he sneaking U-boat delivered its deadly blow in the entrails of this
crowded troop-ship, there was no more excitement than if the
alarm-bugles had summoned them to an ordinary parade. Some of the boys
fell in on deck without their life-belts, but were sent below to get
them. They had to go, many of them, to the fourth deck, but they
scorned to show anxiety by proceeding at any other pace than a walk.
It was soon evident that there were not enough boats left to take all
off and so none would enter them and leave their comrades to go down
with the ship. They began to sing "Australia Will Be There"--

"Rally round the banner of your country,
Take the field with brothers o'er the foam,
On land or sea, wherever you be,
Keep your eye on Germany.
For England home and beauty
Have no cause to fear--
Should old acquaintance be forgot--
No--no--no, no, no--
Australia will be the-re-re-re!
Australia _will_ be there!"

Some one called out, "Where?" and the answer came from many
throats--"In hell, in five minutes!" and it looked like it. But
nothing in a future life could hold any terrors for the man who had
campaigned during a summer in Egypt. In the end volunteers were taken
into the stokehole and the _Southland_ was beached. The colonel was
drowned and there were a few other casualties, but most escaped without
a wetting, so what looked like an adventure turned out to be a pretty
tame affair after all. But Australia will ever remember how those boys
stood fast with the dark waters of death washing their feet and, like
Stoics, waited calmly for whatever Fate would send them. This epic of
Australian fortitude was written in September, 1915, and is part of the
Dardanelles story.

But the latest troops from Australia are of the same heroic stuff as
those who wrote the name "Anzac" with their blood on the Gallipoli
beach. For the _Southland_ incident was duplicated in almost every
particular on the _Ballarat_ in April, 1917. This story was enacted in
the waters of the English Channel, and there were no casualties, for
the work of rescue by torpedo-boats was made easy as each man calmly
waited his turn and enlivened the monotony meanwhile with ragtime, and
again and again did the strains of "Australia Will Be There!" ring out
over the waters. As they sang "So Long, Letty," many substituted other
Christian names, and it looked as if it might be "so long" in reality.
But they knew that to an Austr