rred, perhaps, by the knowledge
of our quondam haberdasher's efficiency, the boys improved rapidly under
his tuition. We paid a modest bonus on results. We are looking forward.
We shall not have our duty signalman with us when there is 'peace bacon'
to be cured.

Another new shipmate who has signed with us is the wireless operator,
the lieutenant of Signor Marconi, our gallant _salvator_ in the war at
sea. If we may claim for our sea-service a foremost place in national
defence, it is only by grace of our wireless we register a demand.
Without it, we were undone. No other system of communication would have
served us in combat with the submarine; _spurlos versenkt_, without
possibility of discovery, would have been the triumph of the enemy. If
to one man we seamen owe a debt unpayable, Marconi holds the bond.

Unthinking, we did not accept our new shipmate with enthusiasm. Before
the war he could be found on the lordly liners, tapping out all sorts of
messages, from the picture-post-card-like greetings of extravagant
passengers to the deathless story of _Titanic_ and _Volturno_. We looked
upon him as a luxury, only suited to the large passenger vessels. We
could see no important work for him in the cargo-carriers; we could get
on very well without a telegraph to the beach. A week of war was
sufficient to alter our views; we were anxious to have him sign with us.
Although he is now an important member of the crew, his reception at
first was none too cordial. The apparent ease and comfort of his office
rankled in contrast to the rigours of the bridge and the hardships of
the engine-room. His duties--specialized to one operation--we deemed
unfairly light in comparison with our jack-of-all-trades routine. In
port, he was a lordling--no man his master--able to come and go as the
mood took him. Frankly, we were jealous. Who was this to come among us
with the airs of a full-blown officer, and yet not a dog-watch at sea?
Messed in the cabin too, and strutted about the decks with his hands in
his pockets, as bold and unconcerned as any first-class passenger! We
were puzzled to place him. He talked airily of ohms and static leaks,
ampere-hours and anchor-gaps, and yet, in an unguarded moment, had he
not told us of his experiences in a Manchester broker's office, that
could have been no more than six months ago? The airs of him! Absurd
assumption of an official confidence between the Old Man and himself, as
if _he_ had the weight