A furious gust of wind tore down the chimney, blowing the smoke out into the small but cosily-furnished sitting-room of the little cottage at Kingston-on-Thames, and sending a shower of sparks hissing and spluttering on to the hearth-rug, where they were promptly trodden out by a tall, fair-haired young giant, who lazily removed his feet from a chair on which they reposed, for the purpose.

This operation concluded, he replaced his feet on the chair with deliberation, re-arranged a cushion behind his head, leaned back luxuriously, and started hunting in his pocket for matches wherewith to light his pipe, which had gone out.

ÒBeastly night for a dog to be out, much more a human being,Ó he soliloquised. ÒPoor old MurrayÕs sure to be drenched when he gets back, as well as frozen to the bone. LetÕs seeÑis everything ready for him? Yes, there are his slippers warming before the fireÑhope none of those sparks burnt a hole in ÕemÑlikewise dry coat, shirt, and trousers; that ought to do him all right. I hope to goodness the poor old chapÕs got some encouragement to-day, if nothing else, for heÕs fearfully down on his luck, and no mistake. And, between me and those fire-irons there, IÕm getting almost afraid to let him out of my sight, for fear heÕll go and do something foolishÑthough, to be sure, heÕs hardly that kind of fellow, when one comes to think of it. However, he should be in very soon now, and then I, shall learn the news.Ó

Having delivered himself of this monologue, Dick Penryn lit his pipe, took up the book he had been reading, and was soon deep in the pages of Thophile GautierÕs Voyage en lÕOrient.

Dick Penryn and Murray Frobisher, the friend to whom he had been alluding, were chums of many yearsÕ standing. They had been born within a few months of one anotherÑFrobisher being slightly the elderÑin the same Devon village; had attended the same school in PlymouthÑMannamead House, to be exact; had gone to the same college together, and had passed into the British Navy within a year of one anotherÑFrobisher being again first in the race.

Then, for some years, fortune smiled upon both. Each won golden opinions from his superiors; and by the time that the lads were twenty-three years of age they had attained the rank of lieutenant, and showed signs of rising rapidly in the service.

Everything was going splendidly, and both Dick and Murray were enjoying temporary rank as commanders of torpedo-boats during the winter manoeuvres of 1891-92, when suddenly, without any warning, Fate turned her face away from one of the chums and plunged him from the pinnacle of light-hearted happiness to the depths of misery and despair.

One evening, while a portion of the defending fleet was lying in Portland Roads waiting to be joined by the other division, news was brought in by one of the scouting destroyers that the attacking fleet had been seen at the entrance to the Channel, steering a course which undoubtedly had Portland as its objective. If that naval base was to be ÒsavedÓ, it was urgently necessary to send eastward in haste to Portsmouth, to bring up the other half of the defending squadron; otherwise the attackers would have things all their own way, and the south-west coast of England would lie at the mercy of the Òenemy.Ó

The destroyer Spitfire, which had just brought the news, would naturally have been selected to carry the message under ordinary circumstancesÑone of the rules of the game being that the telegraph might not be used by either side; but unfortunately, while still a considerable distance from Portland, she had commenced to run short of coal, being obliged to steam at half-speed for a number of hours, and finally arrived in the harbour on the sweepings of her bunkers. Hence there was greater need for haste than ever; and, as it would have taken longer to re-bunker the Spitfirethan for T.B. 42, MurrayÕs ship, to raise steam, the young commander was sent for in hot haste by his admiral, hurriedly given his instructions, and told to raise steam and make for Portsmouth with the news in Òsomething less than a pigÕs whisper.Ó

Delighted at receiving this important commission, Murray Frobisher had hurried back to his little ship, helped the astonished stokers with his own hands to raise steam, and at midnight on a dark, blustering night, with half a gale blowing from the south-east, the sea running steeply, and a heavy driving rain lashing right in their faces, he and his little crew cleared from Portland Roads, dashed across Weymouth Bay at a reckless speedÑconsidering the height of the seaÑand doubled Saint AlbanÕs Head.

Murray found that the storm in the bay was a mere trifle compared with that which he was now facing; so, for safetyÕs sake, and to avoid being blown ashore, he was compelled to stand off the coast a good deal farther than he had originally intended. He knew that he was in a position of some danger, and, besides being himself additionally on the alert, he posted an extra look-out, with orders to keep his eyes wide open for the first signs of light or loom of moving ship upon that black, rushing waste of water.