The Stolen Submarine.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXIII, Issue X, 3 September 1904, Page 10

The Stolen Submarine.

-By

GEORGE GRIFFITH.

” Author of “The Angel of the Revolution,” "Brothers of the Chain,’* “The White Witch of Mayfair,” “The World Masters,” Etc.

CHAPTER XIV. A DUEL IN THE DEPTHS. 'While this -tragedy was being enacted On the surface of the Yellow Sea, an oven grimmer and sterner drama was being played out in the invisible arena beneath the surface. The captain of the Sokold had had the alternative of surrender offered to him, and, like a gallant sailor aim good servant of his country, he had refused it; but in the Warfare of the underseas it was impossible even to offer or ask for quarter. For the first time in the history of war there had come into existence conditions under which both combatants had to be pitiless, whether they wished to be ■o or not. If there could have been a spectator of that silent duel it might have reminded him strangely, and yet, to some extent, truly, of the old days when men, clad in steel from head to foot, and unrecognisable to each other, fought to the death, and the victor only knew who his antagonist was when the vizor had been raised and he saw the face of the dead or dying man. Mark Hiilyer and the princess had met more than once both in Europe and America, and there had existed between them a certain friendship and the inevitable admiration of the natural man for the gifteil and beautiful woman, and that of the woman for the strong and successful man—and now, here they Were, each of them the eyes and brains and directing force of the two most formidable fighting machines that had ever gone down to do the deadly business of war in the deep walers. It was Impossible, that both could survive the issue of the light. It was more than probable that neither of them would do so. “Falcone, what is that?” said the princess about twenty minutes before Captain Merkett had discharged bis last shot ujion the Sokold. “Look, there : is a light on the ram.” Orsini Lugand was steering the Sea Snake, and the princess and Faieone were standing beside him in the conning tower. She pointed forward as she spoke, and they both saw the ram of the submarine lit up for a few moments by a light which seemed to come from nowhere. As the ram was about eight feet under water, it was impossible that the light could have come from above, be•auae the most powerful searchlight thrown on the water only makes a sort •f luminous mist in which nothing can be plainly distinguished. But tins light showed the point of the ram and about six feet of the forepart of the vessel quite distinctly, and beyond its area there was nothing to be seen. She turned to Orsini and said: “ If anyone knows what that is, you do. Am I right?” “ Yes, Highness,” he replied. “It is vater-ray, as I have called it, and, from the angle, it must come from a submarine. It could not come from the surface.” Very well, then,” she replied: “If that is so, it means a duel to the death. Go to the engine-room, and—if we don’t meet again—good-bye! ” fShe held out her hand, and he look 11 and kissed it, saying: “ Good-bye, Highness, and almost sister, till we meet again in victory, or, perhaps, afterwards. Good-bye, Fai- " Good-bye, Orsini!” When he had gone 1 lie princess sent the message to the Sokold and ordered the towing cable to be east off. Go to the telephone, Faieone,” she said, looking up at him, “ but you may kiss ine first. Perhaps you will never do fhere Will be time for that, even in death, dearest and most beautiful,” he Whispered, as he leaut down and put hi* lipa to hers.

