t which we call
Life and carried it through and beyond the portals of Death into a
sphere of nobler and greater living--surely to such as these strong
souls the Empire they served so nobly and loved so truly will one
day enshrine them, their memory and deeds, on the brightest, most
glorious page of her history, which shall be a monument more enduring
than brass or stone, a monument that shall never pass away.

So we talked of ships and the sea and of men until, aware that the
company had risen, we rose also, and donning hats and coats, set
forth, talking still. Together we paced beside docks and along piers
that stretched away by the mile, massive structures of granite and
concrete, which had only come into being, so he told me, since the
war.

Side by side we ascended the broad gangway, and side by side we set
foot upon that battle-scarred deck whose timbers, here and there,
showed the whiter patches of newer wood. Here he turned to give me
his hand, after first writing down name and address, and, with mutual
wishes of meeting again, went to his duties and left me to the
wonders of this great ship.

Crossing the broad deck, more spacious it seemed than an ocean liner,
I came where my travelling companions were grouped about a grim
memorial of the Jutland battle, a huge projectile that had struck one
of the after turrets, in the doing of which it had transformed itself
into a great, convoluted disc, and was now mounted as a memento of
that tremendous day.

And here it was I became acquainted with my Midshipmite, who looked
like an angel of sixteen, bore himself like a veteran, and spoke
(when his shyness had worn off a little) like a British fighting man.

To him I preferred the request that he would pilot me over this great
vessel, which he (blushing a little) very readily agreed to do.
Thereafter, in his wake, I ascended stairways, climbed ladders,
wriggled through narrow spaces, writhed round awkward corners, up and
ever up.

"It's rather awkward, I'm afraid, sir," said he in his gentle voice,
hanging from an iron ladder with one hand and a foot, the better to
address me. "You see, we never bring visitors this way as a rule--"

"Good!" said I, crushing my hat on firmer. "The unbeaten track for
me--lead on!"

Onward and upward he led until all at once we reached a narrow
platform, railed round and hung about with plaited rope screens which
he called splinter-mats, over which I had a view of land and water,