but her earnest, eager look and her gesticulations
told well enough that she was pointing them to the Saviour of sinners--
with what effect, of course, he could not tell, but it was evident that
the prisoners at least gave her their attention.

Leaving her thus engaged, Miles continued for a considerable time his
progress through the ship. Afterwards he observed, by a movement among
the men, that a detachment was about to land. Indeed he found that some
of the soldiers had already landed, and were making their way to the
coffee-shed.

Following these quickly to the same place, he found that innumerable
cups of hot coffee and solid slices of bread and butter were being
served out as fast as they could be filled and cut. A large hole or
window opened in the side of the shed, the shutter of which was hinged
at the bottom, and when let down formed a convenient counter.

Behind this counter stood the two ubiquitous ladies of the Institute
acting the part of barmaids, as if to the manner born, and with the same
business-like, active, yet modest, ready-for-anything air which marked
all their proceedings.

And truly their post was no sinecure. To supply the demands of hundreds
of hungry and thirsty warriors was not child's-play. Inside the shed,
Miles found his friend Brown busy with a mighty caldron of hot water,
numerous packets of coffee, and immense quantities of sugar and
preserved milk. Brown was the fountain-head. The ladies were the
distributing pipes--if we may say so; and although the fountain produced
can after can of the coveted liquid with amazing rapidity, and with a
prodigality of material that would have made the hair of a private
housewife stand on end, it was barely possible to keep pace with the
demand.

At a large table one of the missionaries of the Institute cut up and
buttered loaves at a rate which gave the impression that he was a
conjurer engaged in a species of sleight-of-hand. The butter, however,
troubled him, for, the weather being cold, it was hard, and would not
spread easily. To overcome this he put a pound or so of it on a plate
beside the boiler-fire to soften. Unfortunately, he temporarily forgot
it, and on afterwards going for it, found that it had been reduced to a
yellow liquid. However, hungry soldiers, rejoicing in the fact of
having at last reached home, are not particular. Some of them,
unaccustomed, no doubt, to be served by ladies, asked for their supply
deferentia