e hum of voices died away
instantly, and in the stillness the thin, querulous crying of the gulls
somewhere astern alone was audible.

"Lieutenant Adams, Welter-weight Champion of the Navy, and Seaman
Hands, ex-Middle-weight Champion of England, have kindly consented to
give an exhibition of sparring," he proclaimed, and withdrew.

During the applause that greeted the announcement a youthful figure,
clad in a white singlet and football shorts, with a sweater thrown over
his shoulders, ducked under the ropes and walked rather shyly to his
corner of the ring. His appearance was the signal for a vociferous
outburst of applause. He sat down, holding the sweater about his
shoulders with his gloved hands, and thoughtfully rubbing the sole of
his left boot in the powdered resin.

The clapping suddenly redoubled, and a broad, bull-necked man of about
forty vaulted lightly into the ring and took his place in the opposite
corner. He was stripped to the waist; his jaws moved mechanically
about a piece of chewing gum, and an expression of benign good-humour
and enjoyment lit his battered, kindly countenance.

It was not until the gong sounded and the two men rose from their
chairs that the contrast between the toughened ex-professional and the
lithe, graceful amateur brought forth a little murmur of delight from
the vast audience.

In the sordid surroundings of the prize ring there might have been a
suggestion of brutality about the older man. The great hairy chest,
the knotted arms covered with barbaric tattooing, the low-crowned skull
and projecting lower jaw gave him an aspect of almost savage,
remorseless strength softened only by the gentleness of his eyes. He
moved as lightly as a cat, and from shoulder to thigh the muscles
stirred obedient to every motion.

The Lieutenant was perhaps fifteen years the junior. The playing
fields or racquet-courts of any university would recognise his type as
nothing out of the common. Deep-chested, lean-flanked, perfectly
proportioned, and perhaps a shade "fine-drawn"--England and America
carelessly produce and maintain the standard of this perfection of
physical beauty as no other white race can.

The two men met in the centre of the ring, and as they shook hands the
old pugilist grinned almost affectionately. The lack of several front
teeth incidental to his late profession was momentarily apparent, and
an enthralled Ordinary Seaman, perched insecurely on the lower funnel
c