Then he straightened up and took the telephone receiver from the wall and stood rigid, with his eyes shut, awaiting her commands, but not daring to look at her again. “ Full speed! ” And as he repeated the order, she turned the wheel to port because the light had come from starboard. She pulled the lever which controlled the lateral rudders, and the >Sea Snake took a swift plunge downwards. She had only a little over a hundred fathoms beneath her, but southward the water deepened to 500 fathoms, and so southwards she went at her full speed of 30 knots an hour. It was not a question of fighting the invisible foe. It was one of escape for the time being, and then striking hard and heavy at the Japanese warships in Nagasaki Harbour only a hundred and twenty miles away—less than four hours at this speed, and then “Ah, Faieone, what is that? Look!” A huge, grey-white shape, broken and twisted out of all symmetry, drifted past them only a few yards to the right hand as they sped through the darkness and the silence. Falcone opened bis eyes, and looked along the ray of light which was the eye of the Sea Snake, and just caught a glimpse of the shape as they rushed past it. “The Sokold!” he whispered. “It can be nothing else- They have sunk her.” “Yes,” she replied between her hardset tedth, “and now—who is going to be the next? Ah, there it is!” Another shape similar to that of the Sea-Snake shot past on the left-hand side, travelling at nearly twice her speed. “The right-hand forward tubes, Falcone, quick. Let go both!” she whispered, as she moved the wheel a little, to starboard. Faieone repeated the order instantly, and th<' two messengers of destruction sped -on their way. They- listened for the shock of the expected explosion, but nothing came. “We have missed it,” she said, about a hundred seconds later. “Look, there it is again! To the left. They have sunk and gone under us. It is the old ques-,. tion. Speed is victory under the water as over it. Why don’t they fire? Well, at least we will see what is going to happen.” She moved the switch which controlled the ray and turned it full on. The lan of light spread out through the waters, and in the midst of it they saw the huge shape of the Mermaid swing round and head straight, for them. As she turned, a blinding light flashed through the windows of the eonningtower, and Hiilyer saw a woman sitting in front of the steering-wheel with her beautiful face upturned to the fan leaning over it. "No. T renlly cannot do it!” he muttered to himself, and gave a sharp twist to the steering-wheel. But it was just too late. The Mermaid, with her engines working at their full capacity, was flying through the wafers at a speed of 50 miles an hour. 'There was a shuddering shock, horribly silent as it seemed to him, and then a sense of ripping and tearing through something: then n lurch and a heave as ihe Mermaid tore herself free—and so ended the first duel in the depths. CHAPTER XV. THE BALANCE OF JUSTICE. "And so you have come liaek victorious!” said Leone Erskine, when Hiilyer entered the drawipg-room of the Admiral Commanding at Nagasaki, dressed just as though lie hud come from his London house instead of from the depths of the sea and from the terrible conflict which he had waged and won there ios the empire of the oceans. “Yea,” he replied, taking her hand.

"We have fought, and, not only for my own sake and for those who were with me, but I think for the sake of the whole world, it is best that we should have won.”

“But still it must have been very terrible, was it not?” she murmured as she took his hand, and looked up at him somewhat as she had done on that night when he had played the part of her husband, and they were awaiting Dr. ChenYu as their guest at dinner. Now her own husband was in the room, a very different man from the brilliant barrister who had won the great. Yondall ease with such eclat, and he said in a drawling, listless tone which made Mark raise his eyelids: ‘"Yes, Hiilyer, I think my wife’s about right. It must have been pretty dreadful for you to have had to go down there under the surface of the sea, right down into the depths, and fight a thing that you couldn’t see and break it up and come back, as Leone says, victorious. Yes. very wonderful, very wonderful, indeed. I’ll be hanged if I could have done it. Leone, don’t you think you could give ns another peg while, we are waiting for our dinner?” “Oh, yes, if yon really want one,” she replied, quite as carelessly as a barmaid might have done if he had asked for another drink as an ordinary customer. “What will you have?” As she went towards the little lacquered table her eyes caught Mark’s for an instant, and then his eaught Arthur's. It was the first time that he had seen him for more than a few moments since they had parted at Colombo. The difference in the. man was great enough to justify Leone’s look. He had crossed the border which divides the world of those who call themselves honest from that of those who have no longer the legal right to call themselves so. It is, perhaps, a subtle definition, but it is a very real one, and it is, perhaps, more real in sentiment than it is in la.w. Ever since his brother had convicted him of the forgery of that cheque. Arthur Erskine had been an altered man, a man who had lost the most precious of all human possessions, his own selfrespect, and it was with the voice of such a man that he answered: “Give me a brandy pawnee, and don’t be stingy with the brandy, dear. I’ve had rather a nervous day, and I don’t quite understand the various changes of things yet, to say nothing of that beastly passage from Shanghai.” Leone mixed the drink for him, and Hiilyer looked at both of them meanwhile. He had already seen in the bungalow at Shanghai how great a change had cow over Leone, and now he saw with a sorrow, not perhaps unmixvd with contempt,-the still greater change that had come over the young advocate, whom he bird admired so much for his brilliancy of wit and forensic talent in the Old Bailey. “ That man’s broken,” he said to himself. “There’s no doubt about that. He will be no good to himself or anyone else in this world. Poor Leone! 1 wonder what she’s going to do with him? It’s about as horrible a complication as one could have thought of under the circumstances—as they are.” “ Well, Hiilyer,” said Erskine, taking up his glass and giving it a. shake, “ if you won’t join me, here’s io your next glorious victory, only I don’t suppose you’ll want one after this. You’ve cleared the sea and gained the mastery of the air and—-—” The folding doors opened at this moment, and the admiral came in with his wife and Baron Kasbama and the baroness. At the same moment the voice of Hillyer’s chef on the Zanita, who for tiie time being had been transferred to the service of the admiral for other than culinary reasons; said in his most decorous tone: “Your Excellency, dinner is served.” Arthur Erskine put his half-emptied glass down for the moment, to Hillyer’s admiration, forgot the events of the

