place, divided between wisdom and chance. He only knows that the
uttermost oceans have been swept clear, and the trade-routes purged,
one by one, even as our armies were being convoyed along them; that
there was no island nor key left unsearched on any waters that might
hide an enemy's craft between the Arctic Circle and the Horn. He only
knows that less than a day's run to the eastward of where he stands,
the enemy's fleets have been held for a year and four months, in order
that civilisation may go about its business on all our waters.




TALES OF "THE TRADE"

(1916)




"THE TRADE"

They bear, in place of classic names,
Letters and numbers on their skin.
They play their grisly blindfold games
In little boxes made of tin.
Sometimes they stalk the Zeppelin,
Sometimes they learn where mines are laid
Or where the Baltic ice is thin.
That is the custom of "The Trade."