Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England Crown and Anchor, by John Conroy Hutcheson. ________________________________________________________________________ This book is by a really good contemporary authority on how vessels of the Royal Navy were managed in the late nineteenth century, therefore every page rings true. Some of the best parts are quite early in the book, when our hero and his ship go to investigate a sinking wreck in the Bay of Biscay, which had been reported to them by a French warship they had encountered. The vessel is sent on to other stations, and in particular to the China one, where several notable incidents occur. This book is a very good yarn, and it makes a very good audiobook. ________________________________________________________________________ CROWN AND ANCHOR, BY JOHN CONROY HUTCHESON. CHAPTER ONE. AN OLD SEA-LION. "Hullo, Dad!" I cried out, stopping abruptly in front of the red granite coloured Reform Club, down the marble steps of which a queer-looking old gentleman was slowly descending. "Who is that funny old fellow there? He's just like that `old clo'' man we saw at the corner of the street this morning, only that he hasn't got three hats on, one on top of another, the same as the other chap had!" We were walking along Pall Mall on our way from Piccadilly to Whitehall, where my father intended calling in at the Admiralty to put in a sort of official appearance on his return to England after a long period of foreign service; and Dad was taking advantage of the opportunity to show me a few of the sights of London that came within our ken, everything being strange to me, for I had never set foot in the metropolis before the previous evening, when mother and I had come up by a late train from the little Hampshire village where we lived, to meet father on his arrival and welcome him home. Under these circumstances, therefore, as might reasonably have been expected, our halts had been already frequent and oft to satisfy the cravings of my wondering fancy; and Dad must have been tired of answering my innumerable questions and inquiries ere half our journey had been accomplished. He was very good-tempered and obliging, however, and bore with me patiently, giving me all the information in his power concerning the various persons and objects that attracted my attention, and never "turning nasty" at my insatiable curiosity. So now, as heretofore, obedient to my bidding, he turned to look in the direction to which I pointed. "Where's your friend, the funny old fellow you spoke of, my boy?" he said kindly, though half-quizzingly. "I don't see him, Jack." "Why, there he is, right opposite to us, Dad!" I exclaimed. "He's coming down the steps from that doorway there, and is quite close to us now!" "Oh! that's your friend, Jack, eh?" said father, glancing in his turn at the old gentleman who had caught my eye. "Let me see if I can make him out for you."