Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1907-06-20
By ROBERT BARR.
Hukhov Of

snall De as anxious TO avolo my COUSIN
Thaxted as l am to steer clear Of his
father in London. So I sat in my club
and read the papers. Dear me, this
is evidently going to be a very long
letter. I hope you won't mind. l
think perhaps you may be interested
in learning how they do things over
here.
After two or three days Of anxious
waiting there came a crushing COM
m%unication from the admiralty which
confirmed my worst fears and set me
at crossing the bridge again. l vas or
dered to report next morning at II at
committee room s in the admiralty and
bring with me full particulars pertain
ing to the firing of gun number so-and-
so of the Consternation's equipment on
such q date. l wonder since that l did
not take to drink. We have every ia
| cility for that sort of thing in this club.
However, at II next day l present
| ed myself at the committee and
| found in session the grimmest looking
Atc luCu i 41dNS CNS1 JSC OCSA
upon to face. Collectively they We're
about ten times worse in appearance
than the courtmartial l had previously
encountered. Four of the men / did
not know, but the fifth I recognized at
once, having often seen his portrait.
He is Admiral Sir John Pendergest,
popularity known in the service as
old Crouch a blue terror who knows
absolutely nothing of mercy. The lads
in the service say he looks SO disagree
able because he is sorry he was not
born a hanging judge. Picture a face
as clearly cut as that of some sever
old Roman senator, a face as hard as
marble, quite al cold and nearly as
white, rescued from the appearance Of
a death mask by a pair of piercing
eyes that glitter like steel. When look
ing at him it is quite impossible to
believe that such a parsonage has ever
been a boy who played FRANKS on his
masters. Indeed, Admiral Sir John
Pendergest seems to have sprung, fully
uniformed and %forbidding. from the
earth, like those soldiers of mythology.
l was so taken aback at confronting
such a man that I never noticed my
old friend, Billy Richardson, seated at
the table as one of the minor officials
Of the committee. Billy tells me I
looked rather white about the lips
when I realized what was ahead of
me, and l dare say he was right. My
consolation is that 1 didn't get red. as
is my d~isconcerting habit. l was ac
commodated with a chair, and then q
ferrety faced little man began asking
me questions, consulting every now
and then a foolscap sheet Of paper
which was before him. Others were
ready to note down the answers.
"'When did you fire the new gun
from the CONSERVATION in the Baltic?
"Dear Miss Amhurst, I have confess
ed to YOU that I am not brilliant, and,
indeed, such confession was quite IN
necessary. for you must speedily have
recognized the fact, but here let me
boast for a line or two of my one ac-
complishment, which is mathematical
accuracy. When l make experiments
1 don't note the result by rule Of
thumb. My answer to the ferret faced
man was prompt and complete.
cat twenty-three minutes, seven
teen seconds past 10 a. NJ, on May
the Sd Of this year, was my reply.
1.-THE five high officials remained per.
fectly impressive, but the two stenog-
raphers seemed somewhat taken by
surprise. and one of them whispered,
ibid you say fifteen seconds, sir?'
"'He said seventeen growled Sir
John Pendergest in a voice that SEEM
ed to come out of a sepulcher.
"'Who sighted the gun"
81 did, SIR
"'Why did not the regular gunner
do that?'
"'He did, sir, but l also took obser-
vations and raised the muzzle .OOO327
of an inch
"'Was your gunner inaccurate, then,
to that extent"
"'No, sir; but l had weighed the am
munition and found it short by two
ounces and thirty-seven grains
81 must not bore you with all the
questions and answers. l merely give
these as samples. They questioned me
about the recoil, the action of the gun,
the state of this, that and the other
after firing, and luckily l was able to
answer to a dot every query put to
me. At the finish one of the judges
asked:me to give in my own words my
opinion of the gun. Admiral Sir John
glared at him as he put this question,
for Of course to any expert the answers
I had furnished, all taken together.
gave an accurate verdict on the gun,
assuming my statements to have been
correct, which l maintained they were.
However, as Sir John made no verbal
comment l offered my opinion as terse-
ly as I could.
"'Thank you, Lieutenant Drummond,'
rumbled Sir John in his deep voice,
as if he were p%ronouncing sentence,
and, my testimony completed, the COM
mittee rose.
II was ont in the street before Billy
Richardson overlook me, and then he
called himself to my attention by a