last few months, and became the English gentleman again. The dinner, although it might, as regards the service of the courses and the excellence of the service, have been laid on the table of the Japanese Legation in London or Paris, was not an altogether interesting function. There was a constraint, which was only top well understood by everyone present, and by none more acutely than Leone and her husband, and no one, not even Arthur Erskine himself, was more thankful when it was over. International topics had, of course, been utterly haired, since, under the circumstances, it would have been quite impossible to discuss them. Only the marvellous exploits of the Mermaid and her aerial consort had been talked about, ami those only in connection with the possible development of the new. warfare, although, as Baron Kashama said to Hiilyer at the end of the conversation, and just as the hostess was rising:

“I am afraid, sir, that—well, no, I shall not say afraid, I will say I hope that yon have made warfare now so terrible that the nations will wait long before they again make the last appeal to force.” “1 hope so,” said Hillyer, rising, as the ladies rose, “ and I can assure, you that if I have anything to do with it, it shall be so.” That I fully believe,” replied the baron, “ and I most sincerely trust that you will have the power, as I believe you have, to earry your intention into effect.” “Could anything be better?” said the baroness, as she went towards the door. “If only our great ally is as merciful as he has shown himself to be strong?” “It is hardly a question of mercy,” replied Hillyer; "in the end, I think the world will find that it is only one of justice.” “With the balance held in imjpartial hands,” said the admiral’s wife, with that exquisite accent which only a lady of Nippon can give to an English phrase. Hjllver was occupying a bungalow: about half a mile oil down from Admiralty House, close to the shore of Nagasaki Bay. As he was putting his coat on, for the nights were still chilly, Arthur Erskine came out on to the verandah with an overcoat over his arm and said: “If you don’t mind, Hillyer, I should like to walk down to your place with you. To tell you the truth, I want tor have a little talk with you, and it’s not of the sort that we could very well have here. Do you mind?” “Not in the. slightest,” said Hillyer, his thoughts instantly going back to possibilities connected more or less remotely with Arthur Erskine’s sister-in-law. “By nil means, come along.” And so they went, both of them smoking long green cigars, and both thinking their own thoughts and talking about other things. When they got into Hillyer’s sittingloom he lit a fresh cigar and said somewhat abruptly: “I am not going to ask you to have a&otlier drink. Erskine, beaarrse if you have got anything serious to say to me we had better say it without what I liar call an external stimulant. Now, what is it?” “You are perfectly right, Hillyer,” replied Erskine very meekly for the man who had been himself six months before. “I know. This atrocious East! It plays the very denee with anyone who hasn’t got a cast-iron nerve and constitution like yours. Yes, yes. Of course, you’ve seen it, and it is so, but you also know there's a ilbt more behind that. Leone has told you, ami quite right, too, and that’s what I want to talk to you .about. Now, taking all the circumstances into consideration, what do.you think I ought to do?” ■ If it had not been for the fact that Hillyer liad made up his mind to become Mrs Arthur Erskine’s brother-in-law he wonk! probably have said:

r “You had belter shoot vourself. or. as they say here in the East, ‘Salute the world’ in the style that suits ?-you best.” As it was, lie said:

