low, has begun to drop steadily, and a fine
drizzle yields to a penetrating chilliness which finds its way to one's
very marrow. I am glad of my heavy wraps, and inclined, indeed, to envy
the huddled figure, whose coverings are still heavier. Inwardly I wonder
what this clashing of the Nations has meant to him: whether he has wife
and children; whether he keeps their portraits in some deep-buried
pocket beneath that accumulation of clothing which engulfs him to the
ear-tips.

I am still speculating when a second figure, moving with the easy gait
of one whose feet have trodden many decks, climbs the companion-way and
comes forward in leisurely fashion. The fellow is no stranger; already,
as I came on board, I had a glimpse of that grizzled, masterful jaw and
keen eyes. He peers past me towards his mate.

"Elf!"

"Yuss?"

"Seed anyfink o' young 'Arry lately?'

"Not me!"

"Well, I 'ear 'e done a bit in the lead-slingin' line at a place called
Wipers, an' they've been an' stuck some sort o' French medal on 'is
chest."

"Blighter owes me fourpence, anyway," roars Elf; and I infer that
neither of them has a high opinion of 'Arry's character from the
civilian point of view.

Follows an interval filled with small confused sounds--the staccato note
of a bell, the soft thud of a passenger's body as he is jerked
unexpectedly against the rail, the picturesque ripple of his
expostulations with Providence.

A lamp, burning with unusual and illegal garishness, gives me light
enough to examine my watch. It indicates the proximity of midnight. I
realize that I am incredibly stiff and cold, and am tormented by visions
of unattainable comforts.

At last I am conscious of a line of dimmed lights, of a distant roar of
escaping steam, of a violent quivering motion that indicates the
slackening of speed. We come to a sudden halt. The voice of Elf rises
triumphant.

"Bill!"

"Yuss?"

"Two minutes arter!"

"Knowed we'd do it!"

And as I stumble blindly forth it is borne upon me that the last Ealing
motor-bus has ended her journey with five minutes to spare.

* * * * *

"Egypt is placidly awaiting the event, with the absolute
conviction that the Turks and Germans will get the
boating of their lives in the Sinai Desert."--_Civil and
Military Gazette._

They certainly won't get it on the Suez Canal.

* * * * *

A MODEST SUGGESTION FOR A NEW