mind to run home. Two of our chaps got leave from the Admiral and left
at three this morning for London--four days in the train and two in
town! Gone to see their sweethearts, I suppose."

The British naval officer in the Mediterranean delights to dash across
Europe for a day at home if he can get leave and funds will allow. It is
generally reckoned that such a trip costs about two pounds an hour while
in London. And yet when a man is away from his _fiancée_ or wife for
three whole years, his anxiety to get back, even for a brief day, is
easily understood. The youngsters, however, go for mere
caprice--whenever they can obtain leave. This is not often, for the
Admiral has very fixed views upon the matter.

"Your time's soon up, isn't it?" I remarked, as I lolled back in the
easy deck-chair, and gazed away at the white port and its background of
purple Apennines.

The dark, good-looking fellow in his smart summer uniform leaned over
the bulwark, and said, with a slight sigh, I thought--

"Yes. This is my last trip to Leghorn, I think. I go back in November,
and I really shan't be sorry. Three years is a long time to be away from
home. You go next week, you say? Lucky devil to be your own master! I
only wish I were. Year after year on this deck grows confoundedly
wearisome, I can tell you, my dear fellow."

Durnford was a man who had written much on naval affairs, and was
accepted as an expert on several branches of the service. The Admiralty
do not encourage officers to write, but in Durnford's case it was
recognized that of naval topics he possessed a knowledge that was of