaki colour.
+There were officers' baths, coal and wood on lorries,
+tents, and everything you can think of&mdash;and
+a lot you can't. Ammunition dumps were
+on our right and left, and the occasional gleam
+of a sentry's bayonet let you know that somebody
+was on watch.</p>
+
+<p>"As I was the guest of the Royal Naval Air
+Service, it was naturally gratifying to come to
+the home of that service or section of it; the spot
+which had been barren land two days before
+was now the scene of great activity. Mess tents
+were comfortably fixed up, electric light being
+obtained from lorries. There were workshops
+on lorries. The Royal Flying Corps also had a
+station near by. These ingenious Air Service
+men do all their repairing on the spot. If a
+lorry gets stuck in the mud they just use enough
+lorries until they pull it out.</p>
+
+<p>"Our Rolls-Royce darted into the air on one
+stretch of bad road. It bumped out our dynamo,
+and we made the rest of the way along the dark
+road behind a staff car.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"By that time there was no doubt but that we
+were at the war&mdash;passing between two lines of
+our heavy artillery on the snow covered ground.
+The splashes of fire&mdash;red on the glistening white&mdash;formed
+a memorable picture.</p>
+
+<p>"Every now and again, the snow was lighted
+up by the star-shells, which hung in the air and
+then dropped like a rain of gold on the silver
+ground. The thunder of the guns was pleasing,
+and as each shell sped on its errand, the unforgettable
+scene became more beautiful, with the
+glow from the star-shells and the sight of men,
+silhouetted in the temporary light against the
+white-blanketed earth, going about their duty, as
+some of them had done for more than two and a
+half years. On we dashed, until we heard a
+challenging voice, and discerned a French poilu.</p>
+
+<p>"'Aviation anglaise,' announced my friend.
+After satisfying himself, the sentry permitted us
+to continue on our way. A little further on, to
+our chagrin, we learned that a lorry had broken
+down on a bridge, and that if our car could not
+pass it, it would mean a detour of nine miles.
+However, our excellent chauffeur was equal to
+the occasion. After bending the mud-guards,
+following the taking of measurements, he drove<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>
+the machine over in safety with not half an inch
+to spare.</p>
+
+<p>"Guns boomed as they had been booming for
+thirty months. This gives you food for thought
+at the front. Finally, we came to Dunkirk, and
+there enjoyed uninterrupted repose after our
+long ride in the biting weather. Next morning
+I was up early, and before I had breakfast I
+watched a seaplane turning and twisting, riding
+first tail downward and then head downward,
+dropping a thousand feet, and then righting itself,
+and outdoing the looping-the-loop idea.
+I ventured commendation for this pilot's exploits.</p>
+
+<p>"'Pretty good youngster,' said the commander.
+'Soon be able to give him a journey
+he's been longing to have.'</p>
+
+<p>"This <i>youngster</i> certainly seemed to me a past
+master in the flying art.</p>
+
+<p>"My interest next was centred on several
+barges probing their way through the canal.
+They were manned by soldiers in khaki, and
+these soldier-sailors belonged to the I.W.T.&mdash;the
+Inland Water Transport.</p>
+
+<p>"Later, I had the satisfaction of firing off one
+of the big guns at the Huns, and then of going
+into an observation post from whence we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>
+watched shells bursting on the German lines.
+The Germans were fairly silent, while we were
+putting over quite a lot of stuff. My next shot
+at the Boche was with 'Polly,' whose shell spat
+forth at her opposite number, known on our
+side of the lines as 'Peanought.'</p>
+
+<p>"It was decidedly interesting in the trenches,
+almost as near the German lines as we are at any
+point. There was the occasional thunder of the
+artillery, coupled with the report of a rifle,
+which told that the sniper was on the job, and
+now and again the 'bang-zizz' of the German
+trench mortar projectile&mdash;known better as 'Minnie.'</p>
+
+<p>"At the seaplane station I met a young officer
+who two days before had flown over from England
+in the early morning and was to dine that
+same night with friends in London. His only
+worry was that he might possibly miss the boat
+to take him back to keep the dinner engagement.
+Then there was a young man&mdash;eighteen years
+old, to be specific&mdash;who had accounted for thirteen
+of the enemy aeroplanes.</p>
+
+<p>"My next experience was aboard a destroyer
+which took me to England. I had not worn an
+overcoat during my trip, but I was glad of a
+duffel coat on that speedy craft."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The commander glanced at his watch, and
+observed he had just half an hour in which to get
+to King's Cross Station.</p>
+
+<div class="trn"><b>Transcriber's Note:</b>
+Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Some Naval Yarns, by Mordaunt Hall
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Some Naval Yarns, by Mordaunt Hall
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Some Naval Yarns
+
+Author: Mordaunt Hall
+
+Contributor: Ethel Beatty
+
+Release Date: August 29, 2008 [EBook #26474]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOME NAVAL YARNS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                  SOME NAVAL
+                    YARNS
+
+                      BY
+                MORDAUNT HALL
+
+              WITH A PREFACE BY
+                 LADY BEATTY
+
+
+                   NEW YORK
+            GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
+ PUBLISHERS IN AMERICA FOR HODDER & STOUGHTON
+                   MCMXVII
+
+
+
+
+            COPYRIGHT, 1917,
+       BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
+
+
+ PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+A book containing accounts of the work continually and unceasingly being
+carried on by the gallant officers and men of the Royal Navy should
+prove of considerable interest to all, and, at the present time,
+especially to the American reader. I am glad that a New York journalist
+has had the opportunity of witnessing a part of the titanic task of our
+courageous sea-fighters, and of personally gaining an idea of the
+hardships endured by the plucky men who are watching our coast. This
+little book may help considerably to enlighten the general public on the
+work of the branches of the Navy, and prove that the men engaged in this
+tedious, hazardous, and nerve-racking vigil are going about it with the
+same old valour befitting the traditions of the Royal Navy. They have
+fought the savage beasts like true sportsmen. They have rescued enemy
+sailors, clothed and fed them, without a sign of animus, knowing that
+victory will crown their efforts to throttle the enemy of humanity and
+of civilisation. And that enemy is now the common foe of the United
+States as well as of England. He has been the sly enemy of the United
+States even before the declaration of hostilities by the American
+Congress, while he was the avowed enemy of other countries engaged in
+this terrible war.
+
+These stories, light though they be, give a conception of what it is to
+search the seas in a submarine, and the bravery of the youngest branch
+of the Navy--the Royal Naval Air Service--is palpable even from the
+modest accounts given by these seaplane pilots. They have confidence in
+their supremacy over the enemy, and are all smiles even in the face of
+imminent danger. It shows that often British coolness and pluck have
+saved a machine as well as the lives of men.
+
+Of special interest is the talk with the captain of a mine-sweeper while
+he is on the bridge of his vessel. He tells of the many neutral lives
+that have been saved by English seamen at the risk of their own vessels
+and the lives of their crews. Noteworthy is it that Great Britain in the
+course of this war has not been the cause of the loss of a single
+neutral life. Mines have been placed at random by Germany's pirate
+craft.
+
+The grit of the English seaman comes to light in the author's journey
+in a naval ambulance train, as does also the fact that the service takes
+the utmost care of its wounded and sick. In the account of the Royal
+Naval Division it is touching to note that the men who are fighting in
+France and who distinguished themselves so valiantly in the Ancre and
+other battles, still cling to sea terms or talk.
+
+The accounts in this volume may cause the people of my native country to
+appreciate the necessity for silence on the part of the British
+Admiralty, as now that their ships are linked with ours in the effort to
+defeat a common enemy the same idea of giving no information to the
+enemy even at the cost of criticism undoubtedly will be included in
+orders. Nevertheless, while playing the trump of silence, it is
+encouraging to read stories of the Navy so that the readers have certain
+knowledge that silence and brief reports do not mean that nothing is
+being accomplished. We have recently had an instance of the efficiency
+and courage of the officers and men in the fight between two British
+destroyers and half a dozen of the enemy craft, in which the Germans
+lost two vessels and the British none. Commanders and others greatly
+distinguished themselves in this conflict, which occurred in the dead
+of a moonless night. And the deeds of the Royal Navy are certain to be
+emulated by the officers and men of the United States Navy, for blood
+will tell.
+
+                                                         ETHEL BEATTY.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                  PAGE
+ PREFACE                                             v
+
+     I. THE LOG OF A NAVAL AIRMAN                    1
+
+    II. OVER THE NORTH SEA IN A SEAPLANE            10
+
+   III. ADVENTURES IN A SEAPLANE                    17
+
+    IV. SWEEPING THE SEAS FOR MINES                 23
+
+     V. THE ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION                    32
+
+    VI. A NAVAL SCHOOL                              41
+
+   VII. "GENTLEMEN, 'THE KING'"                     47
+
+  VIII. THE ROYAL NAVAL AMBULANCE TRAIN             53
+
+    IX. A RUN IN A ROYAL NAVAL AMBULANCE TRAIN      60
+
+     X. A TRIP IN A SUBMARINE                       67
+
+    XI. LIFE IN A LIGHTHOUSE                        82
+
+   XII. WATCHERS OF THE COAST                       89
+
+  XIII. CROSSING THE CHANNEL IN WAR TIME            97
+
+
+
+
+SOME NAVAL YARNS
+
+
+
+
+SOME NAVAL YARNS
+
+
+
+
+I. THE LOG OF A NAVAL AIRMAN
+
+
+Men of the British services are exasperatingly modest. You are forced to
+wring stories of experiences from them, and when you are thrilled to the
+core over their yarns they coolly inform you that their names must not
+appear. Fortunately, there is something about a story which "rings
+true." From one of the soundest pilots of the Royal Naval Air Service I
+heard his experience of the previous day. We will call him "Q," as he
+happens to be known in the station. It is his middle initial. He is a
+tall, well-built man of thirty, who knows a seaplane backwards, and it
+has been woe to the enemy when he met him.
+
+"We started at dawn," he began. "There's not much flying in the dark,
+only occasionally. First, we ran the machine out of the hangar, and, as
+usual, tried the engines. In the fading darkness or growing light it is
+a great sight to see the flames flashing from the exhaust. In the
+beginning you run your engines slowly. Yesterday one of them kicked a
+bit. The cause for the hitch was discovered, and they were once more
+started. Remember that it is expedient that the engines be thoroughly
+tested before a flight, as you may spend anxious hours if something goes
+wrong. The spluttering ended, and we ran them up to full speed. This
+done, we waited for more light before hauling the machine down to the
+water. Once the seaplane was water-born, we taxied ourselves across the
+port at moderate speed. As we rose in the air we had to be careful of
+the masts of the ships in the harbour, especially as it was foggy. We
+then opened up the engines, and the seaplane rose. It was very thick, so
+we kept 300 feet above the water, flying on a course. There were two
+pilots and an observer in the machine. Our next work was to estimate the
+velocity of the wind. This is always rather difficult, and, at the same
+time, it is most important to have an accurate estimate of the wind. We
+steered ahead, hoping to see a mark which would guide the observer in
+his course; but because of the fog, we were not able to pick up our
+mark. Hence we had to go on and hope for the best.
+
+"We flew higher, about 1,500 feet, and the clouds were about 800 feet,
+so we were far above them. For two and a half hours we steered straight
+ahead on the lonely fog-covered sea. We were to meet some warships which
+expected us. But even after covering all that distance, we saw nothing
+at all, and therefore resolved to descend and see what prospects there
+were of 'landing' and saving our engines. The sea always appears calm to
+the man flying above it; and even when we were 30 feet only above the
+water we could not tell whether or no it would be dangerous to the
+machine to 'land.'
+
+"By that time we were naturally anxious, as we thought that in steering
+straight ahead, as we had done, we ought to have reached the ships with
+which we had the rendezvous. So far as we could, with the roar of the
+wind and the propeller, we held a consultation--nothing verbose--in
+mid-air to determine what would be the best move. We decided to alter
+our course so as to be sure of getting in sight of land. Half an hour
+later we saw the first sign of life since we had been out--an old tramp
+steamship. Ten minutes after we sighted land. When you are flying at sea
+the land, especially when it is low-lying, takes you by surprise; it
+suddenly looms up when you least expect it.
+
+"We then picked up a mark and set off on our course for the rendezvous.
+So dense was the mist that we could not see more than one and a half
+miles ahead. However, we raced along at 70 knots on our new course, and
+in twenty minutes came in sight of the flotilla of warships spread out
+below in fan-like form, but all moving fast. These ships, you see, keep
+on the move; but they stay for the time being near the point selected
+for the meeting. Instructions were signalled to us, and we came up, and
+flew nearer and nearer the water.
+
+"'Can we land?' was our first question. 'Land' is always used by a
+seaplane pilot even if there is no land within a hundred miles of him.
+Our aerial had been thrown out. It was too rough to go on the water--or,
+at least, not worth risking damage to the seaplane. We carried on our
+conversation partly by shouting and partly by signals, which were
+quickly understood. From the ships we received further instructions, and
+sped on to carry them out. We had no further difficulties, and reached
+home just before sunset."
+
+As an illustration of modern warfare, and the fact that single British
+flyers are feared even by two of the enemy's planes, here is a story
+told by a young Englishman, who knows no nerves when he is in the air,
+no matter how near he comes to being snuffed out by the shrapnel and
+bullets. He is a man of 5 feet 10 inches, with clear blue eyes and blond
+hair--one of those truth-loving Britishers who prefers to err against
+himself in his reports rather than tell of an uncertainty as a
+certainty.
+
+"'Saw and attacked a German submarine, which dived before we could close
+in on her,'" read this man from a log-book. He turned the pages, and a
+little afterwards came on this:--
+
+"'Sighted German patrol, and exchanged fire. Got over Zeebrugge----'
+
+"That reminds me," he said, looking up from the little book which held
+the notes of so many exciting events. "They sent me out then when I
+ought to have been off duty."
