t awhile in Zion,
Sit down and smile in Zion;
Ay, even jest in Zion,
In Zion, at their ease.

The gatekeepers of Baal,
They dare not sit or lean,
But fume and fret and posture
And foam and curse between;
For being bound to Baal,
Whose sacrifice is vain,
Their rest is scant with Baal,
They glare and pant for Baal,
They mouth and rant for Baal,
For Baal in their pain.

But we will go to Zion,
By choice and not through dread,
With these our present comrades
And those our present dead;
And, being free of Zion
In both her fellowships,
Sit down and sup in Zion--
Stand up and drink in Zion
Whatever cup in Zion
Is offered to our lips!

III

THE MEANING OF "JOSS"

A YOUNG OFFICER'S LETTER

As one digs deeper into the records, one sees the various temperaments
of men revealing themselves through all the formal wording. One
commander may be an expert in torpedo-work, whose first care is how
and where his shots went, and whether, under all circumstances of
pace, light, and angle, the best had been achieved. Destroyers do not
carry unlimited stocks of torpedoes. It rests with commanders whether
they shall spend with a free hand at first or save for night-work
ahead--risk a possible while he is yet afloat, or hang on coldly for a
certainty. So in the old whaling days did the harponeer bring up or
back off his boat till some shift of the great fish's bulk gave him
sure opening at the deep-seated life.

And then comes the question of private judgment. "I thought so-and-so
would happen. Therefore, I did thus and thus." Things may or may not
turn out as anticipated, but that is merely another of the million
chances of the sea. Take a case in point. A flotilla of our destroyers
sighted six (there had been eight the previous afternoon) German
battleships of Kingly and Imperial caste very early in the morning of
the 1st June, and duly attacked. At first our people ran parallel to
the enemy, then, as far as one can make out, headed them and swept
round sharp to the left, firing torpedoes from their port or left-hand
tubes. Between them they hit a battleship, which went up in flame and
_debris_. But one of the flotilla had not turned with the rest. She
had anticipated that the attack would be made on another quarter, and,
for certain technical reasons, she was not ready. When she was, she
turned, and singl