, 1916-03-04

when I assumed the ship would never go
into dock to be reftted, and consequently
they wasn't going to grant me eight days
leave" The compartment declared its in
ability to understand this. "If pens had
never been manufactured, and if ink hadn't
been found out" he said, land if I'd had
to pay postage, l should not at the present
moment be quite SO much worried about
what was going to happen when | got out
of this carriage at Kings Cross. Suppos-
ing by chance the train stops at Finsbury
Park" His fellow travellers promptly
snatched this hope away from him.
Il don't deserve the trouble what's wait
ing for me up there" he went on, "and if
gels could have a bit OF common sense
about 'em everything would be smooth and
sailing. They kept on sending me presents
while I was aboard ship, and | put it to
you: ~supposing you received parcels con
tanning muflers, and mittens, and Half
HowerS with the Best Poets, and slabs of
chocolate, would you have been able to
write a cold storage sort of letter acknow-
Lodging the gifts? Stands to reason you
wouldn't"
He held up his left hand and touched
finger tips. "There's Ada Colley. There's
Louisa HARDWOOD. There's Caroline Banks.
There's Mabel Drew. Am | right in my
hgures?' The compartment examined the
statement, certified the same to be correct.
'"They're all living III the same neighbour
hood at Tufnell Park. Years ago we went
to Sunday school together. l used to
recite at the Band of Hope meetings. That
was before l joined the Navy, that was"
He gazed out of the window for the space
~F ~ g.. ,z4. ~ l@-~-1l-1ttZJ -
"Wrote poetry to Mabel Drew, I did, in
the letters | referred to just NV. You
see hers was the easiest name to rhyme, and
I tell you how l did it. 1 put down first
of all every word [ could think of that was
like it: due and few and knew and renew
and adieu, and then I started to work.
Writing verses isn't by any means a diff
cult business if you've got natural aptitude
and some idea of how to set aboutit draw
back is that it leads you on to saying a
jolly sight more than you would do if you
kept to ordinary style"
with Ada Colley," he went on, ami
matedly, sa different way was necessary.
She's the one Of 'em that's stuck to chapel,
and | foresaw when [ started writing to her
that [ should get a headache, owing to the
tax upon brain power. Most fortunately
a parcel of tracts, sent by some old lady
who little imagined what a kind act she vas
doing-these arrived in the very nick of
time, and [ couldn't be thankful enoughf for
the help they gave me in forwarding com
munications to Ada. The two made a most
remarkable good mix up. Love, / mean,
and a dash of religion. Wonder to me was
that no one ever thought of it before"
X X X
II now approach, he said with delibera-
tons, "the case of Louisa Harwood, known
in Sunday school days as Ginger but who
now speaks of herself as Titan. Louisa is,
I expect, at the present moment pacing up
and down the arrival platform at Kings
Cross, and if she catches sight of the
others she'll put two and two together,
and the only chance for me is that they
all get turned out by the station people.
Louisa has got a temper. When Louisa
fluids a grievance, she lets everybody with
in ear-shot know about it. Louisa doesn't
mince her words once she's annoyed. II
Louisa should find that I've been writing
to three other girls in much the same way
that I've been writing to her-I begged
each one of EN- to regard my letters as
strictly confidential and private, but you
can never be ~certain-then there will be
what is commonly called a fraycas, and
anything of a truly disastrous nature may
Aol-o ~Iaoa TT che honnono 10 ho ooTrUipr