With the signs of the sea showing plain,
Men place her in Dock for a season,
And her speed she reneweth again.’
Laws of the Navy.
Carruthers, the Senior Submarine Officer and Captain of ‘146’ entered the Mess with the stealthy air of an assassin.
‘Show me that varlet, Raymond,’ he declaimed. ‘Produce him that I may mete out to him the full measure of his punishments.’
‘What’s the row, James?’ asked a voice from the depths of an arm-chair.
‘Ha, knave, thou dost flout me. Twelve long years have I sought thee, and now ... aha! The Captain desires speech with thee, even in his own cabin.’
‘Good Heavens! Whatever’s up? Surely to goodness he hasn’t got to know about my bumping into Blake last night. I only scratched the paint, and a bally wonder, too, considering the mess up of boats there was.’
‘I’ll tell you what it is, my boy, at a price.’