reply.

"Four bells! Nonsense!"

I could not believe it. As in the case of the others it really seemed
as though I had not actually had time to get to sleep at all, yet I had
slept soundly for an hour, and on staggering to my feet, though the
abrupt awakening had inflicted upon me positive suffering, I found when
fairly awake, that I was very distinctly the better for my short nap,
which seemed to have made up, at least partially, in soundness what it
lacked in duration.

Another hour passed peacefully--and this time not quite so laggingly--
away; our turn again arrived for a rest; and once more did we enjoy for
a brief space the bliss of perfect oblivion. At midnight we were called
again, Tom reporting that neither sight nor sound had occurred during
his watch to disturb him. We now began to feel really refreshed, and
during the next hour some of the men in my watch actually found
superfluous energy enough to hum under their breath a snatch or two of a
forecastle song as they paced vigilantly to and fro over the short
stretch of ground which constituted their "beat."

As the silent hour flitted away without disquieting sight or sound of
any kind I began to feel sanguine that we were going to be blessed with
uninterrupted peace for the remainder of the night, and inwardly
resolved that if matters still continued satisfactory after my watch had
had its next hour's sleep I would extend the period of sleep to two
hours for the next watch, which, with what they had already had, ought
to put them in excellent trim for the fatigues of the succeeding day,
whatever they might be. And with this resolve still uppermost in my
mind I laid down and once more dropped to sleep when my turn came at one
o'clock a.m.

Two o'clock arrived, our watch was called, and still there had been no
sign of the enemy. I thought we might now safely reckon upon being
allowed to pass the remainder of the night undisturbed; I accordingly
informed the retiring watch that unless we happened to be attacked in
the interim they would now be allowed to sleep for a spell of two hours
instead of one, and they forthwith composed themselves for a good long
nap.

But it was not to be. An hour later one of the men startled us all into
instant wakefulness by sharply giving the challenge, which was instantly
repeated all round the battery, and peering anxiously into the fog I
detected the indistinct presence of several shapeless objects lying
prone upo