artermaster brought some gear to stow, to instruct him to
go to blanky hell with his blanky, etc., etc. However, as soon as
Captain O'Grady had disappeared he and Joe shoved his gear out on the
wet deck and the Quartermaster constantly finding it there decided to
seek other havens.

"I'll teach that blanky infantryman to stow his blanky stuff here,"
rumbled the Vet with satisfaction when there were no more signs of
alien goods lumbering the fodder-room.

The first burial of a member of the force took place one stormy day in
the Australian Bight. He had died the night before on the Ruapehu. In
the middle of the afternoon the whole fleet lay to for ten minutes, the
troops standing to attention on every ship. The vessels rolled heavily
to the rushing silent seas, the troops with grim faces swayed in their
long lines on the careening decks. There was no colour to the scene
but grey. The greyness, the vast space, the haunting notes of the
"Last Post" echoing along the troopdecks, the lonely body deserted on
the wide sea, left a deep impression on those light-hearted
adventurers. Death! And to be buried here in a lonely ocean grave!
Mac wondered how many of these 8,500 men would see New Zealand's shores
again, and how many would lie in foreign lands. But such speculations
did not trouble him for long. "Carry On" sounded briskly, and Mac
returned to his work in the fodder-room.

Like many others of that light-hearted crew, Mac had really not
embarked upon these adventures on account of the "ruthless violation of
the rights of small nations," with the desire "to crush once and for
all the Prussian military despotism," and so forth. Had he given the
question deep thought he might possibly have welcomed these reasons as
additional charms; though the fact was that he had never worried much
concerning why he had come. War, bloody war, romantic, glorious war
raging in the Old World, and he obeyed the irresistible desire to join
in it.

The whole atmosphere of the life appealed to him, the uncertainty of
the future, the unknown destination, the company of all the boys, and
the free, fresh life.

More than a week passed and then one morning against the pale blue of
the dawn sky showed low dim outlines of deeper blue, and towards midday
the fleet entered the wide waters of King George's Sound and cast
anchor with the _Tahiti_ nearest the sea. On the upper reaches of the
Sound lay a great fleet of thirty or forty larg