ry and upper-deck machine-
guns hurried to their stations under charge of "Gunnery Jack," the
lieutenant whose special function was to see to our little barkers.

A minute later, when those whose duties did not take them elsewhere were
ranged along the upper deck, Captain Hankey, who had gone down to his
cabin in the meantime and buckled on his sword to be in proper fighting
rig, came back on the bridge, where he remained in conversation with Mr
Gresham until the `orderly' midshipman--I don't mean to say that the
others were disorderly, but only just wish to specify those who were
told off to carry messages from the various parts of the ship, when at
`quarters,' to the captain, they acting, so to speak, as his aides-de-
camp on board--returned to say all was as it should be.

"Now then, Gresham," said `old Hankey Pankey,' drawing himself up to his
full height, and looking every inch what he was, an officer and a
gentleman--ay, and a sailor too, as plucky as they make them--"I think
we'd better begin, or those beggars will get too far ahead, and a stern
chase, you know, is a long chase. Bugler, sound `man and arm boats'!"

The boy, a young marine, who did this part of our musical business,
puffed out his cheeks, inflating his lungs the while, and blew a blast
that seemed to make the air shake; the boatswain's mates, who always act
on such occasions like the chorus at the opera, screeching with their
whistles fore and aft up and down the hatchways, repeating with an
exasperating repetition the same order little Joey the bugler had
already given; while, all the officers who had charge of the respective
boats stood up at the gangways to inspect the crews of these as they
went down the side to take their places on the thwarts, so as to see
they were all properly equipped.

"Mr Gresham," said Captain Hankey to the first lieutenant, "I should
like you to go in the steam pinnace and work away to win'ard towards Ras
Hafim--you know the place we marked on the chart last night above
Binna?"

"Very good, sir," replied Mr Gresham, taking up a revolver and box of
cartridges he had brought on deck with him, and going towards the after
gangway, abreast of which the steam pinnace was lying, buzzing away like
a little wasp alongside; the intimation on the part of our captain that
he would `like' a thing being done being quite equivalent to a command
to do it! "You mean, sir, that queer-shaped headland some twenty miles
down the co