“That’s rather a difficult question. Mind you. I ant speaking frankly and perhaps brutally—" “Oh, yes.” said Erskine, “I understand *ll that. You are talking to a man who has loijit caste, as they say out here, but. mind you, Hillyer. I lost it for the. Bake of a woman that 1 loved, yes, just as dearly and as honourably as you love that woman’s sister now, and if it hadn’t been for her—”

“I don’t think there’s any necessity to go any further with that subject. Erskine,” said Hillyer, biting the end off his cigar and spitting it out on the floor. “Suppose we leave the women out of the case. Men never come to much good when they start arguing on the women question. Let me put it this way. You have left your brothel’s service and cut yourself adrift from all your English connections, because I put it to your wife that it was necessary to do so, and, therefore, I took upon myself the responsibility of finding you another position equally as good. That shall be at your disposal here in Japan as soon as you agree to the terms I have got to offer.” “And what, are those?” asked Erskine, looking down at the floor, not daring to face the keen eyes which were looking at. him. “Perpetual exile, I suppose ?” “Yes, it about comes to that.” replied Hillyer. “You see, I'm going to marry your wife’s sister. Now that Princess Dorosma and the rest of the crew of the Sea-Snake, as I hear they called her. are at the bottom of the Yellow Sea. there are four people who know' about that forged cheque. Your wife, yourself, Sir Julius Ackerman, and possibly also his brother. Myself f don't count, but I think you will see that unless the others ceased to. exist by —well, we will say, came to some sudden end, it would not-be either to your advantage or ours for you to reappear in European Society.”

“Yes, I am afraid I cannot say anything against that.” replied Erskine. “I’ve lost caste, and there's an end of it —and my wife, too. Hillyer, can you Hi ink how awful that must be for a man who worshipped her? For a man who, as I did. deliberately risked penal servitude for Ker sake, to save her—well, I suppose you know that story—and then to marry, to see each other as only man and wife can see cath other, eye to eye and soul to soul! Believe me, Hillyer, it’s horrible! I can stand anything but itbkt—in fact. I’ve begun to think that penal servitude would have been better.”

“Very possibly,” replied Hillyer. coldly. although inwardly lie was seething with anger, “but T think wo had still better leave the women our of the ease. The point is this. My firm —that is to say, my father and myself—are establishing considerable interests out hero when the war is over. Are you prepared to look after those interests from the legal point of view: f mean as regards our patent interests and so forth—on the same terms as you came out to Shanghai for your brother and Ackermans—and stop here?” “Yes,” said Arthur, in very much the ■ame tone as that in which his brother

