course and make the labour of months of no avail.
Their eyes were steadily fixed upon certain military dispositions, and
they sent forth, from their lofty stations, standing orders which
enclosed each subordinate commander in an isolated compartment, beyond
which he could not possibly wander, but within which he could exercise a
practically god-like power. This system, admirable because it relieved
each executive from any concern with the final upshot of the struggle,
ultimately reached the _Tanganyika_. Her captain, receiving his
instructions from the Naval Transport office, found himself in sole
charge of life and property upon her, while for subsequent sailing
orders he was referred to the commanding officer of a sloop now moving
slowly towards the boom. Captain Meredith in no wise objected to this.
What struck him with ironical emphasis was the ineffectiveness of
military traditions when applied to a ship with a civilian crew. He
might issue orders, but who was to foreshadow the effect on the minds of
the Orientals who steered and stoked and oiled below? What might he
expect in a sudden disaster from those yellow enigmas padding to and fro
or sitting on their hams drinking rice-water and staring at the shores
of Macedonia with unfathomable eyes? He had been asked if in his opinion
the crew were loyal, and he had wondered how any one could find that
out. Loyalty, when you came to place it under analysis, presented a
somewhat baffling problem. It was like trying to find out whether men
were religious. The assumption, of course, was that all men had in them,
deep down, something of ultimate probity. But of what use was that in
such a sudden emergency as confronted one at sea these days? Captain
Meredith refrained from dwelling too long upon probabilities as he
returned to the _Tanganyika_. He hoped he would get through all right
again. He had heard hints of a cargo for Basra, in the Persian Gulf; and
until they could get him a white crowd he would rather not take any more
risks in the AEgean. The longer the war went on the less important seemed
abstractions like loyalty or patriotism, and the more shiningly
important the need for unimaginative and quick-witted efficiency. There
lay the trouble. The naval or military commander had behind him the
prestige and power of service discipline and he was supported in his
ruthless judgments by the rank and file. The naval officer spoke his
orders in a quiet, refined voice, and ma