+
+He smiled, as did his hearers.
+
+"Well, I got over the Mohl," he added. "That's the German pier at
+Zeebrugge. The Mohl showed up black, and the water looked lighter in the
+darkness. I was up about 2,500 feet, and dropped bombs on the seaplane
+base. I mean, of course, the German air base. Only a few moments, and
+they showed that they were ready for me, as the heavens around were
+lighted up with searchlights. I dropped a few more of my 'eggs,' and
+could not be certain of what damage I accomplished, although I saw
+flames spurt up from several places. Then the enemy sent up two long
+rows of rockets, making an avenue of light so that I could have read by
+it. These infernal things parachute when they get to a certain height
+and, with the fire hanging from them, stay stationary, leaving but one
+exit. If I had run the machine into the rockets it would have been
+ablaze in no time. These fireworks stay in the air for about two
+minutes, which is a devil of a long time when you are up there. Thanks
+to this lighted avenue, I showed up more distinctly than I would have
+done in the daytime. The end of the avenue, I knew, was the target of
+their anti-aircraft gunnery. I flew out, and shrapnel tore all around
+me. My machine was struck several times, and, as bad luck would have it,
+the patent point of my magneto fell out just when I got to the spot
+where shrapnel was thickest.
+
+"My chances of getting home then seemed pretty slim--engines out of
+order, lit up by fireworks, up 2,500 feet, and a target clear as a
+pikestaff for the gunnery. However, I managed to slide in the direction
+of the ship on the French coast. It seems easy to keep out of the way of
+the guns; but, of course, they have a demoralising effect on a man in
+the air. Not so much at dark as in the day, though. Well, I got home all
+right.
+
+"Only a day or so afterwards I dropped a bomb on or near a German
+U-boat, and I can't say to this day whether I struck or damaged her.
+
+"'Very lonely,'" murmured the pilot, reading from his log. "'Just saw a
+torpedo boat.' On the next day, let's see.... Oh, yes.... 'Saw two
+German destroyers, and raced back to our ship, and British ships sped
+after the Germans.'
+
+"A day or so later I had run in with two German machines. It chanced
+that there was a wind blowing about 30 knots, and I was merely out
+scouting, and did not carry a gun. The two enemy ships were joined by a
+third, and then they gained sufficient courage to come a bit close. They
+shot away my aileron control, and we were in a very bad way. For twenty
+minutes we were continually under fire, and below there was a heavy
+swell. It really was only through knowing how scared is the enemy flyer
+when you go for him that I am here to-night. I let the enemy planes get
+nearer and nearer to me, and by the time they were ready for firing I
+dived at one of them. This so upset the poise of the three machines that
+they turned tail and swung around to come at me. They made huge circles
+to get on my flanks again. All this took time, and during it I was
+getting nearer and nearer my base. Now and again the enemy machines were
+like too many cooks and the broth; they nearly crashed into each other.
+This also upset their nerves. Incidentally, when you are in the air,
+only the other machine appears to be moving, and you seem perfectly
+still. My escape is due in part to the arrival of one of our fighting
+seaplanes. A German is desperately afraid of them, unless there are four
+Germans to one Britisher. When they saw this fighting Britisher coming
+they did not take long to get away. They knew who the flyer was, too,
+for a man's style in the air is always characteristic. They had heard of
+this flyer before. So they turned tail, and I got back with a machine
+out of order. 'The Prussian code of politeness,' we call it when they
+retire with two or three machines against one of ours. It is the respect
+that they show for our fighting seaplanes. Of course, this does not
+detract from the confidence we have in our superiority."
+
+I heard also that seaplanes have been called upon to serve at all sorts
+of tasks on the dismal briny. On one occasion a senior naval officer of
+an English port received word that neutrals were out in boats, and that
+they had no water or food. Their steamship had been torpedoed, and their
+last message by wireless had been caught by the British. The naval
+officer despatched a seaplane with bread and water, and the pilot
+delivered it, with other trifling necessities.
+
+One of the most beautiful sights that meets the eye of a seaplane pilot
+is when he comes on the scouting parties of British warships. They are
+never at a standstill, and to keep moving and in the same place they all
+make a wonderful circle at full speed, with one vessel in the centre.
+That ship is to receive the message or whatever is brought by the
+seaplane, which in the event of calm weather lands on the water and
+sometimes sends off one of her officers to talk to those aboard the
+vessel protected by the ring of speeding grey warcraft.
+
+
+
+
+II. OVER THE NORTH SEA IN A SEAPLANE
+
+
+To have an accurate conception of some of the experiences of a seaplane
+pilot of the Royal Naval Air Service, I took advantage of an opportunity
+to go aloft over the North Sea.
+
+"Come with me, and we'll get you togged out for the ride," said the
+gunnery lieutenant. He was a Canadian, who had lived many years in
+Rochester, N. Y., and it was he who remembered that I would need
+something warmer than the clothes I wore.
+
+In the room to which he conducted me were many different styles of air
+garb. He picked down a hat and coat of black leather, observing that
+they would serve the purpose.
+
+The morning sun shed a yellowish glow on the dancing sea, and the wind
+was blowing at the rate of 32 knots. It was agreed by all that there
+would be an excellent view from the aircraft as the day was clear. By
+the time the gunnery lieutenant and I reached the ways on which the
+great seaplane rested, men in overalls, begrimed with oil and dirt,
+were testing the engine. As the great propeller spun round, coats
+ballooned out with the rush of air, and the noise was such that one
+could hardly hear one's own efforts to shout. It was a sound which
+filled you with awe. The propeller was stopped after a few minutes, and
+the mechanicians shot up the sides of the craft, and punched oil and
+gasolene into the places where it was needed. Young officers in naval
+uniforms stood around the machine--all are usually interested in a
+departing seaplane. Not far from us were many immense sheds in which
+were some of the newest types of England's youngest branch of the Navy.
+There were aircraft there which bespoke the inventive genius of the
+Briton, and the confidence of the young pilots inspired you with
+pleasure--it was a confidence that they could beat the enemy at one to
+two.
+
+Presently the chief mechanician announced to the pilot that all was
+well, and the man who was to take me above the North Sea, attired in his
+uniform and a thick white woollen scarf, climbed up the seaplane's port
+side. He signalled to me to follow, showing the places for me to put my
+feet. The climb was more difficult than I had imagined, and a literal
+_faux pas_ might not have aided the flying ability of the machine.
+
+There was no lashing the passenger to a seat in the plane. The place in
+which I sat would not have cramped three men, the pilot being in front.
+There was a loose leather seat cover atop a wooden box as the only sign
+of comfort.
+
+"Make the best of it," said the pilot. With that, he turned on a switch,
+and the propeller whirred a warning of departure to the clouds. It was a
+parting shot to ascertain that the engines were in trim, and after the
+engine had been stopped the craft was wheeled out into the waters of the
+bay, and then again the propeller rent the air with a burring noise
+which is surprising even if you are more or less prepared for it.
+
+For the first few seconds we apparently swung along on the water's
+surface, then skimmed along, the floats at the sides of the plane
+bobbing on the slightly crested sea. It was only a matter of less than a
+minute before I realised that we were rising in the air between sky and
+water, and with amazing speed we soared, and soon were 300 feet in the
+air. Still our aircraft climbed and climbed. The ocean, which had been
+beating on the sands now outside, seemed peaceful and green. The town
+which I thought had such winding streets when I walked through them now
+looked as if it had been laid out by a landscape architect. Up, up we
+travelled, and the higher we were the more deceptive was the North Sea.
+
+Through, or, at least, far above, the opening to the port the pilot
+steered the seaplane, and far down in the sea I saw a strip of dusky
+something pushing a white speck before it. The pilot signalled for me to
+look down. It was then that I realised that this funny little thing was
+a British submarine going out to sea. The pilot bellowed something; but
+I could only see that he was shouting, no sound coming to me above the
+din of the propeller. We steered straight out to sea, and miles away I
+saw a grey speck--a warship prowling over the lonely depths.
+
+After listening to stories of pilots who have been tossed on the bosom
+of the waters for twenty and thirty hours, the thought of the hardships
+these pilots have to undergo came vividly to me. I thought of how I
+might feel if a dozen anti-aircraft guns made us their target. Behind us
+the town now had almost disappeared. The officer kept the nose of his
+machine towards France, and I thought, as we sped on, of the young
+officer who had an appointment for dinner with his fiancee, and who had
+descended in the wrong territory only a week before. These daring
+pilots, however, think nothing of cutting through the air from England
+to France and taking a bomb or so with them for Zeebrugge on the way.
+
+I began to think a great deal of my pilot. He was about twenty-seven
+years old, and was cool and certain. He was a dare-devil, and had only
+been over in England a short time after spending months on the coast
+near the front.
+
+The town had disappeared, and it was evident that we were practically at
+the mercy of the compass. I felt no dizziness at the great height. In
+fact, I had no conception of the altitude of the seaplane then. Perhaps
+I was comforted by the whirring of the propeller, the thundering rumble
+of which was increased by the stiff wind. I looked headlong down, and
+experienced no sensation of fear. I seemed to be in a solid moving thing
+as stable as a machine on earth or water. We must have been up 4,000
+feet and possibly 100 miles out at sea. There was a sameness about the
+travelling. You heard the roaring blades, and saw the deceitful sea and
+clouds on a line with you here and there. The pilot turned the plane,
+and soon we were headed for land. We kept at the same altitude, and
+after a while beheld the shore line. The marvellous speed of the
+aircraft appealed to me then, as it was not long before we were over
+the harbour gates. At the same time, the seaplane just then did not seem
+to be making any headway. From a height of 4,000 feet the great vessels
+looked like fair-sized matches. How impossible it seemed to aim straight
+enough ever to hit one of those narrow things. As we turned around above
+the town in the direction of the hangars the trembling wings appeared to
+waver a bit more than usual. I looked down at the town, and we appeared
+at a standstill. You can tell sometimes when persons are looking at the
+planes by a speck of white, which is a face. The earth and sea rose
+nearer, for, as one does not appreciate, the plane was descending.
+
+Our seaplane swung around and around like a bird about to settle, and,
+as the seagulls do, alighted on the waters against the wind. With
+remarkable skill and patience the pilot carefully steered the machine
+until she faced the ways on which waited a throng of air-station
+officers and waders. Soon we were properly placed, and a dozen men clad
+in waterproof clothes splashed forward into the water, and caught the
+floats of the seaplane's wings. As the engine had been stopped before we
+landed, I got the first chance to speak to my pilot. He told me to get
+on the back of one of the waders, and in a few minutes I was again on
+dry land. Then the first thing I thought of was how the machine looked
+in the air. The officers congratulated my pilot on a remarkably fine
+landing.
+
+We had been more than two hours and ten minutes in the air, and we were
+both glad of a good stretch as we walked to the hangar, the burring buzz
+of the propeller still in my ears.
+
+
+
+
+III. ADVENTURES IN A SEAPLANE
+
+
+It was an interesting gathering which faced the warm fire in a
+smoking-room of an East Coast station of the Royal Naval Air Service.
+Many of the seaplane pilots who were attired in the blue and gold of
+naval officers had recently returned from successful endeavours in their
+hazardous life in the North Sea and on the Belgian Coast. And here they
+were in old England chatting about their experiences without brag or
+boast--just telling modestly what had happened.
+
+On one side of the spacious room, on a long, deep leather-cushioned
+sofa, were an officer of the guards who was known to have an income of
+at least ten thousand dollars a year, and who had taken to flying for
+the excitement; a stocky youth of twenty from Salt Lake City, Utah, who
+was known to have eked out a livelihood on fifty cents a day at Dayton,
+O., so that he could pay for his training as a pilot; another youngster,
+scion of a wealthy Argentine family with English connections; and an
+Englishman, just over thirty, who had been born in California and had
+heard the 1914 call of the mother country. They were cramped, but
+comfortable.
+
+In other chairs of the deep, comfy English variety were a rancher from
+Canada; an Olympic champion, whose name has often figured in big type in
+New York's evening newspapers; a lieutenant-commander of the Royal Navy,
+who had hunted big game in three continents; a wind-seared first mate of
+a British tramp; a tanned tea-planter from Ceylon; a 'Varsity man from
+Cambridge, whose aim had been a curacy in the English Church; a
+newspaper man from Rochester, N. Y.; a London broker; the head of a
+London print and lithographing business, looked upon as one of the best
+pilots in the service; and a publisher, who in pre-war days had been
+more interested in "best sellers" than in seaplanes.
+
+All were dreadnoughts who looked upon it as a privilege to give their
+lives to smash Prussian militarism. If you had asked any one of them for
+an interview he would have scoffed at the idea. But ordinary
+newspapermen cannot be blamed for being enthralled at the share of these
+pilots in the World War. What's printed about them? Just a paragraph to
+the effect that "Several seaplanes last night bombed Zeebrugge or
+Cuxhaven." They dashed out into the frigid North Sea with an errand,
+but their share in the fights and the valuable assistance they have been
+to Great Britain as scouts are seldom mentioned. Still, they "carry on,"
+asking for no encouragement. And right here it must be explained that
+"carry on" means to do or die in this war. It is the byword of the
+British of the day.
+
+It chanced that "Tidy," as we will call him, was the first speaker who
+had something to say. He had a reason for talking, for some evil genius
+had followed him for two days. The yarn is best told in his own words,
+so far as they can be remembered.