had made bia surrender to the Ackermans, “yes, 1 will, and if that is a bargain, I may as well tell you that you have just saved your sister-in-law that is to be from becoming a widow.” “Don’t talk rot. man!” said Hillyer, getting up from his chair. “You've made a mistake, a pretty bad one; but I know why you did it. Any other man, not quite a saint, might havybeen tempted the same way, and, possibly, have fallen.’ J don’t blame you for that, and, for the rest of it, we'll forget it. You accept?” "Yes, Hillyer,” he replied, in a tone which meant more than he could have said in words, even he the brilliant advocate. “yes, you have offered me infinitedly more than I deserve; but, God helping me, some day I will deserve it ” “That’s all right, old man,” said Hillyer. putting his hand on his shoulder, “we have finished our business, and there’s an end of it. and now; what do you say to one peg and go home?" “No. Hillyer, not another drop as long as I live.” he replied, shaking his bead, and laughing as he hadn’t laughed for months before. “No. I've learnt what Kipling said in ‘Mandalay.’ I'm ‘a long way east of Suez'; and as I’m going to slop hero, it’ll be just as well for me to remember—well-—you know what, for Leone's sake, too, and Marian’s, and yours.” “Yes, you're right. Arthur.” said Hillyer. gripping bis shoulder tight, “but remember, Kipling was wrong when he said ‘There ain’t no Ten Commandments.’” out hero. It’s just because there are, and because the good white man knows how to keep them, that the white man rules in the East, and don’t you forget it. Good night. Hut stop a bit. I’ll go part of the way with you. It’s a fine night, and I'm a long way off sleep yet. Come along. Take another weed and we’ll start.” They had walked a couple of hundred yards or so, smoking and chatting over future prospects, when something whistled through the air. and Arthur Erskine stopped and staggered and dropped. lie clasped bis hands to his heart, and as he fell, three men. dressed as Japanese coolie labourers, ran out. from under the verandah of the house they were just passing, uttering that hissing noise, which is the Oriental cry for vengeance. Another knife whizzed past Hillyer’s ears as he jumped back, and whipped bis Smith-and- Wesson out of his hip poeket. He brought it up and a couple of shots eracked. Two of Hie three men dropped. and the third came at him with a long-bladed Japanese sword. The revolver cracked again, . and the sword fell to the ground. Then he jumped forward, hit the man who haifhcld it hard on the point of the jaw with his left, and he, too. went down. The next moment the guard were out running in the direction of the shots. “My name is Mark Hillyer. My friend. Air. Erskine, lias been seriously wounded by a knife thrown from that verandah. I shot the three men who tried to do the same thing to me, and there they are.” The name of Mack Hillyer was one to conjure with in Nagasaki, and the sublieutenant in command came to him and

saluted him and said in excellent English: “Very good. Mr. Hillyer, if you are he, but you will please give me your revolver, i have not the honour of knowing you.” “Never mind about that now,” said Hillyer, “you can take me up to the admiral's house to identify me afterwards. Meanwhile, will you sec to my friend mid get an ambulance if possible. See, this is my friend.” And he led him towards where Erskine lay. “He’s dead, sir,” said the lieutenant, lifting one of the hands and letting it fall again. “See. the knife lias gone through his heart. Perhaps that was meant for you. sir. There are traitors even in Japan.” "Yes—and here's one!" stammered a corporal, who was just getting his English, “that thief Chen-Yu broke parole tonight. See! Swine!” He was dragging the half-conscious doctor along by his pigtail as he spoke. “What! Chen-Yu!” exclaimed the lieutenant. “Ah. now I think vou must be Mr. Hillyer.” “You will find that I am,” said Mark. “That’s the man whose arm I broke, as lie came at me with that sword. It’s a

pretty bed busincas altogether, but still I’m not sorry that I came. And now, if you please, lieutenant, wc'U get out the ambulance and settle up the matter aa far as we can. 1 suppose when these fellows are well enough to be hanged ” "We don't wait for that in Nippon. Mr. Hillyer,” laughed the lieutenant. “They may be alive by sunrise, but they wilKnut live much longer.” “Poor chap.” said Hillyer, as Erskine’s laxly was lifted with the others into the ambulance waggon. “Talking about suicide only just now, and there he is. with a knife in his heart that was meant for me. Well, my dearest Maid Marian, I'm jolly glad 1 made that will—and that the light was so bad. If I had been walking on the other side I would have had it.”

EPILOGUE. it was about ten o’clock on one of (hose lovely mornings in June which can only be found in the British Isles—and then only when the British clerk of the weather is on his best behaviour—that Mark Hillyer, now the world-renowned Lord of the Air and the Underseas, dressed in the quietest of tweed suits, and looking as undistinguished as possible, came out of the

tronf door of the house In Leinster Gar* dens at which, about four momentous months before, he had said good-bye to the radiantly happy girl who was walking by his side, clad in a quite perfect summer costume, and looking up at him with glowing eyes and smiling lips from under a picture hat which, taken with the rest, really was a picture.

