[CHAPTER IX]
AWAY SOUTH
"Into the golden West, across the broad
Atlantic once again. 'For I will show,'
Said Drake, 'that Englishmen henceforth will sail
Old ocean where they will.'"
—Alfred Noyes (Drake).
The two battle-cruisers looked very businesslike as they steamed up to the anchorage; their trip out had taken off a good deal of paint, and they presented something of the appearance of hardened warriors returning from a spell in the trenches, as has been so well portrayed by Captain Bruce Bairnsfather. To our joy they brought a small mail only three weeks old.
No sooner had the rattle of their cables ceased than preparations for coaling were seen to be in progress.