* * * * *

"Wanted.--Good stage electrician. No good stage electrician."--_The
Stage_.

There ought to be no difficulty in finding the latter.

* * * * *

CROSS COUNTRY.

A Commander in the Senior Service is the man who gets things done; and
long experience has formulated for him a golden rule: "If you want to
get things done you must _see_ them done." This laudable maxim
applies in a lesser degree to all his subordinates, right down to the
newly-joined boy, who can't very well help seeing _some_ things done,
unless he makes a habit of working with his eyes shut--a practice which
does not appeal particularly to P.O.'s.

The Commander of His Majesty's Battleship _Ermyntrude_ is far from being
an exception to the rule; he is a martyr to it. So are his officers. In
their enthusiasm they have let the rule run riot. You will soon see that
for yourself.

The idea germinated in the practical head of the gunner. It pushed its
way into the upper air under the plain cap of the A.P. It budded under
the (slighted tilted) head-dress of Number One, and blossomed forth into
a full-blown project under the gilded oak-leaves that thatch the Bloke.

He said, "The ship's company will run across country."