+
+"It was my patrol and I started from France at half-past five o'clock in
+the morning," began the seaplane pilot. "I shot out to sea for about
+thirty miles, and then continued to run along the coast for about 63
+miles. I caught sight of a Dutch ship, and a little while afterwards
+observed a submarine. Almost as soon as I saw the vessel there was a
+cloud of smoke. I raced to the scene, knowing then that the Dutch tramp
+had been torpedoed by a German U-boat. Four miles further on I espied a
+second submarine. I opened fire on the first submarine, which then I saw
+had taken in tow a boat evidently containing the survivors of the Dutch
+vessel. I observed one of the Dutch sailors crawl to the bows of the
+boat attached to the submarine and cut the rope. At that instant I
+dropped a bomb, which fell about 25 or 30 feet from the submarine. The
+under-sea craft went down very quickly, and I descended further and
+dropped my aerial, and the mechanician-operator sent out a message. I
+threw other bombs when I thought I detected about where the submarine
+was in the sea. It was like a hawk after a fish. The other submarine
+fled without giving me a chance.
+
+"I continued scouting, having warned the British warships that two
+submarines were in the vicinity. It came over very misty, and in the
+deep haze I saw three or four German vessels coming out. As I turned,
+deciding to race home and give the word, my engines failed me. I went
+down and down, holding off from the white caps of the sea for two and
+one-quarter hours. My next adventure was the sight of some German
+aeroplanes. After fiddling around, I got my engine started, and flew up
+to 1,000 feet above the sea. It was lucky that I started the engine when
+I did, for the sea was becoming unpleasant. But then my magneto failed
+me, and I realised what was in store on those wind-torn waters. I was
+forced to dodge about like a bird with a broken wing. The wind freshened
+to 40 knots. Although we did our utmost to keep the seaplane off the
+water, it, of course, had to rest there, and I became horribly seasick.
+The mechanician and I tried to keep the craft afloat. We fired off our
+rockets, hoping to attract the attention of a friendly or neutral
+vessel, but at the same time realising that we might fall victims to the
+enemy.
+
+"All night the mechanician and I were tossed on the sea without a chance
+of attracting anyone, as our rockets had given out. The cold was
+unbearable, and both of us were very seasick.
+
+"Dawn came, and there did not even then seem much more chance of our
+being rescued than at night time. You could not imagine anything
+lonelier than a seaplane on the bosom of the North Sea when you are
+without food or drink. The rocking of the light craft would have made a
+good sailor keel over with seasickness. The happy moment, however, did
+come. We were spotted by a mine-sweeper, and she raced to the rescue.
+Our mangled machine was hoisted on the kite crane of the little vessel.
+We had been thirty-six hours without food and water, and most of the
+time bumped about on the sea.
+
+"That would seem to be about enough for the evil genius to perform, eh?
+But we were doomed to have another surprise in store. I went to bed in a
+room in a little hotel, and had hardly closed my eyes when there was a
+great explosion; the whole place seemed about to fall down. I put on an
+overcoat, and tore outside to discover that those blamed destroyers
+which I had seen earlier were bombarding the place where I went to
+sleep. A lucky shot demolished the building next to the one in which I
+was in bed; then I went back to bed, too tired to care what else
+happened."
+
+
+
+
+IV. SWEEPING THE SEAS FOR MINES
+
+
+There are days when a mine-sweeper captain, who is continually running
+the gauntlet of death, reckons that he has been fortunate. Usually this
+is when he just escapes being blown to bits with his vessel or sees what
+can happen to a steamship when it strikes one of the enemy mines planted
+at random in the North Sea. There are days when he goes out and sees
+nothing worth while. However, despite the great danger, unseen and
+unheard until all is over, these mine-sweeper men guide their vessels
+out daybreak after daybreak, with the same old carefree air, to perform
+their allotted task in this war.
+
+Many of these men were fishermen, who looked as if they had slipped out
+of funny stories in their thick jerseys and sou'-westers; now they are
+part and parcel of the British Navy, proud of the blue uniform and brass
+buttons and--when they have them--of the wavy gold bands on their
+sleeves. There are others who were officers and so forth in the
+mercantile marine in pre-war days. They have sailed the seas from John
+o' Groats to Tokio: and to them New York is merely a jaunt.
+
+One of the latter, who was a passenger-vessel officer, attracted a deal
+of attention at an East English port by his indefatigable labour and
+fearlessness in his risky job, until he was rewarded for more than two
+years of grinning at death by the Distinguished Service Cross.
+
+He knows Broadway well, can tell you where he likes best to get his hair
+cut, and where he considers they put up the best cocktail. One day I was
+permitted to take a trip with this captain-lieutenant--and get back.
+Mine-sweeping has been written about by persons from Kipling down, so I
+will just tell you the story as I then saw it.
+
+The skipper stood on the bridge of his dusky-coloured vessel as she
+soused through the waters of the grim North Sea, his keen eyes ever on
+the alert fore and aft, and occasionally on the sister ship to his,
+coupled along with the "broom." They were "carrying on," as usual. This
+skipper was a man just in his thirties. His face was cheery and round,
+and body was muscular and thick-set. In spite of the watch he and his
+first mate kept on this particular occasion, he found time to give me
+his opinion on certain things interesting to the men who go down to the
+sea in ships, and also an idea of what it means to be in command of a
+mine-sweeper.
+
+"You should have been with us on Sunday," he said, as he lighted his
+cigarette between his cupped hands. "It was more interesting than
+usual--had something of this damn thrill you talk about ashore and don't
+know what it is until you've been at the firing front or in one of these
+blessed ocean brooms. That chap across the way found a mine in his kite,
+and we had to cut the hawser in double-quick time, and get far enough
+away from it before we pegged a bullet in one of the horns."
+
+The skipper explained that none of the mines are exploded less than 200
+yards from the vessels. He said that the experience he had just related
+would have sufficed for a day, but that an hour later, when he was still
+brushing up a part of the North Sea, not far from the coast, he received
+a warning from a trawler that a mine exposed at low water was just ahead
+of him. Not in his time had he seen a steamer go astern quicker.
+Afterwards, they deftly fished around for the mine, snapped its mooring
+rope, and brought it to the surface. When the mine was at a safe
+distance from all vessels, a couple of men then aimed their rifles at it
+until there was a loud explosion which sent sand-coloured water 35 feet
+and more into the air.
+
+But the affairs of that Sunday were not yet complete. Twenty minutes
+after the mine had been exploded a great rumble was heard way out at
+sea, and soon it was ascertained by the captain of the mine-sweeper that
+a Scandinavian tramp had met her doom by striking a German mine.
+
+"We went off to see if we could pick up some of the poor chaps,"
+observed the skipper. "Among the twenty-one men and boys we rescued were
+four who'd been passengers aboard a passenger vessel which had been
+torpedoed by a German U-boat without warning near Malta. They told us,
+when they got down into our engine-room, that they were just having one
+hell of a time getting home. I don't blame them for thinking that.
+Through good fortune, and taking chances of being sent to the bottom
+ourselves, we have saved the lives of many of these neutrals who might
+have perished. Yes, here we are mine-sweeping as a job, flying the white
+ensign of the British Navy; and yet we have found time to save life
+imperilled by the enemy. Sometimes I wonder what sly Fritz would have
+to say if he'd even saved a single neutral. He'd be blowing yet. Did you
+ever stop to think that our Government never has jeopardised a single
+neutral life? On the other hand, the lives of neutrals that have been
+rescued at this port run into the thousands. They talk about the freedom
+of the seas. What else has there been until Germany showed that what she
+wants is the 'tyranny of the seas.' Leastways, that's how it strikes me.
+Ever stop to----"
+
+His attention was caught by a signal from the other vessel, and a
+keen-eyed sailor wig-wagged back an answer. It was all right, although
+at first I still remembered the timely warning regarding the slightly
+submerged mine. As a matter of fact, it was merely a desire of the
+sister ship's captain to turn around and "sweep back," as the
+land-lubber might term it.
+
+"Let's see," said the commander, "where was I.... Oh, yes.... Realise
+that we go out and save lives that the enemy imperils far out at sea?
+They are lives that don't concern us, but we don't feel like letting a
+poor chap drown if we can help it. On the other hand, our enemy stops at
+nothing, and, moreover, takes advantage of our humanity. I think that it
+should be known that we dash out to the rescue never knowing when the
+ship may go up against one of Fritz's eggs, which may be anywhere in the
+sea. Why do we go? Just to pick up a benighted lot from an ill-fated
+tramp, and there's nothing in it. Yet we do it all the time, and the
+C.O. commends us for it, too."
+
+We came to a new spot in the green sea to sweep. It was fairly rough,
+and the little vessel bumped and jumped. And this is the work that goes
+on from daybreak to dusk seven days a week. If a trawler strikes a mine
+she usually counts on saying good-bye to herself and 80 per cent. of her
+crew, and the other type of mine-sweeper is lucky if she gets off with a
+loss of less than 40 per cent.
+
+Back and forth in a monotonous sea we steamed, and you had an idea how
+dull this work can be sometimes; also that when it comes to sweeping you
+saw that the North Sea is a big place.
+
+"It's become a science," observed the skipper. "Fritz has a hard time
+many a night 'laying his eggs,' and the many ways we have of bringing
+them to the surface has baffled him a good deal."
+
+A torpedo-boat destroyer hove within signalling distance. The commander
+was handed a message by a sailor. The alert skipper read it, and said:--
+
+"Tell 'em 'yes.'... Just want to know if we had swept around there."
+
+Still the smoke-coloured little vessels kept up the job of plying back
+and forth in the waters. Men were busy at the stern of the ships
+watching the wooden kites that are made so as to catch the mines by the
+hawser that is slung between the two steamers. The slightest sign of a
+ball-like piece of steel in the sea and the dullness of sweeping is
+relieved, for then the skipper knows that he has unhooked one of the
+mines. Along came a submarine, flying the white ensign of the Royal
+Navy. The mine-sweepers realise that these men have no arm-chair job,
+and admire the commander and crew of the under-water boats accordingly.
+A sailor semaphored with his arms, and the commander of the mine-sweeper
+sent a message back, and the submarine passed slowly on her way.
+
+"If some of those people at home and abroad at their firesides realised
+what the men at sea have to suffer to keep this coast free they might
+have a different way of talking," declared the commander, now taking to
+his much-burned old pipe. "Those chaps that have just come in have had
+a week without any sleep--or next to none--and their food has all been
+canned stuff. There are many persons who think the North Sea's a
+pond--same as they do over in America."
+
+On we steamed in our section of the waters with never a sign of a German
+mine. Finally, the day came to a close, and the captain ordered the
+hawser to be slipped and the kite hoisted in the stern crane of his
+vessel, the like being done by the other sweeper.
+
+As if glad that the day's work was over, the small craft pressed forward
+to the harbour, and were disappointed to find that a big tramp was
+taking up the room of their berths. They anchored outside, waiting for
+the big steamer to get away.
+
+"Do they tell you when you can come alongside the dock?" I asked.
+
+"No need to," said the captain with a smile. "You'll see."
+
+We had been in the open harbour for about twenty minutes when the bows
+of the ugly vessel came slowly on. An instant later all the small craft
+were ready to speed to their respective berths in their turns, and it
+was not so very long before the mine-sweeper was tied to her part of the
+dock. The commander of the sister vessel to the one I had been aboard
+came over to us.
+
+"Good ship that of yours?" I said.
+
+"Yes," muttered the man with two rings of the Royal Naval Reserve on his
+sleeve. "She's all right; but I love this ship. I had her a year ago,
+and she's a little wonder. It would take me a long while to love another
+vessel."
+
+My skipper laughed.
+
+"Just one of those days," he said. "Come, let's go and have a spot."
+
+
+
+
+V. THE ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION
+
+
+Buffeted about from Antwerp to Gallipoli, Egypt, the Greek Islands,
+Salonika, and then to France, first under an admiral, then part of an
+army corps, again under an admiral, and finally back to military
+regime--the life of the Royal Naval Division, which startled an Empire
+by their valour on the Ancre, has been one full of thrills, sorrows,
+threats of extinction, brave deeds, and perilous journeys. They are
+proud of their naval origin, and are also tenacious of their naval
+customs, despite the fact that all their fighting has been done ashore
+and few sailors survive among them.
+
+In August, 1914, Mr. Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the
+Admiralty, mobilised and organised, as a division for land fighting,
+reservist seamen, stokers and marines, and naval volunteers whose
+services were not required afloat, also recruits drawn mainly from among
+the miners of the North of England and Scotland. Guards' officers, naval
+and marine instructors--each in his own ritual--help to train them. To
+the Navy, who raided them when it needed seamen or stokers for its
+ships, they were "dry-land sailors." To the Army, they were just a bunch
+of "so-called salts" or "Winston's Own." But their instructors soon
+recognised that in these grousing, middle-aged stokers, and in these
+silent stolid illiterate miners and ironworkers from the North Country,
+they had the raw material of soldiers as fine as Great Britain can
+breed.
+
+In many respects, the Division has had the worst of both worlds. They
+have beaten their way steadily to the fore without much recognition in
+print; but since Beaucourt fell, both military and naval men have been
+eager to grasp their hands.
+
+Now and again a brief mention fell to their lot while they were in
+Gallipoli, where the military were attracted to them a bit by the idea
+of calling their battalions after famous admirals such as Nelson, Drake,
+Hood, Collingwood, Anson, Howe, Benbow, and Hawke. Sir Ian Hamilton made
+mention of the fearlessness of the division in his despatches, and
+Major-General D'Amade eulogised them for their bravery after the frays
+of the 6th, 7th, and 8th of May, 1915. In June, 1915, the Collingwood
+battalion was wiped out; of the officers of this battalion and of the
+Hood, who went to the attack, not one returned unwounded. The other
+battalions also suffered terribly, having been equally contemptful of
+danger.
+
+Prior to that they had, of course, been to Antwerp. Even if they did not
+have a chance to do much, the Division, at any rate, caused the Belgians
+to hold out for five days longer than they might otherwise have done.
+
+Among the many brave men on the officers' roll are well-known Britishers
+who have given their lives for their country. There was Rupert Brooke,
+the poet; Denis Browne, formerly musical critic of _The Times_; F. S.
