d merchantmen safely to port. This "mothering" by
repair-ships which are merely huge machine-shops afloat--this trick of
keeping destroyers tuned up and constantly ready for service has inspired
much favourable comment from our allies in the British service. It is an
instance of our national adaptability, learned from an experience on long
coasts where navy-yards are not too handy. Few landsmen understand how
delicate an instrument the destroyer is.

A service so hazardous, demanding as it does such qualities as the
ability to make instantaneous decisions and powers of mental and physical
endurance, a service so irresistibly attractive to the young and
adventurous, produces a type of officer quite unmistakable. The day I
arrived in London from France, seeking a characteristically English meal,
I went to Simpson's in the Strand, where I found myself seated by the
side of two very junior officers of the British navy. It appeared that
they were celebrating what was left of a precious leave. At a
neighbouring table they spied two of our officers, almost equally
youthful. "Let's have 'em over," suggested one of the Britishers; and
they were "had" over; he raised his glass. "Here's how--as you say in
America!" he exclaimed. "You destroyer chaps are certainly top hole."
And then he added, with a blush, "I say, I hope you don't think I'm
cheeking you!"

I saw them afloat, I saw them coming ashore in that Irish port,
these young destroyer captains, after five wakeful nights at sea,
weather-bitten, clear-eyed, trained down to the last ounce. One, with
whom I had played golf on the New England hills, carried his clubs in his
hand and invited me to have a game with him. Another, who apologized for
not being dressed at noon on Sunday--he had made the harbour at three
that morning!--was taking his racquet out of its case, preparing to spend
the afternoon on the hospitable courts of Admiralty House with a fellow
captain and two British officers. He was ashamed of his late rising, but
when it was suggested that some sleep was necessary he explained that, on
the trip just ended, it wasn't only the submarines that kept him awake.
"When these craft get jumping about in a seaway you can't sleep even if
you want to." He who has had experience with them knows the truth of
this remark. Incidentally, though he did not mention it, this young
captain was one of three who had been recommended by the British admiral
to his governme