"Hallo, old bird—back again, you see!" was the Lieutenant's greeting, informal, but none the less hearty.
"Where's Haynes?" enquired Webb, after returning his chum's salutation. "I've been looking out for him, but all the boats have returned."
"You're a bright lad not to spot your chums," rejoined Osborne. "He was one of the first to be brought off. He got it badly almost at the last lap—a gunshot wound in the side. Donovon's got him in hand now. 'Fraid Haynes' career in the Service is a closed book."
"Sorry to hear that," said the Sub. "I only hope you're wrong, Osborne."
"Wouldn't be the first time," admitted the Lieutenant. "I made a fine mess of things ashore just now." And he told his chum the episode of the Very pistol.
"Do you know where we are bound for?" he continued.
"Port Said—so I heard the Navigating Lieutenant of the Paradox say," replied Webb. "I was hoping that it was Malta; still, one mustn't complain after what we've been through. Not that we'll find Egypt particularly exciting just for the present. From all accounts there's precious little doing."
But Sub-lieutenant Webb was mistaken in his surmise. Before very long he was to find that the Land of the Pharaohs was anything but a place for an uneventful existence.