+Kelly, holder of the Diamond Sculls record, who also was an
+exceptionally clever composer and pianist; and Arthur Waldene St. Clair
+Tisdall, a great scholar and poet of Cambridge. He was awarded the
+Victoria Cross for his valour on the 25th of April, at Gallipoli, for
+going to the rescue of wounded men on the beach. To accomplish this, he
+pushed a boat in front of him. On his second trip he was obliged to ask
+for help. In all, he made five trips in the face of great danger. He met
+death in action barely three weeks afterwards.
+
+Lieutenant-Commander Arthur M. Asquith, son of the former British
+Premier, is one of the gallant men attached to the Hood battalion. He
+has been through the thick of many fights, and has been wounded more
+than once, escaping death through sheer good fortune.
+
+And one of the men whom all England was wild about is a New
+Zealander from Wellington, twenty-seven years old, now an acting
+lieutenant-colonel, who was described by an eye-witness of the Ancre
+fighting as "a flying figure in bandages plunging over Germans to
+Beaucourt." He is B. C. Freyberg, a born soldier and great athlete.
+
+Before the Great War, this marvel of courage was fighting for Pancho
+Villa in Mexico; and the instant the European conflict started, Freyberg
+realised that he might do better in Europe. He therefore deserted Villa,
+and set out afoot for San Francisco. His splendid constitution stood him
+in good stead, and he arrived there as fit as a fiddle, soon afterwards
+winning enough money in a swimming race to take him to London. In the
+English capital he received a commission as a sub-lieutenant in the
+Royal Naval Division, and his promotion has been rapid.
+
+Colonel Freyberg was caught in a live electric wire in Antwerp; but it
+was of so high a voltage that he was not killed, sustaining only an
+injury to his hand and arm. He was even fired at by his own men, who
+believed that he was a German crawling through the wire. Just before the
+landing in Gallipoli, on the 25th of April, 1915, it was proposed to
+throw dust in the eyes of the Turks by landing a platoon at a point on
+the coast of the Gulf of Saros, where no serious landing was
+contemplated. To save the sacrifice of a platoon, Freyberg, who was at
+that time a company-commander in the Hood battalion, pressed to be
+allowed to achieve the same object single-handed. His wish was granted;
+and on the night of the 24th-25th of April, oiled and naked, he swam
+ashore, towing a canvas canoe containing flares and a revolver. He
+reconnoitred the enemy's trenches, and, under the covering fire of a
+destroyer, lit his flares at intervals along the beach. He had some
+difficulty in finding his boat again. A mysterious fin accompanied him
+during part of the swim. He at first took it to be that of a shark, but
+found later it belonged to a harmless porpoise. After some two hours in
+the water, he was picked up, and for this gallant and successful feat he
+was made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. In Gallipoli
+he was wounded in May, again in July, 1915, and he was mentioned in Sir
+Charles Monro's despatches in connection with the successful evacuation
+of the 9th of January, 1916.
+
+Hence, this sailor-soldier in a comparatively short time attracted a
+good deal of attention among the naval and military authorities; so it
+was not surprising that when he applied for a permanent commission in
+the British Army he was given a captaincy in the Queen's Royal West
+Surrey Regiment. The same day, however, he received this news he was
+seconded to the Royal Naval Division with the temporary rank of
+lieutenant-colonel. So he retained command of his old battalion--the
+Hood.
+
+Inasmuch as the first despatches concerning the storming of Beaucourt
+referred to Lieutenant-Colonel Freyberg as "a naval colonel," all
+Britain was wondering who this hero could be. Some of his friends were
+not long in guessing; but it was not until the next day that Freyberg in
+name received credit for the remarkable exploit on the north bank of the
+Ancre. In the first messages of the British success it was set forth
+that in a battle where every man fought nobly for the honour of his
+regiment and his country, one individual act of leadership stood out
+with peculiar distinctness.
+
+A witness of the battle told of the troops on Freyberg's left being held
+up, and that between him and them ran, roughly parallel with the line of
+advance, a spur which cut off the effect of the enemy's machine guns.
+After fourteen hours of fighting, bit by bit, the sea-dog soldiers had
+plunged through a mile of trenches and ground sorely marked by shells.
+Three machine guns then were pushed forward well beyond that line, and
+the still unsatisfied sailor-colonel, his shoulder and right arm swathed
+in bandages, asked leave to go ahead and attack the village. His men
+were about 1,000 yards in front of the companies on his left,
+endeavouring to advance across the northwesterly slope. It was more like
+a matter of defence than attack. The men were few in numbers, and had
+fought like tigers for long hours without a rest. However, about 500 men
+were collected, and the dark of night was spent in organisation. Then,
+in the misty dawn, some soldier battalions came up to reinforce the
+left, and onward plunged Freyberg.
+
+Out on the Ancre they say that he got so far ahead of his men that he
+rubbed his hand over his head and murmured: "Huh--I believe I forgot to
+tell them to follow me." Whether or not this is true, only Freyberg
+knows. But we do not remain in doubt as to what he and his men did right
+afterwards. They ploughed their way through mud and Germans, with the
+fire of five machine guns peppering them. They stuck right on the heels
+of the barrage fire, and in less than twenty minutes from that time the
+Germans had been driven from their stronghold of Beaucourt. Here and
+there a German post held, and men in the trenches faced the British
+bombs and cold steel. Still the Teutons soon learned that it was
+impossible to stop that alarming Briton and his men.
+
+Freyberg formed a semicircular trench around the far side of the new
+possession, and then they took time to see what had happened to the
+gallant little band. Freyberg had received his fourth wound, and his
+brave 500 had dwindled to a number a good deal smaller. The Britishers,
+somehow, had been unkind in their speed to the Germans, and the enemy
+was left gaping with wonder at the result of what they at first took to
+be nothing more than a bit of bluff.
+
+For this remarkable display of valour Freyberg received the Victoria
+Cross.
+
+Reverting to the division itself, it should be said that every officer
+of these jolly-jack-tar soldiers has panegyrics galore to cast in the
+direction of General Sir Archibald Paris, K.C.B., who was in command of
+the division at Antwerp and the Dardanelles. He lost a leg before the
+Ancre fighting, and thus was disappointed of being with them for their
+great success in France. He was succeeded by Major-General Cameron
+Shute, C.B. What the division has recently accomplished and the way it
+has terrorised the enemy, like Kipling's "Tyneside Tail Twisters," is a
+happy thought to General Shute. In one battalion it is estimated that 90
+per cent. of the casualties in the Ancre fighting were caused by the
+closeness with which the sailors clung to the barrage fire. Their grit
+caused the enemy to pale.
+
+They are pleased and proud of their sea terms, and would not give them
+up for anything--not even if the soldiers of the King do not fathom
+their meaning.
+
+It is a case of going to the "galley," while the red-coat that was
+persists in the "kitchen." The first field dressing-station is nothing
+but "sick bay" to the R.N.D. man. They "go adrift" when they are missing
+from parade, and they ask to "go ashore" when they want leave.
+
+
+
+
+VI. A NAVAL SCHOOL
+
+
+From one of several institutions, every six months Britain turns out
+2,200 boys who have mastered the elementary rudiments of seamanship and
+are ready to take their places as ordinary seamen aboard warships. They
+will not tell you how many of these schools there are in Great Britain
+alone, but you may learn that no undue activity has been brought about
+in these places because John Bull is at war. After having waded through
+the curriculum of these boys, one comes to the conclusion that they are
+not so far from being able seamen by the time they emerge from this
+place on the East Coast.
+
+It is especially striking how speedily the youthful mind snatches up the
+mysteries of signalling and of wireless telegraphy; and one is filled
+with interest in following the boys from the time they first enter the
+school to the day they leave.
+
+In a room where they are "kitting up" are twenty or thirty boys who have
+just arrived. And, as they say in America, there is "no monkey
+business" about the instructors: either the boys are those who are
+wanted or they are not. The youngsters receive their first seafaring
+garb in a large, well-ventilated room. They have been in the bath, and
+their hair is as close as the clippers can make it. One of them said he
+was the son of a lawyer; another that his father was in the Royal Navy;
+a third came of a parson's family; a husky young chap had been a
+blacksmith's assistant; and another had coo-ed milk in London streets.
+
+"An'," declared a petty officer, "they all comes here believin' they'll
+be able to get a pot shot at the Kaiser. Seems to me that they imagine
+that William is always standing on guard on the rocks of Heligoland,
+just waiting for them to come along--what?"
+
+In another section of the school the boys are grounded in discipline by
+a petty officer, and by the time they get through with him they are
+accustomed to saluting. Follows then a whirl of wonders to them. There
+is a model of the forepart of a ship, which they can steer, and so learn
+port from starboard; there is the ingenious manner of dropping a
+lifeboat into the lap of the sea; and then the interesting work of tying
+knots, in which the petty officer instructor takes considerable pride.
+
+One of the most interesting rooms of sub-schools is the one where the
+youthful "salts" are initiated into the mysteries of signalling, where,
+besides the numerous flags for sea conversation, there is a dummy
+wireless station, by which they can become proficient operators. They
+have models of ships, so that they can tell which are British and which
+are German. Then there are gunnery schools, and it speaks well for the
+young Briton that 90 per cent. of the pupils have such keen minds that
+they yearn to learn more of the mysteries of the study of sea fighting;
+they have the ambition to be really good seamen, engine-room men,
+wireless operators, or signalmen.
+
+On a section of the school grounds there is a mast on which is hoisted
+the White Ensign of the British Navy. This spot is known as the
+quarter-deck, and every time one of the youngsters passes where he can
+see that mast he salutes reverently. Beyond that there is the recreation
+ground, where every Saturday afternoon in winter there are half a dozen
+games of football. The officers help them to enjoy that, too, for, like
+Americans, they delight in exercise.
+
+It is remarkable what a change a boy undergoes after a few months at
+the institution. I was told of would-be sailors who were sloppy and
+dirty when they entered the school being transformed into neat, fine
+physical specimens.
+
+"A hair-cut, a wash, a change of underwear and other garments makes all
+the difference in the world," said one of the instructors. "And when you
+add to this lessons in sea-neatness, a good deal of interesting
+headwork, manual labour, good food and plenty of recreation, it's no
+wonder that the mill makes a new boy of one of the seafaring aspirants."
+
+The boys have one great mess-room; and, although they never have been to
+sea, they are taught to treat the school as if it were a war vessel.
+They ate with vigour when I saw them, and I was told that the money
+given to them by the Government is spent for extras in the eating
+line--principally candies. Each table constitutes a mess, and there are
+prizes for the cleanest and best-arranged mess; so they arrange their
+knives, forks, and spoons in a design calculated to catch the
+prize-awarder's eye. And, incidentally, this idea of giving prizes for
+the best-kept mess is followed throughout the service.
+
+Each day is started with prayer on the quarter-deck, and an impressive
+ceremony it is. Honour and glory is what they will tell you they hope
+to get out of the Navy, and not money. And the idea of honour, as it is
+known in the Navy, is drummed into them from the moment they enter the
+school.
+
+To see these youngsters at any meal is to believe that it was the first
+time they had eaten for a week. They are ravenously hungry, and the food
+is of such excellence that it makes a visitor feel as if he would like
+to sit down too. There is little waste here, for I observed that each
+plate was polished clean; and, when eating was over, the boys bounded
+out for an hour's recreation on the spacious grounds. On their way many
+of them paid a visit to the candy-store, and while they were playing
+they munched candy.
+
+The port where this school is located is a healthful spot, and in war
+time no person is permitted to board a ferry to the school without a
+special pass. When you first land you are decidedly struck by the great
+figure-heads of old war vessels, which are set up on the "quarter-deck"
+and in front of some of the buildings. There is one of the old Ganges
+there--a mammoth wooden head of a very black negro. The size of it is
+startling.
+
+The officers have a charmingly comfortable ward-room and mess-room. In
+the bay is the second Ganges, now a sort of mother-ship for
+mine-sweepers and trawlers, and one of the busiest places one can
+imagine. The King not long ago dined aboard this ship, and is said to
+have expressed great interest in the work carried on from the Ganges.
+
+
+
+
+VII. "GENTLEMEN, 'THE KING'"
+
+
+There are many traditions to which the Royal Navy still clings, and
+there are messes afloat and ashore where it is manifest that time has
+not withered impressive and picturesque features of the days of the
+wooden warships. For instance, no layman can help being struck by the
+British naval officers' toast to the King. And the other toasts are
+offered with such splendid solemnity and grace that it makes one wish
+that something of the sort could be done at even the minor affairs where
+civilians are gathered. Of course, the Londoner and the man from
+Manchester offers his toast at a great banquet, as they do in New York
+and other American cities to the President of the United States. But
+although it takes no longer at a naval mess, there is a something about
+it which places the civilian in the shade. With the Navy it is a mess,
+and not a dinner where there are many strangers, and every officer has
+been doing this since he was a boy.
+
+John Bull's naval officers are men who admit the faults of their
+country. They have travelled, and have seen a good many other countries
+and peoples. From Osborne and Britannia days sincerity seems to have
+been inculcated into them. The discipline is inflexible, but kindly. The
+captain of a "Dreadnought" will take pains to ask a young midshipman to
+dine with him, and there exists a wonderful thoughtfulness on the part
+of the officers for the men. British naval officers are lovers of
+sports, and, having believed the Germans good sports before August,
+1914, they cannot condone attacks on non-belligerents or the shooting of
+nurses. His Majesty's naval officers do great things without talking
+about them, and at dinner one of the star heroes of the war may be in
+the next chair to you, but you certainly will not hear it from him.
