of the ship's safety on his narrow shoulders! As
for his baby-brother assistant--that kid with the rosy cheeks--everybody
knows that all he does is to screw up his 'jimmy fixin's' and sit down
good and comfortable to read "The Rosary," with his dam mufflers on his
ears! _Huh!_

But we are wiser now! Here is a text for our conversion. It is a record
of a wireless conversation between a merchantman attacked and a British
destroyer steaming to her assistance from somewhere out of sight.

"Are you torpedoed?"

"Not yet. . . . Shots in plenty hitting. Several wounded. Shrapnel, I
believe. Broken glass all round me."

"Keep men below. Stick it, old man!"

"Yes, you bet. Say, the place stinks of gunpowder. Am lying on the
floor. . . . I have had to leave 'phones. My gear beginning to fly
around with concussion. . . . Captain is dead. . . ."--an
interval--"Submarine has dived! Submarine has dived!"

Yes, we are wiser now! We admit him to full fellowship at sea. And on
land, too! We admit him the right to trip it in Kingsway or the Strand,
with his kid gloves, and his notebook, and his neat uniform, for his
record has shown that it does not require a four-years' apprenticeship
to build up a stout heart; that on his 'jimmy fixin's' and their proper
working depends a large measure of our safety; and if the crack does
come and the air is thick with hurtling debris, broken water and acrid
smoke, our first look will be aloft to see if his aerial still stands.
We do him and baby brother the honour that we shall not concern
ourselves to wonder whether they be ready at their posts!

[Illustration: A TRANSPORT EMBARKING TROOPS FOR FRANCE]

XII

TRANSPORT SERVICES

THE first State control of the merchants' ships began with the
transports employed to convey the Expeditionary Force to France in the
early days of August 1914. Vessels of all sizes and classes were
commandeered at the dockside to serve in the emergency. The
comparatively short distance across the channels did not call for
elaborate preparation and refitment: the times would admit of no delay.
Ships on the point of sailing on their trading voyages were held in
dock, their cargo discharged in quantity to make space for troops and
their equipment. Lining-up on the quays and in the littered dock-sheds,
troops awaited the stoppage of unloading operations. With the last sling
of the 'tween-deck lading passed to the shore, they marched on board. As
the tide serve