His eyes should flash and his chest protrude,
And this should be his customary attitude.
And as they sang the last line, they all, except Ralph, assumed fighting attitudes as if they were inviting the whole world to “come on.” Ralph stood apart in the pose of Ajax defying the lightning, for it was his strict rule to assume classical attitudes only.
CHAPTER 3
The ward-room lunch was finished, and all the ladies were playing “Bridge” for nuts with the officers, except Josephine, whose thoughts were too much occupied with other and more important matters. So she came on deck to indulge in a rêverie all alone.
SO SHE CAME ON DECK TO INDULGE IN A RÊVERIE ALL ALONE
“It is useless,” said she to herself; “Sir Joseph’s attentions disgust me. I know that he is a truly great and good man, for he told me so himself, and of course he would know;[6] but to me he seems tedious, fretful, and dictatorial. Yet his must be a mind of no common order, or he would not dare to teach my dear Father to dance a hornpipe on the cabin table.”
It was Sir Joseph’s firm belief that if Great Britain were to retain her proud position as the most powerful naval country in the world, it was essential that all her sailors should learn to dance hornpipes. It was all he knew about the Navy, and he had been three years learning that.