+
+Opposite me sat a man who had faced death with Scott on the Polar
+expedition. It was after I had left the mess that I learned this from
+one of his friends. But at a mess you may hear stories of men who are
+absent. It was at dinner aboard one of the great, grey sea-fighters that
+we laughed at the yarn of a young middy, in charge of one of the cutters
+off Gallipoli when the Turks were sending shells like rain. This
+midshipman ordered his men to take cover. His men included bearded
+fellows twice his size and age. They obeyed, as they always obey. Then
+the youthful fearnought, to show his contempt for danger, stood on one
+of the cutter's cross-seats, pulled out a cigarette-case almost as large
+as himself, and puffed rings of smoke skywards.
+
+"I made a jolly fine set of rings that time," he told one of the men.
+
+Another of this tribe was in Cairo on leave when he received word that
+his ship was to leave sooner than expected. She was in Alexandria. Not
+having sufficient money to pay his train fare, he requisitioned a
+motor-bicycle and sped on to Alexandria. From his youthful eyes there
+welled tears when he was informed that his ship was weighing anchor.
+Nothing daunted, however, he commandeered a fast motor-boat, and swept
+out after the warship, which he caught on the go. This is the man who in
+later years you are apt to meet at the officers' messes--a man full of
+information and wonderfully versatile. He may have ploughed the seas for
+many years, and dwelt in his steel home in the baking heat of tropical
+suns, and waited for the enemy for many a day. Hence conversation never
+lags at these dinners. The meals are comparatively plain in these days;
+but most of the officers stick to the delight of a cocktail before
+dinner, and after the _piece de resistance_ they have their glass of
+port.
+
+Just before the dessert the port is poured into glistening glasses, and
+the table is cleared.
+
+"Table cleared, sir," announces the steward to the president of the
+mess; and a second later one hears: "Wine passed, sir."
+
+"Thank God," is the brief grace of the chaplain; or, if one is not
+present, the head of the mess says it. This is followed with a rap on
+the table, and from the president of the mess:--
+
+"Mr. Vice, 'The King.'"
+
+"Gentlemen, 'The King,'" speaks out the vice-president of the mess, who
+is seated at the other end of the table opposite to the head of the
+mess.
+
+Conversation, which a second before had been filling the place, is
+silenced by the grace, and the stranger may be somewhat startled by the
+suddenness of the proceedings. It is the privilege of these officers to
+drink the King's health seated. This is an old custom, which came about
+through the sovereign realising that ships are not the steadiest places
+always, and the fact that the ward-rooms are sometimes not constructed
+so that a tall man can always stand erect.
+
+Immediately "Gentlemen, 'The King,'" is uttered by the mess's
+vice-president each officer repeats in an undertone: "The King." The
+glasses after being held aloft come to the table as one, and the
+conversation is resumed. Garbed in their immaculate monkey-jackets, with
+the glistening gold braid on the cuffs, the men at the carefully set and
+beflowered table make a scene long to be remembered.
+
+Incidentally, there is a marine officers' mess at a certain port which
+naval officers are always ready to talk about. In that place they are
+proud of a wonderful mahogany table which has been polished for many
+years until it is now like a black mirror. The band of this mess is one
+of the best in England; and it is the privilege of the bandmaster to
+play at concerts and in theatres, the proceeds being divided among
+charities, the bandmaster and his men. Hence the leader of this band
+probably had an income of $7,500 a year.
+
+Here, before the toast to the King is offered, servants come along each
+side of the great table and, at a given word, whisk the tablecloth from
+the shiny mahogany. The bandmaster is invited to have a glass of port by
+the president of the mess. The band leader seats himself, and sips his
+wine. Follows then the toast to the King.
+
+At the mess of the largest Royal Naval Air Station in England they have,
+by good fortune, obtained the services of a chef who formerly was of the
+Ritz Hotel in London; and especial attention is given to this mess. No
+matter how hard may have been the day's work or how many men have been
+forced to leave for other billets, the dinners there are a sight for the
+gods. More than 150 expert seaplane pilots from all over the world sit
+down.
+
+It is like a bit of history of olden days to hear: "Gentlemen, 'The
+King,'" with its charm and ceremony.
+
+
+
+
+VIII. THE ROYAL NAVAL AMBULANCE TRAIN
+
+
+Ready to speed to any accessible port on telegraphic or telephonic
+orders from the Admiralty Medical Transport Department are Royal Naval
+Ambulance trains. They are always on the move, picking up wounded or
+sick officers and bluejackets at Scotch and English ports, bearing them
+to stations where there are great hospitals, to relieve the coast
+institutions likely to receive wounded in the event of a North Sea Fleet
+engagement. These grey-painted trains, with the Red Cross and the "R.N."
+on each coach, are the outcome of a great deal of study, and they are
+now run with remarkable efficiency. No millionaire could receive better
+care when wounded or ill than do John Bull's naval officers and seamen.
+
+Sir James Porter, the head of this service, whose pen sends a train to
+all parts of England and Scotland, has a loyal staff, which devotes
+remarkable zeal to their share of the work. They take pride in making a
+time-record in disembarkation and entraining of patients. Naval surgeons
+at each railroad station watch the work of the stretcher-bearers to be
+sure that every cot has the gentlest possible handling when being
+carried from the train to the ambulance which is to take the patient to
+the local hospital.
+
+The "stepping" of the stretcher-bearers seems a trifling thing, but it
+is surprising to note the attention given to this point in the first
+days of the war. Dr. A. V. Elder, staff surgeon of the Royal Naval
+Volunteer Reserve and the right bower of Sir James Porter, practised for
+weeks the carrying of patients, getting into cots to ascertain the most
+comfortable step for the wounded. Prizes were even given to the men who
+carried a pail of water on a cot and reached a fixed point with the most
+liquid in the receptacle. By this means the best method of "stepping off"
+was evolved. There are hundreds of these stretcher-bearers--volunteers
+without compensation--who now perform the task so well that it attracts
+even the attention of the casual observer. The cot-bearers are doing
+their "bit"; they get to the railroad stations at all times to meet the
+ambulance trains, and often have to wait hours and give up their usual
+business.
+
+It may also be interesting to some that in those August days the Naval
+Ambulance trains were not much more than a series of box-cars. The
+present cot--an ingenious arrangement by naval surgeons--was used in the
+naval hospitals and aboard the warships. But the fixtures on the train
+for carrying this cot were far from perfection. The patient was tossed
+about by the movement of the train, and it was realised that in the
+event of hundreds of patients being carried something would have to be
+discovered to steady the beds. Dr. Elder invented a clip-spring to be
+attached to the cot and the side of the coach. It held the bed, and had
+sufficient "give" to make it steady. In lieu of the box-cars, there are
+now coaches of the American type, with windows and great sliding doors
+which permit of easy ingress or egress.
+
+The railroad officials have listened to the bidding of the Medical
+Transport Officer of the Admiralty and have attached some of the best
+locomotives to these trains, usually of twelve coaches. Even when there
+has not been an action, and the trains are bearing mostly medical cases,
+all passenger and freight traffic gives way to the ambulance trains. If
+the surgeon in charge of the train decides that he has a case which
+should be hastened to a hospital he wires ahead, so that when he reaches
+that point the surgeon or the agent there is on hand with an ambulance
+to rush the patient to a local hospital.
+
+Where it is possible, red tape has been eliminated. The cots in which
+the patients are carried are sent with the patient from a hospital or
+ship, and the patient is only taken out when he arrives at the hospital
+of his destination. For the cot bearing the patient, the train surgeon
+receives in exchange a clean cot. This cot has been laundered and
+fumigated, and is kept on the train so that when only patients are
+entrained the surgeon gives a cot for each case taken aboard. Hence the
+surgeon always has the same number of cots on his train, and through
+this means paper and pencil work is avoided. The patient's clothes are
+packed in a bag, and all the valuables of one batch of patients are
+sealed up in one envelope, which is receipted for by the surgeon of the
+hospital to which the patients are sent.
+
+No patient is transferred from a hospital in a critical condition if it
+can be avoided. But sometimes this is necessary, as it was following the
+Jutland Battle. Then the most serious cases were held in the hospitals;
+while, where it was possible, hundreds of cases were despatched to
+institutions at other ports.
+
+The route of these ambulance trains may differ every round trip. One
+ambulance train may go to the North of Scotland, while the next one will
+only go to Glasgow or Edinburgh if there is no call further north. The
+wonderful organisation not only undertakes to relieve hospitals, but
+also to ship the patients to institutions unlikely to be suddenly
+burdened with many cases; and consideration is also given as to where
+the patient can receive the best attention, such as in southern
+hospitals.
+
+Fleet-Surgeon A. Stanley Nance is the Medical Transport Officer for
+Scotland. He is ever on the alert for what is going on in the hospitals
+in his territory. In the event of a great sea conflict, he receives
+orders from Sir James Porter and information concerning all the trains
+which are by that time racing to the ports nearest to the scene of the
+engagement.
+
+In London, the Medical Transport Officer can place his finger on a
+railroad map at any time and tell within a mile or so where his trains
+are. If by any possible chance they are delayed he receives word from
+the train surgeons.
+
+Knowing the probability of further engagements in the North Sea, quite
+a number of wealthy private individuals have interested themselves in
+the hospitals on the East Coast from north to south. And these persons
+take especial interest in the trains, many of them making it a point to
+be at the railroad station whenever a Royal Naval Ambulance train pulls
+in. What with sick men and accidents, the trains now and again may have
+a full quota of patients without there having been a fleet engagement.
+In war time no man who is not physically fit is kept aboard ship, for he
+may not take up another man's place without being able to perform his
+work.
+
+Exigencies of war have caused the speedy transformation of buildings in
+many parts of England into hospitals. There also are institutions
+constructed in temporary form, architecturally not works of art, but
+wonderfully useful. The surgeons at these latter places have wrought
+marvels in obtaining good light in the wards and operating-rooms, and
+creating a comfortable atmosphere in the exteriorly dingy places.
+
+The starting-point or headquarters of the ambulance trains is in the
+South, and when they plough their way North they carry no patients. The
+complement of these trains is from forty to fifty hands, and they all
+look upon the train as a ship, and use sailors' terms. It is the "Sick
+Bay Express."
+
+
+
+
+IX. A RUN IN A ROYAL NAVAL AMBULANCE TRAIN
+
+
+I obtained permission to make a "voyage" in an ambulance train.
+
+On a grey, drizzling morning one of the Royal Naval trains glided into a
+siding at Queensferry--a dozen miles from Edinburgh. In less than ten
+minutes six hefty stretcher-bearers steadily and silently bore the first
+cot patient from a waiting ambulance to the war-coloured train. Cot then
+followed cot with precision, only two of the patients being in the open
+at a time; and as quickly as mortals could accomplish it these cots were
+set swinging in the "eyes" set for the lanyards.
+
+Being about half-past eight o'clock, nobody had much to say. The faces
+of the sick and wounded bluejackets told you nothing as they lazily
+gazed around them while being hoisted into the hospital train. They
+looked like men sewed into white sailcloth sacks. Surgeons, with two and
+three gold stripes, between which runs the red--blood red, some
+say--denoting their department in the Navy, glanced occasionally at the
+patients.
+
+"Carry on, there," then came from the R.N.V.R. lieutenant in charge of
+the stretcher-bearers, when one of the coaches had received its quota of
+sick and wounded. Then the sliding doors of the next coach yawned for
+its measure of sick men, who presented an interesting rather than a
+pathetic picture, for every bluejacket wore his cap, looking like a
+sailor who had gone to bed with his clothes on. That cap travels with
+him like his papers. The bluejacket has many important things which he
+conceals in it, and the most important of all is his package of
+"gaspers," as he terms his particular brand of cigarettes. The cap is
+placed firmly on his head, and occasionally a flannelled arm protruded
+from the cot. No moan or groan escaped from these plucky patients, for
+the sailor always lives up to the traditions of the Royal Navy.
+
+From one of the cots there showed a head covered in bandages with only
+two small openings for the patient's eyes. His cap was on his bed. As
+this sailor was being hoisted into the train a deep voice came from the
+bed:--
+
+"Mind yer eye, Bill, or yer'll get yer feet wet."
+
+Bill was a "sitting case." He had come up on the same ambulance as his
+pal. He had been in the same fo'castle and had been hurt in the same
+accident. And now they were going aboard the same train to the same
+port. Bill paid little heed at that moment to his chum as he picked his
+way through the water and mud. His right arm was in a sling and the
+comforting cigarette between his teeth. Standing on the last rung of the
+little ladder before going into the car, I heard him say to another
+sailor:--
+
+"She's over yonder. Bye-bye for the present."
+
+His cap came off as he looked in the direction of the great deep water
+where lay the hazy forms of ships. Others looked, but said nothing about
+the sailor doffing his cap to his grey-steel sweetheart who had
+weathered the fight against odds.
+
+"That makes 110," said the train surgeon. "Six, four, seventy-three,
+twenty-seven--what?"
+
+The first two numerals denote officers, sitting and cot cases, and the
+latter two those of the men.
+
+"Right-o," quoth the officer of the stretcher-bearers.
+
+Soon the grey train steamed out, with orders to make a stop for a couple
+of cot cases in Edinburgh. In the Waverley Station a few minutes later
+the train took aboard the patients, and then sped on south.
+
+Before "she" had been under way very long, the surgeon in charge and his
+assistant walked through the coaches, observing the cases on board and
+noting whether any of them needed any special attention.
+
+At noon the cooks and stewards were hustling, giving food to men who, I
+supposed, would only require toast and beef-tea. But it takes a lot to
+make a bluejacket lose his hunger.
+
+"They're all 'Oliver Twists,'" declared the train surgeon.
+
+Now, there is nothing that a sailor of His Majesty's Navy likes so much
+to look at as a pretty girl. Hence it was not surprising when I heard a
+voice from one of the cots, after the train had stopped at Newcastle, in
+enthusiastic tones blurt out:--
+
+"From 'ere I can see the purtiest gal I ever laid eyes on."
