IN THE ROYAL NAVY.
Anchored amid the soft breezes of Ceylon lay the Easl India fleet. The weather was faint and sultry, and scarcely anyone stirred on board. Suddenly a forecastle boy sang out in clear treble, his childhood's hymn : "I think when I read that sweet story of old ! " Before the second verse was reached all the ship's company was joining in, in pleasant harmony. 'Above the bulwarks of tho ships the men wore seen congregating in the attitude of intense listeners.
After the last line of Uic hymn had been sung, there was silence for a brief space, and then'the hills caught up and sounded back the echo, "And crowd to His arms and be blest." Ship alter ship followed wUh old familiar hymns, one after the other: all but the Admiral's ship, that was silent.
Would the flagship follow suit before the sun sank into the waters, and what would U its choice, every one wondered ?
Then suddenly there was a burst of many voices, as If trained In a cathedral choir, and the warm air vibrated with (he grand old "To Doiim," "We praise Thee, O God, we acknowledge Thee to be tho Lord."
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NOT19090522.2.32.15
Bibliographic details
North Otago Times, 22 May 1909, Page 1 (Supplement)
Word Count
198IN THE ROYAL NAVY. North Otago Times, 22 May 1909, Page 1 (Supplement)
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