if he fails in all the ship dies � a prisoner to the set of the sea � a gift to the nearest enemy and as i have seen him he is infinitely patient and however it might have been in the old days when men clung to sticks and strings and the generation bred to pole know that he is the king pin of their system our assistant engineer had been with the engines from the beginning and one night he told me their story utterly unconscious that there was anything out of the way in the noble little tale no end good men it was his business so to arrange that no single demand from the bridge should go for more than five seconds to that ideal he toiled with his chief � a black demon in his vi a fleet in being working hours and a quiet student of professional papers in his scanty leisure an they come into the ward room says twenty one and you know they ve been having a young hell of a time down below but they never growl at us or get or anything no end good men i swear they are thank you twenty one i said i ll let that stand for the whole navy if you don t mind notes note i paint and a ship who attempted to dress on her service allowance of paint would in three months be as as a battery or regiment which kept its mess or band on the strict army footing therefore over and above anything that they may secure by and foresight the officers must dip into their own pockets to supply the many trifles none of them cheap which make for the of a ship this was forcibly brought home to me when i admired a shield and work at p the bows of a large yes said a friend it takes about fifty books of gold leaf to that decently no seventy said another how d you know well somebody s got to it and the yard don t give you seventy books for nothing was the significant reply if there were any means of reckoning the tax would be somewhat astonished at the sums spent by navy and army for the privilege of serving the queen both services have curious and tale bearing on this head note ia as the comfort and of the ship not to mention the captain s peace of mind depend on the first lieutenant the captain as a rule takes good care to pick his own man here notes are a few of the first lieutenant s duties he must act as a between the captain and the ship holding back the passing on the vital that is to say he must be a subtle and editor he must make all his arrangements for the ordering and disposition of every soul aboard through the next day week or month with the cheerful that the bulk of them will be knocked into a naval cocked hat by the of the service he must then retire into himself with a pack of printed cards one for each man and work out the whole puzzle afresh at the same time he must not allow his own irritation to affect his dealings with the whose official head he is and whose members are a his and b gentlemen of leisure assembled of an evening for a quiet rubber he must get the utmost out of them not by the menace of his authority because that means a up sooner or later but because of their genuine liking for him as an individual the is young very male and unable to avoid meeting itself every day and all day long you will that a certain amount of tact may be necessary in handling it he must further see with those eyes which he is to wear at the back of his head that no warrant or petty officer no ship s or master at arms is authority to spite some man or boy he must still further see that no official yielding to a natural desire for popularity is quietly letting down the discipline of the lower deck he must know the captain s mind seventeen and two thirds seconds before the captain opens his mouth because he will need that time to think out arrangements to meet the order he must be the soul of and honour but he must grasp the and the of every trick and trap sprung on him twenty times a day in the captain s absence he is the visitors host and and as visitors in harbour may range from to his manners must be in the sense of the word finally at all where the blue goes there must he lead leaping the larger abyss standing nearer to the danger walking the more slippery enduring longer the exposure and through it all he must keep the cool eye and balanced head of authority and the public is surprised when a naval officer proves that he is a notes note ii and the captain s is always an important person as a rule the captain has known him for a long time often for ten or fifteen years and the man follows his superior s fortunes with loyalty till he blossoms into the dignity of of the admiral s beside whom are not even three a penny he is by virtue of his office the man in the ship and by training becomes a clean shaved miracle of tact and discretion each boat s crew have a life of their own a little world into which they enter picking up where they left off so soon as or leaves the ship s side but i fancy the de corps is most strongly developed in the captain s on one occasion we had been out all day fishing and the wind forced 