+
+Business, then, of a movement in every cot. Eyes were all front, gazing
+in the direction of a golden-haired beauty, who blushed a deep pink when
+she realised how many pairs of eyes from the train were focussed on her.
+Soon horny hands were being kissed in her direction. Shyly, she sent a
+kiss or two back, and then retired to the shadows.
+
+As I said before, the train is considered a ship. It is a case of going
+to "Sick Bay" and of "out pipes" at nine o'clock. They talk of
+"darkening the ship" when the blinds are pulled and the lights covered.
+We arrived at Hull when it was dusk, and at the station was, among other
+persons, Lady Nunburnholme, whose husband is the chief owner of the
+Wilson Line of steamships, and who takes a deep interest in the
+ambulance trains and the sailors' hospital in her town. No matter at
+what hour one of the Royal Naval trains is due, Lady Nunburnholme is at
+the depot, always eager to have a word with the men, and give them
+cigarettes and cheer them up.
+
+By error, that evening a clergyman or naval chaplain, who had been hurt
+on a warship, was put in the coach with the men. The surgeon made the
+discovery, and said he would have the padre moved into the officers'
+quarters at the next stop.
+
+"I'm a humbug," said the cheery pastor. "There's nothing wrong with me.
+Just go ahead looking after the men."
+
+Plymouth was to be the next stop. We were due there at half-past seven
+o'clock the following morning. At midnight the chief surgeon walked
+through the train to see that all was well, and he was attracted by a
+man coughing. He directed that something be given to this patient.
+
+"Don't want to have one man keep half a dozen awake needlessly," said
+the surgeon.
+
+Then there was an officer who could not go to sleep. He was a medical
+case, suffering from rheumatism. But what kept him awake was the thought
+that he might lose his ship. There was a sailor who had fallen on his
+vessel, knocked four of his teeth out, and cut his head. Why he had to
+go to "Sick Bay" for such a trifle was beyond him. In the dark hours of
+the early morning one might have seen the faithful surgeon again going
+through his train, speaking in whispers to those who lay awake, asking
+them if there was anything they needed and what pain they had.
+
+"I've got pains all over me, and me 'ead feels scorchin' with the
+bangin' that's goin' on inside," said one man.
+
+"That's a grumble to get a drink," said the surgeon, who told the man to
+try to go to sleep.
+
+Devonshire was the scene of gladsome sunshine when the train steamed
+into the station, delivered certain patients, and picked up others for
+another port. In his anxiety to get a truck out of the way to permit the
+stretcher-bearers uninterrupted passage to the ambulances, a porter
+tipped over six and a half dollars' worth of milk. The patients grinned
+at this, and the Surgeon-General on the platform appeared to be sorry
+that so much good milk had gone to waste.
+
+The terminus of the train was reached at half-past seven in the evening.
+There the coaches were cleared of all patients and the train split in
+two to permit of traffic passing. The train-surgeon, having delivered
+the valuables of the patients, walked with me to the naval barracks,
+where for the first time in thirty-six hours he had a chance to really
+rest.
+
+"Chin-chin," said he, lifting his glass. "Another run over, and the
+Germans have not come out yet for the real fight."
+
+
+
+
+X. A TRIP IN A SUBMARINE
+
+
+The man who craves excitement is apt to get his fill for a while after a
+trip in a British submarine under the North Sea. He may dream of the
+experience for many nights afterwards, and the lip of the conning-tower
+well seems to get higher and higher until the water rushes over like an
+incipient Niagara--then he awakens.
+
+The wind was blowing about 30 knots when I boarded the mother ship of
+the submarines in the English East Coast port. It was an unsettled sort
+of morning, and just after I had walked over two narrow planks to the
+under-sea craft, aboard which I was to make a cruise under the North
+Sea, the sun shot forth a widening streak of blurred silver like a
+searchlight on the prancing green-grey waves. With care, the two-striper
+skipper gave his orders to get the submarine under way, and soon he
+stuck her nose at the east. One felt the frost in the air, and fingers
+grasping the canvas shield of the conning tower were benumbed.
+
+Three men stood in line on the aft hatch while the submersible glided
+through the port waters. Four other sailors were getting a last good
+lungful of fine fresh sea air for'd. At the conning tower were the
+commander, his helmsman, and a young lieutenant--the boss of the
+torpedoes. Now and again another officer popped up his head through the
+conning-tower well, and that opening to the boat's bowels appeared just
+about large enough for his broad shoulders. The nose of the shark-like
+craft passed through white-caps as steadily as a ship on a calm ocean.
+
+"Hands for'd, sir," announced the junior lieutenant.
+
+The commander mumbled an answer, and the men were ordered to close the
+for'd hatches, and soon the iron doors were screwed down. The gas
+engines shot off black smoke into the curdling wake of the vessel's twin
+propellers, and as we surged along into the uninteresting sea the
+skipper sang out to have the aft hatches shut. The well-disciplined
+bluejackets instantly obeyed the order, and the iron slabs banged to,
+and I knew that those men were busying themselves in their particular
+work of seeing that everything was ready for submerging.
+
+The commander of the submarine was an agile man, about 5 feet 7 inches
+tall. His face looked tired, and there were lines about his eyes, which
+were only for his ship. I do not think that he had the chance to give me
+a look--a real look--all the time I was aboard. There was always
+something which needed his attention. I found that the speed we were
+making against the wind closed my eyes, for there is very little
+protection on the conning tower of a submarine; and that alone might
+have given the commander that tired look. But I gathered afterwards that
+the eyes are strained a good deal in looking for enemy craft. There, in
+the distance, was the port whence we had emerged, and we now were out on
+the breast of the sea in war time. Two miles off our port bow was a grey
+vessel, to which our skipper gave his attention for a while. She was a
+British destroyer plunging through the water at 22 knots.
+
+The sun had disappeared behind a bank of clouds, but there were still
+streaks of blue in the sky. The commander shot his gaze aft, to
+starboard, port, and before him. Although we were heading straight out
+to sea, the skipper was ever on the alert.
+
+"Motors ready?" asked the commander of the sub-lieutenant, whose head
+showed up from the well after communicating with the engine-room chief
+artificer.
+
+"Motors ready, sir," was the answer, and the younger man wrung his cold
+hands.
+
+By that time England's coast was a hazy outline. But on we cut through
+the waves until England disappeared, and soon after the real thrill
+came--the thrill of going down under an angry ocean. The gas engines
+were stopped, and the way on the craft was allowed to carry her a good
+distance, following the order from the commander.
+
+That officer looked around, and signalled to a British
+destroyer--another of the warships ploughing the waters of the North
+Sea. A sailor expert signalman used his arms as semaphores, and an
+answer soon was received by our skipper.
+
+On the engine-room telegraph of the submarine is a word that does not
+figure on the apparatus of other types of warships: it is "Dive." The
+commander told me that we were going down very soon. I observed that the
+destroyer had turned around and was heading out to sea. We were almost
+at a stop, when our skipper told me to get into the conning-tower well
+and to be down far enough to give him room. It must be realised that
+immediately after the order to submerge has been rung in the
+engine-room the conning-tower hatch is closed. Hence the commander and
+his helmsman have no time to lose when the submarine is going under, as
+it takes forty-five seconds to submerge an under-sea craft, and at
+times, if pressed, it can be accomplished in thirty seconds.
+
+Up to that time I had not devoted much attention to the inside of the
+conning-tower hatch, beyond glancing at the brass ladder. Soon I
+discovered that there were two ladders, and that the distance to the
+inside deck of the boat was about twice as great as I had imagined.
+
+After I had taken my foot off the last rung of the ladder and stepped on
+the chilled, wet canvas-covered iron deck, my head was in a whirl at the
+sight of the bowels of brass and steel. The skipper had set the arrow at
+"Dive," and we were going down and down--a motion which is hardly
+perceptible to the layman.
+
+The activity below and the intricate mechanism of the craft caused me to
+think more of what the men were doing than of my own sensations. I
+wondered how one man could learn it all, for the skipper must have an
+intimate knowledge of all the complicated machinery of his vessel. There
+were engines everywhere and little standing room--at least, that is how
+it appeared on the first glance, and even afterwards it was clear that
+no adipose person could hope to survive aboard a submarine.
+
+No sooner had the engine-room received the order to submerge than the
+captain followed his helmsman down the conning-tower hatch, and he lost
+not a second in getting to the periscope--the eye of his vessel. Soon my
+attention was arrested by the sight of two men sitting side by side
+turning two large wheels. One kept his eye on a bubble and turned his
+wheel to control the hydroplanes to keep the craft level, and the other
+man's eyes also watched a bubble in a level. His share of the work was
+to keep the vessel at the depth ordered by the commander.
+
+Although I was deeply interested in everything that went on under the
+sea in that craft, my eyes were continually on the captain, who looked
+like a photographer about to take the picture of a wilful baby. The
+skipper's face was concealed behind two black canvas wings of the
+reflector, which keep the many electric lights aboard from interfering
+with his view through the glass. I then noticed a door in the stern of
+the craft--about amid-ships--a door which is closed on the sight of
+danger. To me it looked like a reflection, but you soon find out that
+you are looking at the engines of the submarine. There, four or five
+men, ignoring whether they were under the water or on the surface, were
+concentrated on their work. One mistake, and the submarine and its crew
+are lost. Hence there is no inattention to duty. Finally, this door was
+slammed to.
+
+The air below is not much different to what it is when the vessel is on
+the surface--or not noticeably different until the craft has been
+submerged for several hours. It is then that the "bottles" or air tanks
+are brought into play. I walked to the bows of the boat, where a giant
+torpedo was greased and ready for the shutting of its compartment. The
+air-tight tube was then locked down, and the missile was ready for its
+victim. But, as I said, lured as you may be to gaze at the other parts
+of the wonderful craft, you will find that your gaze comes back to the
+captain--always at the periscope, hands on those brass bars that turn
+the periscope, and eyes glued to the reflector.
+
+"Lower periscope!" he orders. And then: "Raise periscope!" He gives
+these orders with clearness; not surprising, as no command must be
+misunderstood when you are 25 or 30 feet under the water.
+
+"Lower periscope!"
+
+A man in a corner, next to one who has charge of the gyroscopic compass,
+turns a handle, and the greased steel cylinder sinks until the captain,
+who had been stretched with toes tipped, now is on bended knees, his
+hands extended to stop the periscope man from taking the "eye" further
+down. The captain turns the periscope around, scanning the waters. At
+his right, when the skipper is facing the bows, is another officer, with
+his hand on the trigger of what looks like an upward-pointed pistol of
+brass and steel. This officer waits for the command to send off the
+torpedo.
+
+"Lower foremost periscope into the well," ordered the captain. This
+periscope was not in use and had not been above the surface. It is the
+duplicate "eye," in case the other is out of order.
+
+"Yes," said the captain, not looking at me, "she's mostly guts below.
+Have a look at that destroyer. We are going to send a practice torpedo
+at her, and she will pick it up and return it when we get back home."
+
+The sleek, lean warship was knifing the waters at 22 knots. It was like
+looking at a picture--a moving picture--and all was beautifully
+distinct. Our commander consulted a card, decided the speed of the
+warship, and then again propped his head against the reflector.
+
+"Raise periscope," ordered the two-striper.
+
+For the first time aboard the submarine, there was something akin to
+silence, except for the swishing of engines and the continuous buzz of
+other mechanism.
+
+"Light to starboard," voiced the captain.
+
+"Light to starboard," repeated the helmsman at the compass.
+
+"Tube ready?" asked the commander, his head hidden between the black
+flaps of the periscope.
+
+"Tube ready, sir."
+
+The officer at the trigger stood like a starter at a race, his finger on
+the tongue that was to release the torpedo. It was just as it is in the
+real moment of moments and a war craft is the target. The men at the two
+wheels watched their dials and their bubbles, and the helmsman had his
+nose on the needle. The commander, the gold braid on his cuffs streaked
+with oil and rust, then had but one thought in his mind--to hit the
+target. He looked neither to right nor left but was still at the
+periscope. The warship was there. We were there, and one could imagine
+the tiny periscope just above the water. The situation was tense, even
+if the vessel to be fired at was not an enemy craft.
+
+"Fire!" snapped the captain.
+
+It was no order for men to spring "over the top," no battle-cry that was
+heard by the enemy, but the word under the water that is the order for
+the deadly destroyer to be released and speed on its way to the
+unsuspecting craft. Practice torpedo or not, when under the waves of the
+North Sea the word works up a dramatic situation hard to equal. The
+other officers and men are interested, and they told me that never does
+the word "Fire" fail to stir the soul of everybody aboard. Though the
+effect is heightened by the knowledge that a great vessel is the target
+and has been bored in twain, the interest is still thrilling when the
+submarine is practising. With a shot at the enemy there is, of course,
+the explosion to dread. If the submarine does not get away far enough,
+the explosion of the torpedo may be the cause of extinguishing all
+lights aboard the submarine, and lamps have then to be used.
+
+There was a tiger-like growl or "g-r-rh" of anger as the tube sent out
+the greased steel complicated missile, and outside I pictured the white
+wake that streaked in the direction of the warship. It was not visible
+from the periscope, which a second after the signal to fire had been
+brought down under the surface. The comparative stillness was gone, and
+the inside of the submarine seemed to have awakened from a doze. There
+was all bustle and hurry around me. The captain shot a look at the
+gyroscopic compass and gave orders for the motors to go ahead, and for
+half an hour the submarine pushed about under the surface. Then the
+commander had the periscope raised, and on the distant horizon I made
+out the destroyer--a tiny thing even in the glass of the magnifying lens
+of the under-sea boat's "eye."
+
+My feet were numbed with cold as I walked for'd and looked at the empty
+tube. These torpedoes cost L500 (two thousand, five hundred dollars),
+and in war time they are all set to sink if they fail to hit the target;
+set to sink because they might be used by the enemy or get in our own
+way.
