“Commander, sir!”
The Commander, much to John’s surprise, held up his hand to show he had heard, just as John himself, had he been away in a boat, would have held up his hand to indicate attention to the Commander’s orders.
“Shark on the port quarter, sir!”
The Commander raised himself an instant from the water and made a funnel of his hands. “Get the men out,” he shouted, and swam towards the ship. The other officers followed him. He met John on the top of the gangway.
“Like shouting at the Commander?” he demanded.
John had not liked it. He had thought twice about doing it, but it had seemed inevitable. Apparently he had done wrong. “I thought, sir——” he began.
The Commander grinned and shook the drops from him. “Go on, boy. I’m not an ogre. You did quite right. Very smartly, too.”
III
Early in November, when the day of joining the King Arthur seemed to be separated from the present by a lifetime, instead of by little more than a month, of experience, and when the prospect of Christmas leave, not infinitely remote, coloured even the present with hope, John had an adventure in night boat work. For him the day had been more than usually strenuous. The King Arthur had been at sea for Commander-in-Chief’s firing. From half-past eight in the morning until half-past seven at night, John had been almost continuously on duty. It had happened, as sometimes it must happen, that when he was not on watch he was required in a duty boat, and when neither in a boat nor on the bridge, he had had to go to his gun. At dinner he thought his day was over, and, Krame having chosen a sing-song that night in preference to Gunroom Evolutions, he settled down to read as best he could among the choruses. But soon after nine a cutter was called away again. Banford-Smith, whose duty it should have been, had advanced too far into a cheerful evening to venture out into the night. Some midshipman must run the boat, and the choice fell upon John.
Fortunately the evening was fine, for the trip seemed likely to be long. It appeared that the Vera was bringing or had brought into harbour a target of which the King Arthur stood in need. This target required repairs and a new sail. “And first of all,” added the officer of the watch, “you’ve got to find the thing.”