royed while at work?"

Instantly the sailor dropped his bantering tone, his face becoming solemn
in his expression.

"You may well say that, sir," he answered. "More mine-sweepers are lost
than any other kind of naval craft."

"Why is that?"

"Principally, sir, because we 'ave only a trawler's speed, and everything
else that floats, including the National Debt, can overtake us."

"Is there any scarcity of men for this sort of work?" Ormsby queried.

"No, sir, it's the 'eight hof a British sailorman's ambition, sir, to die
early and be buried, sir, in water a mile deep. We fairly long for hit,
sir."

"Hedgeby!" came, indignantly, from Mr. Hartley, who had approached
unnoticed. "What do you mean by chaffing these American officers so
outrageously."

"Must 'ave mistook my horders, sir," returned Hedgeby, saluting his
commander. "Some blooming bloke told as 'ow these gentlemen wanted to be
treated like pals."

"The fault is mine, I guess," admitted Mr. Hartley, turning to Darrin and
Ormsby. "These men are always chaffing each other, and they thought you
wanted some of the same thing."

"We don't object," Dave smiled. "If hot air is the motive power that
drives these men, then we want to sample it."

Hedgeby regarded this last speaker with a puzzled expression.

"If you're talking about fuel, sir," he went on, as Mr. Hartley moved
away, "Hi'll say that 'ot air engines wouldn't be no good wotever on
these 'ere craft. Gasoline is what we use, mostly, for our engines, sir,
though some of the biggest use petroleum."

"Hot air is furnished by the men themselves," Dave explained. "It's a
favorite fuel at sea."

"Maybe, sir, maybe," admitted Hedgeby, slowly, looking as solemn as an
owl. "Of course you know, sir, wot's used on the Yankee boats, anyway,
sir, and if your Admiralty recommends 'ot air then no doubt hit's because
you Yankees know 'ow to use it better than other fuel."

"And the joke of it is," muttered Ormsby, as Hedgeby sprang to obey an
order, "one can't tell whether a chap like that is laughing at us, or
trying to sympathize with our ignorance."

Dave laughed, then soon forgot the chaffing, for he was greatly
interested in what he saw of the work that was being carried on.
Certainly, for such a comparatively slow craft, a large area of sea
surface could be covered in a forenoon.

Presently Hedgeby came back to them, and Ormsby tried once more to
extract some real information.

"With the amount