+
+The next thrilling moment came when the commander decided to bring his
+craft to the surface.
+
+"Come to surface and blow external tanks!" ordered the two-striper.
+"Open five, six, seven, eight, to blow!"
+
+The round, white perforated lungs of the submarine sucked in the air in
+the craft.
+
+"Open one, two, three, four, to blow," came from the skipper.
+
+"One, two, three, four, to blow," I heard repeated.
+
+I felt no perceptible motion of ascending; but those lungs were working
+hard, which could be learned by placing your hand over them. The captain
+shot a glance at the dial, which told him how far up his vessel had
+gone, and then mounted the conning-hatch ladder, and soon one observed a
+spot of daylight. A sea washed over the submarine, filling the
+commander's boots with water. He was followed by a sailor, who quickly
+attached the lowered sailcloth bridge to the rails of the conning tower.
+Then the captain's expert and watchful eye caught bubbles coming from
+one of the tanks.
+
+"Close one!" he shouted down the hatch.
+
+"Close one," repeated the sub-lieutenant.
+
+"Two, five, and seven," came from the voice outside, and so on, until
+soon all the tanks had pumped out their water and were filled with air;
+and, for the sake of accuracy, each order was sounded again below.
+
+"Bring her around to north," said the commander.
+
+When we submerged it had been a chilly day, with a peep of the sun every
+now and again. The weather had changed since we left our berth under the
+sea. The sky was overcast, and snow was falling. And this change in the
+weather had taken place while the captain had been accomplishing one of
+Jules Verne's dreams.
+
+We sped farther out to sea; this time on the _qui vive_ for enemy craft.
+But the enemy is careful not to give the British submarine much of a
+chance at his warships, only sneaking out occasionally under cover of
+darkness with a couple of destroyers. Nevertheless, John Bull's diving
+boats are ever on the alert; and the man with whom I went under the
+North Sea had performed deeds of daring which never involved the sinking
+of a neutral vessel or of endangering the life of a non-belligerent.
+
+It was the time for luncheon. Luncheon! You get an idea that the life
+aboard a submarine is not all sunshine and white uniforms when you see
+the berth for the commander and his chief officer. They are just a
+couple of shelves, and are not used very often at that. It was
+explained to me that when you are running a submarine you do not go in
+much for sleep. Luncheon consisted of a cup of coffee and a piece of
+canned beef on a stale slice of bread. Tinned food is about all that can
+be used aboard a submarine. It does not take up much room, and it
+requires little in the way of cooking utensils. We were still having our
+luncheon below when we dived again, so for the first time in my life I
+found myself having a meal under the sea.
+
+It was hours afterwards that we slipped into the darkened harbour and
+found the mother ship, where the officers enjoy some of the real
+comforts of life.
+
+"Have a Pandora cocktail?" asked my captain.
+
+We imbibed joyfully. The commander then changed his clothes, and we sat
+down to dinner--a late dinner, most of the other members of the mess
+having finished half an hour before.
+
+And if you ask me about sensations while under the water, again I must
+confess that I was too busy looking and learning to experience anything
+but a fear that I might omit something of importance during the time the
+captain was getting ready for his target. Being under the sea, however,
+gave me a thrill felt long afterwards, and I left knowing something of
+the hardships that England's sea dogs suffer while guarding their island
+kingdom.
+
+
+
+
+XI. LIFE IN A LIGHTHOUSE
+
+
+The old man led the way to the sturdy stone structure on top of which
+were the great horns which sound the warning in foggy weather to ships
+at sea. He was proud of the lighthouse, of which he was the principal
+keeper; and just before he started to explain to me the wonders of the
+compressed-air engines, he remarked:--
+
+"First, you must know that a lighthouse-keeper's job is to watch for a
+fog."
+
+"What's your name?" I asked. He was the first real lighthouse-keeper I
+had met.
+
+The lighthouseman looked at me and then at one of the coast-watchers. He
+was a slender man of about sixty years, who, I had been told, was
+enjoying the work he had set out to do long, long before there was a
+thought of a great war.
+
+"T. G. Cutting," he replied, "the P.K. here."
+
+It was on the western Cornish coast, where, as in other places in and
+off English shores, the lighthouses, war or no war, from sunset to
+sunrise cut the darkness with their long beams of whiteness and, when
+necessary, sound the foghorn. You do not see any young men who are not
+in khaki or navy blue, and the old men are wonders, with their
+binoculars and telescopes. Mr. Cutting had been within sound of the sea
+ever since he was born. First, he had seen service on a lighthouse on
+the rocks, as they say, and from the rocks he graduated to a land job,
+and thence back to the rocks, and again on to the land. We read stories
+of the lighthouse-keeper; but little is written on the modern man of
+this species. Mr. Cutting is not accustomed to the glare of the city's
+lights, but he knows the glare of a lighthouse-lantern and all the
+various wonders of the work.
+
+Inside the annex to the lighthouse were the duplicate engines for
+filling tanks with compressed air. This air is used for blowing the
+foghorns, and when they sound everybody in the locality knows it.
+
+"Enough air is stored in those tanks," declared Mr. Cutting, "to keep
+the foghorns going for twenty minutes. That gives us time to get the
+engines running."
+
+He went into details of the engines, showing that he knew them by heart,
+and I could almost imagine the blurring, deafening sound which for
+seven seconds rent the air through the roar of winds every minute and a
+half.
+
+"Fog, as you know, is the dread of every sea captain," said Mr. Cutting.
+"Out yonder you see the 'Three Stone Orr Rocks.' This is a dangerous bit
+of scenery in foggy weather. When we have a fog, two men are on duty;
+one if it is clear."
+
+We then went to the lighthouse tower, which stands nearly 200 feet above
+high water. To the right, on entering that building, was a blacksmith's
+shop, with an anvil, forge, and various implements. This forge is
+occasionally needed to make repairs, spare parts, and accessories of the
+engines of the lighthouse. To the right, in a corridor, were
+speaking-tubes.
+
+"Those tubes go to the bedside of every man employed here," said Mr.
+Cutting. "We have only to blow, and in a few minutes he comes up to the
+lighthouse. Our houses are over there, in the same structure as the
+tower. They are practically the lower portion of the main building."
+
+He conducted the way up the narrow, winding stairs. At the head of the
+first flight I saw a green-covered book, in which every man on watch
+makes his entry of the weather, the velocity of the wind, and so forth.
+
+"Many a man's word has been corrected by that book," said the P.K. "And
+here's the book for privileged visitors, for nobody comes here without
+the proper credentials."
+
+There were names of famous persons inscribed in the book, which was kept
+as neatly and cleanly as everything else in the place.
+
+"Now we'll go up to the lantern," said the old man. Old, but lithe,
+strong, and keen-eyed. He is particularly fond of this lantern, and was
+remarkably lucid in explaining everything concerning the working of it.
+
+"Does the sea ever come up as high as this?" I asked.
+
+"We get the spray, and that is all," answered the P.K. "It's dirty
+weather when that happens. But the water usually has spent its force
+when it reaches this height."
+
+The exterior windows of the lantern were diamond shaped and of plate
+glass. In the middle of the lantern was the large concentric-ringed
+glass of great magnifying power.
+
+"You can turn it round with your little finger," said the P.K. "That's
+because it floats in a mercury bath. And in turning that you are moving
+four tons. When the lantern is lighted, it shows dark for seven and a
+half seconds, then two sets of four flashes, making a complete
+revolution every half-minute. They can see the light at sea on a clear
+night for nineteen miles. The light is worked by vaporised oil. The
+compressed air drives the oil to the lantern, up through that burner in
+a hole hardly big enough to take a pin point. It is nearly half a
+million candle-power. This type of light is considered even better than
+electricity. In the old-style oil-lights they burned five quarts in the
+same time that this one consumes a pint with better results."
+
+The actual burner of the lantern is disappointing, as one expects to see
+a giant burner. Really, it is only about twice the size of the average
+household one.
+
+Mr. Cutting observed that the light was carefully timed, and called
+attention to the half-minute hand on the clock in the tower. Persons are
+always asking the P.K. how he spends his time, and he wondered why. He
+believed that anybody ought to see that there was plenty for a man to do
+while he is on a four hours' watch in the tower. The turning of the
+light, showing black outside and then flashing its warnings, after his
+many years of experience of such things, is only taken for granted by
+this P.K.
+
+"And when I've finished lighting the lamp, trimming up things a bit,"
+said the P.K., "I sit down like anybody else. Lots of people seem to
+forget that the lighthouse-keeper is not the coast-guard or the head of
+the crew of a life-saving station. They have their work to attend to,
+but we watch for fogs night and day. When a man is stationed at a
+lighthouse like the Longships, which is a little distance out on a rock,
+he may be a couple of months without being relieved. But he has others
+with him, and a good stock of food. If he wishes to communicate with the
+land, he does so by signals; and that's the way men over there talk with
+their wives who live in cottages on shore. The telephone has not been
+found feasible, wires breaking all the time; so their wives have learned
+to wig-wag to them.
+
+"One night they got a scare on shore; thought that the men on the
+Longships were sending up distress signals. It was bad weather, and
+every now and again the coast-watcher saw a green light on the
+Longships. And what do you think that green light was? Just the water
+running over the bright light when it flashed! As it washed the glasses
+it showed up green."
+
+There were curtains of sailcloth put over the windows to obscure the
+sunlight. I asked the P.K. about this, and he told me that the great
+magnifying lens of the light would burn things if the sun got on it for
+long enough. So, much as they like the sun in Cornwall, they have to
+keep it out.
+
+"I shall be on duty to-night from twelve until four o'clock," observed
+the P.K. "But I've got accustomed to the running of the machinery."
+
+So down we went. The last I saw of the P.K. was when the old Cornishman,
+emptying cans of oil into the tank to supply the light which warns
+mariners, shouted:--
+
+"Getting pretty fresh now. Hope to see you again."
+
+
+
+
+XII. WATCHERS OF THE COAST
+
+
+Circling Great Britain are thousands of expert coast-watchers, whose
+duty not only is to watch for ships, wrecks, and smugglers, as in the
+days before the war, but also to be on guard for enemy submarines and
+suspicious craft. It is the oft-spoken opinion of many an inland
+inhabitant that certain sections of the coast would afford a base for
+U-boats. However, these persons have no conception of the thoroughness
+with which John Bull guards his coast-lines. Mile after mile, shores and
+rocks are under the eye of alert navy men and volunteers, the latter
+being civilians who have spent their lives by the sea. They know their
+business, and even though they are volunteers, the discipline is rigid.
+But they are not the type of men to shirk their duty, for they would
+take it as missing a God-given opportunity if their eyes were closed at
+the time they could help their country most. After travelling around
+part of the coast-line, a stranger leaves with the opinion that there is
+little chance for a man even to swim ashore under cover of night.
+
+From John o' Groat's to Land's End and all around Ireland, these
+coast-watchers--men over military age, wiry and strong, with eyes like
+ferrets--scan the rocks and beaches hour after hour, noting passing
+vessels, receiving and detailing information, and always keeping up
+communication with the ring and its various centres. Their little stone
+huts are on the highest point in their particular area, and their homes
+usually are only a couple of hundred yards distant. Their chiefs are
+coast-guards of the old days called back to their former service in the
+Royal Navy. These men rule the volunteers with a rod of iron. No matter
+what section of the coast one may pick, the coast-watcher is ready with
+his glasses or telescope. Suspicious acts of any individuals receive
+speedy attention, and each batch of the guards vies with the next for
+keen performance of duty.
+
+There is a halo of interest around these men, tame as their work may
+appear to them at times. Take the watchers on the Scilly Isles, for
+instance. They are as good as any around Great Britain. It is second
+nature for them to watch the sea. It is a desire with them, something
+they would not miss. Their fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers
+were watch-dogs on that area of the ocean. Go to St. Mary's, and you
+will see a coast-watcher, up soon after dawn, take a stroll along the
+beach, even when he is not supposed to be on duty and before he has
+tasted his morning tea. The family telescope is at his eye, as he wants
+to get a good look at what the sea has been doing, and what is there. To
+the uninitiated, it seems to have the same paucity of interest as any
+other shipless stretch of water; but to this expert it has a story. He
+notes the clouds, the sun, the very rocks; and they say that his gaze is
+so sharp that it would spot a champagne-cork floating some distance
+away. But be that as it may, there is no enemy periscope that is going
+to pass unobserved at a certain distance by this hawk-eyed, wind-seared
+man.
+
+He goes to his cottage for breakfast, and talks about the sea, then
+leaves the table, and has another good look; and it is sadly
+disappointing to any of these men to have missed a passing ship. Prior
+to the declaration of hostilities, a wreck was the greatest piece of
+news to the community; but now it is the glimpse of fast English
+warships, and the anticipation of sighting a German U-boat, and thus
+being the cause of the craft's doom.
+
+"Gun-firing heard at ten minutes past twelve o'clock to-day," said one
+man, reading from a slip he had just made out on the subject.
+
+The man to whom he spoke happened to have been out of hearing distance,
+and he could not believe it until a second man came along with the same
+report. It was handed down the line, over to other shores, and the
+watchers speculated as to what had taken place.
+
+Arthur Oddy, who has charge of half a dozen watchers, told me that his
+one great regret was that he had not seen a sign of the war, barring
+uniforms. Nevertheless, for more than two and a half years he has
+scanned the sea and shore of his district with dutiful care, and has
+seen to it that his men have not been amiss in their share of the
+tedious task. His station is very near the Last House in England, at
+Land's End--a tea place kept by Mrs. E. James.
+
+"What is that out there?" exclaimed a stranger, suddenly. "Looks like
+part of a boat."
+
+"That," declared Oddy, "is the Shark's Fin--a rock."