The aerial cruiser Marian had only arrived in England and come to a rest for the time being in the Balloon Ground at the Crystal Palace, and Mark had paid his first visit, as was only natural, to )x-iuster Gardens. The war was over. With the destruction of the stolen submarine the last hope of Russia's recovery of sea power had Come to an end. Port Arthur was “bottled up,” and Vladivostock had been reduced to ruins and made useless as a naval port. The fearful destruction which had been wrought on sea and from the air had convinced the Tsar that nothing but useless Buffering ami loss of life could result from continuing such a hopeless and unequal struggle, ami so the issues of the War had been referred, with the full conBent of the Mikado's Government, to the Tribunal of Peace which Nicholas' the Second himself had doife most to create. The decision had been that Russia should evacuate Manchuria, cede Port Arthur to Japan, and pay the war expenses incurred up to the date of the signing of (Mtaee. On her side Japan undertook to make no further use of the aerial squadron or the submarine which Hillyer had placed M hex disposal, to guarantee the integrity of Korea and China, and to make no further naval or military movements which should threaten any portion of the Russian empire in Asia. All this, of course, had been public property for several days before the hero of the war. or rather of the peace, and the name-mother of the aerial flagship had clasped hands that morning. •'And so you really have done all this in such a short time!” she said, as they turned into the park. “Of course, I’ve read all about it, but. somehow it still seems to be a sort of miracle—and you, Mark, you are the miracle-worker.” “Well,” he said, "it may be something like that, but then, you know, if ever a man had good cause to try and work miracles, I think I had. Didn’t you think so when you put that hat on before the glass this’morning?” “Don’t be ridiculous!” she laughed. “Fancy you, a man who has stopped what might have been the most awful war in the world’s history, and simply making these people behave themselves, talking like that. But now, tell me,” she went on, with a swift change of manner, “you have done everything and more than everything you promised over there under those trees last January, but— —” “Yes,” he said, “I know what you are going to ask. Oubinoff, isn't that it?” “Yes,” she replied, looking down as though she dared not ask him the question with her eyes. “Oubinoff is dead,” he answered, “and, as I meant to do, I believe 1 killed him myself.” “You did!” she said with a little gasp, “llow? Tell me, Mark.” “It was this way.” he replied. “When We made the final attack on Port Arthur, I had found out that he was there,

and, as lie was there in his official capacity, I concluded that he was living in Admiralty House, and so I let go the shot that wrecked it. To make sure I let another go, aud there wasn’t as much left of that place as would make a decent dog kennel.” “Horrible!” she said, with a little shudder and a shake in her voice, “but, of course, that is war.” “Yes, dear,” he said, putting his hand bn her arm, “and in this case it was justice, too. Oubinoff was there, and he has never been heard of since, anil so I think you may consider that old score cleared off.” “Yes,” she replied, and then for a few minutes they walked on in silence, each thinking thoughts which it would have been difficult to put into words. Then, after a quick glance round to see that there was no one very near, she put her hand through his aim, drew it gently towaids her, and said, looking up at him with eyes in which he seemed to see a reflection of the skies of Paradise: “That is over, and we will say no more about it. Now, tell me. Is this really true about Leone and Sir Julius Ackerman? Isn’t it rather premature after that awful occurrence at Nagasaki? Of course, I don’t profess any friendship for either of the Erskines, knowing what I do now: but after all it was a terrible thing for him and for poor Leone, too, and that is what makes this engagement seem so strange to me. Is it really all true, Mark?”

“It is absolutely true, dear,” he replied, pressing her hand to his side, “and it is not only true, but—there, I will explain the rest of it to you when — well, when you and I have said the words that I have been longing to say ever since I saw you, and you and I are taking a trip above the clouds “Yes,” she said, looking up at him again, “yes, Mark, I heard something about that, and I think I know what you mean.” “I know what I meant, and I think Sir Julius did, too. As for Victor Erskine. I took the liberty of calling on him last night and punching his head, lie couldn't see the other argument, and so I tried that. And now, dear, when are we going to start on that trip to the clouds?” “Don’t you think you could take me for one before, just to see what it’s like?” she laughed. “No, Miss Lonsdale.” he replied. “You are. already the first young woman, with the exception of the one that we must say nothing about now, who has had the privilege of seeing what the depths of the seas are like; but I have absolutely made up my mind that the first woman to soar beyond the clouds shall be Mrs. Mark Ilillyer, and all you’ve got to say now is—when is Mrs. Mark Ilillyer going to take that trip?” “Could you give me a month, do you think, my most potent lord of the air and flic underseas?” she replied, looking up at him with flushing cheek and shining eyes. “Four weeks! Too long,” he said. “But still. I’ll split the difference- Will you make it two?” “I’ll try,” she said. And she did. (THE END.)

