it" for his country at a spot within 20 miles of his home
until the termination of the war.

"Bless my soul, Haye!" he rejoined. "Whoever would have thought to see
you here, and in naval get-up. How long have you been in the Service,
and what ship are you on?"

"Only a few weeks; and I'm on the _Capella_ with Trefusis."

"Trefusis, eh? Well, he's a lucky boy to have an Admiral for a father.
And the _Capella_? Then you were in last night's affair? I heard they
bagged the submarine."

"Rather!" declared Vernon proudly.

Barraclough stifled a prodigious yawn.

"Jolly glad to hear it. 'Scuse me, but I'm beastly tired. Had a night
of it after those spies across yonder. Didn't turn in till three, and
at six I had to cross from Hurst to Vic.--that's Fort Victoria, you
know--on duty."

"Did you collar them?" asked the midshipman eagerly.

The subaltern yawned again.

"No," he drawled. "Worse luck, we didn't; but we had some fun. You
know we were warned to watch Keyhaven marshes--and a dreary spot it is.
Worse than the most dismal flats on the Essex coast, which is saying a
lot. Well, before I tell you what happened, I ought to describe the
place. It's a marsh, with patches of dry ground thickly covered with
furze, that extends from Keyhaven to Lymington River--about four miles.
It is separated from the sea--or rather mud-flats, covered at high
tide--by a low bank on which is an apology for a footpath.

"Our orders were to post a squad at a certain point where the spies
were supposed to have hidden a quantity of petrol. The place in
question was close to a rifle-butt. Men were detailed to guard all
roads leading to the marsh, and to allow all traffic, whether
motor-cars, carts, or pedestrians, to pass unchallenged. The sentries
were on no account to show themselves, except to hold up everything and
everyone coming _from_ the marsh.

"Other men were told off to watch the three available roads between
Keyhaven and Milford, where the submarine was expected to send ashore
for her stores, so you see the U-boat didn't stand much chance of
getting what she wanted. She copped something she didn't expect.

"As soon as it was dark, my squad left Hurst by motor-boat and landed
near the toll-house at Keyhaven. It was almost dead low water, you
know, or we might have been able to save ourselves a long tramp--you
couldn't call it a march.

"We followed the wretched footpath, slipping on the slimy mud, and
eit