itement the other day; but now, slow, lazy movements on
the part of the destroyers and the reoccupation of old anchorages by
the cruisers, indicated that naval peace of mind was once more
restored. H.M.S. _Triumph_ had anchored soon after daybreak on the
southern flank.

Now, at midday, came the shout, "_Triumph's_ been torpedoed." Mac
jumped on his fire-step, and, looking down the trench, saw beyond it
sure enough the poor old _Triumph_ with a heavy list towards him. Some
of the fellows had seen the torpedo strike her right amidships, and a
great column of water rise high in the air and fall on her decks.

From all directions destroyers, mine-sweepers and pinnaces were
concentrating on the doomed vessel. Two destroyers had run their bows
alongside her hull, and her crew was swarming off. Her decks grew
steeper, but some of the crew seemed to be sticking to their guns to
the last in the after turrets. Mac could not discover whether these
shots were directed against the submarine or whether they were but the
last farewell of the old battleship. Fifteen minutes from the moment
she was struck, her decks lay almost at right angles to the water, then
the movement quickening, she turned bottom upward, only her red keel,
propellers and rudder showing to the troubled troopers who sadly
watched the demise of the famous old ship. A quarter of an hour longer
she floated, sinking lower and lower, then, with an easy motion, she
slid away from sight. For a few minutes a maelstrom of white, surging
water foamed and spurted, then, sadly and slowly, the host of small
craft which had rushed to the rescue made again for their stations.
Destroyers manoeuvred in vain search of the submarine, while
battleships and cruisers in a haze of smoke disappeared beyond the
horizon. Only a few bright tins, some boards, and a patch of oil
marked the spot on the peaceful, azure sea, where, an hour before, a
fine old ship, and fifty of her crew, had gone to their doom.

The troopers ate their lunch in stony silence. It seemed they had lost
an old friend.

Still, in going about the afternoon's work, they soon forgot their
sadness. They had been a fortnight in these trenches, and now they
were to be relieved by the Light Horse. It was good getting out after
a fortnight there, but it was a darned nuisance moving. When Mac had
all his gear up, there was not much of himself left in view. Valise,
bandolier, rifle, revolver, glasses, water-bo