his bottle and his kit.

An old sea-song was running in my mind:--

"But two men of her crew alive--
What put to sea with seventy-five!"

Only three months ago we had landed 25,000 strong; and now we numbered
about 6000. A fearful loss--a smashed Division.

We transferred to a troop-ship standing out in the bay with all
possible speed.

Still with the gloom hanging over everything we steamed out and every
man was dead tired.

However, I found Hawk, and we decided not to sleep down below with the
others, all crowded together and stinking in the dirty interior of the
ship.

We took our hammocks up on deck and slung them forward from the
handrail near one of the great anchors.

I had a purpose in doing this. I had no intention of going to sleep.
By taking note of a certain star which had appeared just to the right
of a cross-spar, and by noticing its change of position, I was enabled
to guess with some exactitude the course we were laying.

For the first two or three hours the star and the mast kept a
perfectly unchangeable position.