u Nature Study.”

“Nature study” is gradually taking its proper place in the curriculum of the public school at Home, and the movement is making itself felt in this colony slowly but surely. In the course of a letter in “School” on this fascinating subject, Mr Storrs Fox, M.A., F.L.S., a well-known preceptor in the Old Country. says:— "1 have not as yet formulated any definite system in my own Nature study teaching. Once a week I take the lowest form in some natural history subject; but I fear that you will be disappointed when I tell you that, with the youngest boys, last term’s subject was the mammalian skeleton, and this term’s subject is the classification of mammals. But if you could witness the interest taken by the little fellows in bones, your disappointment would vanish. “.Some explanation is due as to why such subjects are chosen. First, I consider that the comparative study of the bones of limbs, of skulls, and of teeth is in itself intensely interesting as well as a useful training to the eye. The various modifications for special purposes save the subject from any approach to dulness. But its real importance lies in the insight which it gives into the gradual development of groups from a common ancestor. And this again is made clearer by lessons dealing with classification. So that classification of mammals is not so dull as might be supposed. It is, as it were, the text on which to hang all sorts of facts about animal life. We start from the best known animals, and learn to express in words the differences observed in their build and habits; and from these common creatures we go on to less common ones. “I have also a scheme on hand for teaching out-of-door geography. My aim will be to take the boys to waterpartings, sources of streams, to show’ them the effects of denudation, the formation of valleys; to let them weigh for themselves the sediment in the river above and below a lake, and so forth. Lessons of this kind would include observation on the plants characteristic of various formations; the dependence of certain animals on certain plants, and vice versa; and the evidence of the presence of extinct animals in prehistoric

times. All this, and much more, can be learnt out of doors within a few mile* of the schooL And it seems to me that it would allow great scope for observation and reasoning. “But the backbone of our Nature Study is to be found in country rambles. I believe that a great deaf is learnt from them. Perhaps the least satisfactory interest in these rambles is the collets tion of fossils. Not very much can be learnt from our limestone fossils here in Derbyshire, which consist almost entirely of corals and molluscs. But even these do train the eye to mark slight differences of structure, and the search for them impresses the boy’s mind with facts connected with the laying down of the rocks, and with their original source and condition. “What I try to make the cliief feature of our rambles is the study of bird-life. From time to time I give special lessons bn this, and the school museum and library contain stuffed birds and skins and pictures for reference. But it is out of doors, in the company of living birds, that their habits are learnt and their charm is recognised. The museum specimens are only useful to assist and' perfect acquaintance with details of colouring of plumage, and structure of beak and feet. And in this connection I may say that as my experience widens I become more and more convinced that good coloured plates of birds are educationally of greater value than stuffed specimens.

"Our rambles include the search fotf butterflies and moths and their larvae; and many boys delight in hatching the eggs of these insects and watching all the processes of their development. This year I intend to give a prize for the best series of drawings illustrating the life-history of a butterfly or moth from the egg upwards. Nor is botany neglected; many boys delight in learning the names of wild flowers, and nearly all are keenly interested in the process of fertilisation, and especially in learning about the various dodges for securing cross-fertilisation. Garden plots are provided for boys, and as soon as the weather becomes more springlike, I intend to give practical gardening lessons. This would include the keeping and 1 watching of insects and other animals, with a view to discovering whether they were the friends or foes of gardeners, which in itself is a wide subject.”