nd with hat stores; there were fleets of little places where a
man could sit down and talk about more important things than hats.

In the hotel smoke-room after lunch there was no sugar for our coffee.
His sea-training began to show at once. "The thing you 'ave to learn to
do at sea is to go on your own. Nobody doing much for a chap that 'e
don't do for hisself, is there?" From his coat pocket he drew an
envelope which once held a letter from home--in place of the letter now
was sugar. "Preparedness--'ere it is"--and sweetened our coffee from the
envelope.

He spoke of his life at sea. "I can't say that I like it--I can't say I
don't like it--but it was my life before the war and it 'as to be since.
You've seen my ship, 'aven't you, lying to moorings? Nothing great to
look at, is she? but the managing director of our company--he has the
'andling of maybe a 'undred more like her--'Let 'em 'ave their grand
passenger ships,' 'e says, 'but give me my cargo boats that pays for
theirselves every two voyages.' The right idea 'e 'ad, I'll say for 'im.
And for my part of it there is no everlastin' polishin' o' brahss and
painting o' white work and no buying o' gold-laced uniforms at your own
cost. And there's the bonus for me. Oh, aye! A bit of bonus ain't a bit
of 'arm, you know, especially when you've a wife that's no eyesore to
look at, and little kiddies growin' up.

"Torpedoed? Oh, aye. It's not to be expected of a man to escape that
these days. My chum Bob, remember 'im--that was seven hours to Alexandria
and back--with a rose in his coat? His fourth time torpedoed, that was.
I've been blowed up only three times myself. Nothing much of anything
special, the last time and the time before that--a matter of getting into
boats and by and by being picked up--no more than that--no. But the first
time--maybe it was a novelty-like then. 'Owever, I'd carried a load of
coal to Naples and getting twenty-two pounds a ton for coal that cost two
pound ten in Cardiff maybe makes it a bit clearer what the managing
director 'ad in mind when 'e said: 'let 'em have their grand passenger
ships, but give me my little cargo boats.'

"From Naples I go on to Piraeus in Greece, and we take a load on
there--admiralty stuff, and not to be spoken of--and we put out for
'ome. She was a good old single-crew, this one o' mine. Twenty-five year
old--not the worst, though I'd seen better. Well warmed up she could
squeeze out eight knots, or maybe eight