+
+True enough, the rock of that name might have at times been a giant fish
+or a wrecked submarine. It was lashed by the foamy waters, disappeared,
+and then showed a bit, again was swallowed up, and seemed to reappear a
+yard or so further along from where it first was seen. Finally, you
+observed that it was a sharp, dangerous rock.
+
+A mile or so farther along that coast I encountered John Thomas Wheeler,
+the wearer of several medals, including a gold one received since the
+war commenced from the King of Sweden. In peace time, just before the
+war, Wheeler did his bit to save wrecked mariners. He is still doing it
+in war time, with his eyes open for everything. As we stood there, with
+the sea lashing the shingly beach and hammering the rocks, Wheeler,
+chief officer of that station, recalled the story of the wreck of the
+_Trifolium_, a Swedish sailing ship.
+
+"It was terrible rough," said Wheeler, "when through the darkness we saw
+the green light of the distress-signals. I shot off a rocket with a rope
+to the forepart of the vessel. The men, who were clinging to the
+rigging, paid no attention to it. Then I sent off another rope between
+the main and the mizzen masts. First, they paid no heed to that; but,
+finally, one man in oilskins jumped into the sea to catch hold of part
+of the rope. He was followed by others. Perilous though it was on that
+night, we walked out to help the men ashore. One after another, gasping
+and unconscious sailors were landed. Then the ship broke in half, and
+soon was torn to bits by the sea. I was looking for more men, as I had
+seen one poor chap under the steel mast when it fell. A wave struck me,
+and I found myself caught between two rocks. It looked all up for me, as
+I could not move."
+
+Wheeler's awful position was not at first realised, and his cries for
+help could not be heard through the din of the ocean. Finally, he was
+struck down by the turbulent sea, and one of his men, signalling to
+another, went to their chief's rescue. Wheeler was unconscious when he
+was brought up on the beach. For his share in the rescue work, besides
+the King of Sweden's medal, Wheeler received medals from the Royal
+Humane Society and the Board of Trade.
+
+In that corner of England every one is on the _qui vive_ for the
+unexpected. The women have their telescopes and glasses, and they do
+their share, despite the fact that the regular men of that locality are
+on duty. Mrs. James's tea-refreshment place is often the near-by house
+to where men are scanning the horizon with their glasses, noting the
+flags on vessels, if they have any in these days, and keeping up a
+peace-time look out, for it is a dangerous point in bad weather. The
+Last or First House in England, whichever one wishes to consider it, is
+covered with names and initials of persons from all over the world.
+Curiously enough, since the war there have been no wrecks in that
+theatre, while in the six months prior to the great conflict there were
+two or three.
+
+Local heads of the coast-watchers or guards have the prerogative of
+commandeering horses or automobiles when necessary. If there is a ship
+ashore or on the rocks, signal-rockets are sent up to collect the
+coast-guards; and it would seem that a couple of these would wake most
+of the persons in that corner of England.
+
+The real business of the coast-guards, and that to which they devote
+themselves in peace or war, is firing rockets over a ship in distress
+and trying to land the crew.
+
+It was ten or twelve miles from that point that I met a chief watcher
+who had been blown up in a British battleship, and had thus earned a
+period of shore duty. He was "carrying on" for humanity and country, and
+only a short time before he had been the means of rescuing the crew of
+a small neutral sailing ship--a German victim.
+
+We sped on farther north, and every three or four miles there was the
+inevitable watcher, who can telephone, telegraph, and fire rockets when
+occasion demands. It is all a modernised coast-guard system, the men
+being first ready for ships in distress, but always on the alert for the
+enemy.
+
+
+
+
+XIII. CROSSING THE CHANNEL IN WAR TIME
+
+
+This is the story of a British naval officer's trip to the Western
+fighting ground as he told it to me the day he returned to London:--
+
+"'Four days!' said I to myself. 'Not very long in which to get a real
+taste of the World War on land.' However, the morning after I had
+received 'leave' I departed from London in an automobile and as we sped
+through the country there seemed, at first, to be little to remind us
+that England was at war--except, perhaps, the many busy persons on all
+farms and fields. Finally, we came across a mobile air-station on which
+were two aeroplanes with folded wings. It was something which made you
+think.
+
+"In a South Coast port, however, there was military activity everywhere.
+On the waters, far out from the harbour, which one imagines as denuded
+of craft, I saw dozens of ships. There were large and small tramps,
+mine-sweepers, and trawlers, and you were fascinated by the sight.
+There was a dread lest one of them might disappear through a mine or a
+torpedo any instant.
+
+"Thousands of soldiers were at the dock, waiting to embark on ships for
+France. A couple of thousand of them belonged to the Scotch Labour
+Battalion, ready for work with pick and shovel. Their speech was almost
+like a foreign language as they 'Jock'd' and 'Donal'd,' joked and sang,
+when they swung aboard the vessel in single file.
+
+"There was no waving of handkerchiefs and no shouting good-byes when the
+black-and-tan craft was ready to leave. The skipper was on the bridge.
+He looked down at an officer ashore, nodded his head, and the other
+returned the nod. Hawsers were instantly slipped, and the steamer
+skipped away from the British port on the minute, and soon met her
+escort--destroyers, out of sight not long since, now ready for their
+job. These slender speedsters of the sea never stop; so everything must
+be done according to schedule. Four of the destroyers surrounded us as
+we ploughed through the water.
+
+"From the bridge came the order for every soul aboard to put on a
+life-belt, and our friends from Scotland hastened aft to obtain the
+equipment, scurrying and bustling about the damp cabin for the best
+belts.
+
+"Half-way across the straits we met the opposite number vessel to ours.
+She had an escort of three warships, so that for a flash there were
+seven destroyers on the breast of that water. But it was not for long. A
+swish, and they were nearer England and we nearer France, they getting
+some of our smoke and we some of theirs. Steamers go into the French
+port stern first, and soon I found myself treading French soil. Our
+Scotch labourers were hurried off the vessel, and they vanished with
+extraordinary quickness; and this also reminds me that no sooner was our
+steamship safe in the harbour than the warships nipped off to England,
+and all you could see in a few minutes was a wreath of water and smoke
+as they raced homewards.
+
+"The skipper of the passenger craft has seen exciting times. While I
+stood on the bridge with him and his first officer, he told me of a
+night he won't easily forget. He was running the _Queen_, and going over
+empty, having smuggled aboard a staff officer who had missed the other
+vessel. It was darkening, and the _Queen_ was about four miles off the
+British coast when this skipper saw dark hulls, blanched lines, and
+flaming funnels--all showing terrific speed. First, he took the strange
+craft to be new French destroyers; but they hailed him in English, and,
+of course, for an instant he thought then they were British warships,
+when suddenly it dawned on him. 'By God, they're Germans!' he ejaculated
+to the staff officer. 'Nip into the cabin, and get those clothes off and
+into an oilskin, fast as you like.'
+
+"The army man got it done just in time, for an officer and two men from
+one of the German destroyers sprang aboard the _Queen_ after the enemy
+warship had bumped the passenger craft. The German demanded the
+captain's papers, and was told that everything had been thrown
+overboard.
+
+"The Germans were pale, and the pistol in the officer's hand shook
+dangerously. The skipper declared that the only papers relating to the
+_Queen_ were in his cabin.
+
+"'Get those papers, or I'll blow your head off,' said the German. Below,
+the captain moved his hand to his hip pocket to get his keys, the German
+started, and put the muzzle of his revolver close to the Britisher's
+head. As the captain was unlocking a drawer, the German again became
+suspicious, and warned the skipper. The Briton told the German to get
+the papers himself, and, finally, the useless document relating to the
+_Queen_ was taken from the drawer. It was snatched up and pocketed by
+the German officer. Meanwhile, his men had fixed bombs in vital parts
+aboard the passenger craft, and the order was given to abandon ship.
+
+"Just before the bang came and the _Queen_ sank, the German decided that
+he wanted to take the skipper with him. Fortunately, the captain had
+been missed in their tremulous excitement. However, the Germans could
+not wait, and they had to go away without the skipper. It was an
+experience no man would forget; and the British of it is that this same
+man, who had a pretty good chance of spending many months in a German
+prison camp, is still guiding vessels flying our flag from France to
+England and England to France.
+
+"In Boulogne, I had to take a train for Paris. It was the longest train
+I ever set eyes on. One end of it seemed to be in the dock station while
+the other was on the outskirts of the town. You can get an idea of its
+length when I say that it had to stop twice at all stations. There was
+no attempt at speed until we got within twenty miles of Paris."
+
+In a railroad station in Paris this officer encountered a friend who was
+a commander in the Royal Naval Air Service, and the traveller thereupon
+decided that nobody could give him a better idea of the war in the brief
+time at his disposal than this man. Hence, after a dash to the hotel and
+taking chances of getting his suitcase, the sea-fighter, with only a
+tooth-brush and a piece of soap, finally joined the flying man, and off
+they went to the war. My naval friend continued:--
+
+"War stared at us after we had passed through Chantilly, and on the way
+to Amiens we sped by forty or fifty ambulances. It was at the Cafe
+Gobert, in Amiens, that we got out of the automobile and had luncheon.
+That town was thronged with nonchalant women and blue-clad poilus.
+Following our refreshment, we continued our journey. We ran into
+soldiers and guns, aeroplanes, and more guns of all calibres; there must
+have been two miles of them in one batch that we passed on the way to
+Arras, as well as 'umpty' parks of lorries.
+
+"The first steam engine that I got a chance of seeing since leaving
+England was an antiquated London, Chatham, and Dover locomotive attached
+to a long train of cars filled with provisions and so forth, helped out
+by Belgian and French engines. The rail-head, not far from that
+particular 'somewhere,' reminded me of Whiteley's shop in London. Then I
+observed a dozen fire-engines painted khaki colour. There were officers'
+baths, coal and wood on lorries, tents, and everything you can think
+of--and a lot you can't. Ammunition dumps were on our right and left,
+and the occasional gleam of a sentry's bayonet let you know that
+somebody was on watch.
+
+"As I was the guest of the Royal Naval Air Service, it was naturally
+gratifying to come to the home of that service or section of it; the
+spot which had been barren land two days before was now the scene of
+great activity. Mess tents were comfortably fixed up, electric light
+being obtained from lorries. There were workshops on lorries. The Royal
+Flying Corps also had a station near by. These ingenious Air Service men
+do all their repairing on the spot. If a lorry gets stuck in the mud
+they just use enough lorries until they pull it out.
+
+"Our Rolls-Royce darted into the air on one stretch of bad road. It
+bumped out our dynamo, and we made the rest of the way along the dark
+road behind a staff car.
+
+"By that time there was no doubt but that we were at the war--passing
+between two lines of our heavy artillery on the snow covered ground. The
+splashes of fire--red on the glistening white--formed a memorable
+picture.
+
+"Every now and again, the snow was lighted up by the star-shells, which
+hung in the air and then dropped like a rain of gold on the silver
+ground. The thunder of the guns was pleasing, and as each shell sped on
+its errand, the unforgettable scene became more beautiful, with the glow
+from the star-shells and the sight of men, silhouetted in the temporary
+light against the white-blanketed earth, going about their duty, as some
+of them had done for more than two and a half years. On we dashed, until
+we heard a challenging voice, and discerned a French poilu.
+
+"'Aviation anglaise,' announced my friend. After satisfying himself, the
+sentry permitted us to continue on our way. A little further on, to our
+chagrin, we learned that a lorry had broken down on a bridge, and that
+if our car could not pass it, it would mean a detour of nine miles.
+However, our excellent chauffeur was equal to the occasion. After
+bending the mud-guards, following the taking of measurements, he drove
+the machine over in safety with not half an inch to spare.
+
+"Guns boomed as they had been booming for thirty months. This gives you
+food for thought at the front. Finally, we came to Dunkirk, and there
+enjoyed uninterrupted repose after our long ride in the biting weather.
+Next morning I was up early, and before I had breakfast I watched a
+seaplane turning and twisting, riding first tail downward and then head
+downward, dropping a thousand feet, and then righting itself, and
+outdoing the looping-the-loop idea. I ventured commendation for this
+pilot's exploits.
+
+"'Pretty good youngster,' said the commander. 'Soon be able to give him
+a journey he's been longing to have.'
+
+"This _youngster_ certainly seemed to me a past master in the flying
+art.
+
+"My interest next was centred on several barges probing their way
+through the canal. They were manned by soldiers in khaki, and these
+soldier-sailors belonged to the I.W.T.--the Inland Water Transport.
+
+"Later, I had the satisfaction of firing off one of the big guns at the
+Huns, and then of going into an observation post from whence we watched
+shells bursting on the German lines. The Germans were fairly silent,
+while we were putting over quite a lot of stuff. My next shot at the
+Boche was with 'Polly,' whose shell spat forth at her opposite number,
+known on our side of the lines as 'Peanought.'
+
+"It was decidedly interesting in the trenches, almost as near the German
+lines as we are at any point. There was the occasional thunder of the
+artillery, coupled with the report of a rifle, which told that the
+sniper was on the job, and now and again the 'bang-zizz' of the German
+trench mortar projectile--known better as 'Minnie.'
+
+"At the seaplane station I met a young officer who two days before had
+flown over from England in the early morning and was to dine that same
+night with friends in London. His only worry was that he might possibly
+miss the boat to take him back to keep the dinner engagement. Then there
+was a young man--eighteen years old, to be specific--who had accounted
+for thirteen of the enemy aeroplanes.
+
+"My next experience was aboard a destroyer which took me to England. I
+had not worn an overcoat during my trip, but I was glad of a duffel coat
+on that speedy craft."
+
+The commander glanced at his watch, and observed he had just half an
+hour in which to get to King's Cross Station.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+    Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Some Naval Yarns, by Mordaunt Hall
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