HOMEWARD BOUND. 127

cease trying to do the work of all the officers. We have
had a good start, it couldn’t be better, wind fair, enough
of it, not too much, and apparently everything in our favour.
What are so many of the crew doing aloft?”

« They are setting up the rigging; getting things snug
for the voyage. There’s a good deal to be done yet, and
we want to utilise this pleasant weather.”

Miss Dunham realised fully the necessity of doing some-
thing to relieve the mental strain upon the young com-
mander’s mind, and at once feigned an interest in the
method of striking the hours on the ship’s bell.

“Ts time kept on naval vessels as it is in the merchant
service ?” she asked, innocently.

Ben, thinking she was really eager for information, fell
into the trap at once, and, during the half-hour which fol-
lowed, it is safe to say he ceased to feel the dreadful
weight of responsibility which was nearly overpowering
him, so interested did he become in his own narrative.

“The bell is of greater importance on ships of war,” he
began. “Of course the nautical day begins the same,
when eight bells is struck. It’s a form which must not
be omitted, or woe to the officer of the deck. It is struck
half-hourly, day and night, one stroke being added for each
half-hour until eight is reached, when the count begins at
one bell. It is curious that the British navy is the only
one in the world which does not adhere to this rule.”

“Why should they have a different method of marking
time ?” Miss Dunham asked.

“Tt is not essentially different, but there is a curious