"No books--that's the very worst. Our mess library went astray in the last move: no great loss perhaps except for the _Irish R.M._, which I was reading for the nth time. The only relic that survives, and follows us everywhere like an intelligent hound, is a novel of Scottish sentiment, entitled _But and Ben_. The heroine wears (p. 2) a dress of 'some soft white clinging material'--which may account for it. Young Y.-Smith, who professes to have read the work from cover to cover, asserts that this material clings to her throughout: but I doubt the thoroughness of his perusal since he explained to us that 'Ben' and 'But' were the play-names of the lad and his lassie. . . . For our personal libraries we possess: "_R.O._--A hulking big copy of the _International Code of Signals_: a putrid bad book, of which I am preparing, in odd moments, a recension, to submit to the Board of Trade. Y.-Smith borrows this off me now and then, to learn up the flags at the beginning. He gloats on crude colours. "_Polkinghorne_--A Bible, which I borrow, sometimes for private study, sometimes (you understand?) for professional purposes. It contains a Book of Common Prayer as well as the Apocrypha. P. (a Cornishman, something of a mystic, two years my senior and full of mining experiences in Nevada and S. America) always finds a difficulty in parting with this, his one book. He is deep in it, this moment, at the far end of the table. "_Sammy Barham_, so far as anyone can discover, has never read a book in his life nor wanted to. He was educated at Harrow. Lacking the _Daily Mail_, he is miserable just now, poor boy! I almost forgave the Code upon discovering that his initials, S.B., spell, for a distress signal, 'Can you lend (or give) me a newspaper?' "_Yarrell-Smith_ reads Penny Dreadfuls. He owns four, and was kind enough, the other day, to lend me one: but it's a trifle too artless even for my artless mind. "Young _Williams_--a promising puppy sent up to me to be walked--reads nothing at all. He brought two packs of Patience cards and a Todhunter's _Euclid_; the one to rest, the other to stimulate, his mind; and I've commandeered the _Euclid_. A great writer, Sally! He's not juicy, and he don't palpitate, but he's an angel for style. 'Therefore the triangle DBC is equal to the triangle ABC--pause and count three--'the less to the greater'--pause--'which is absurd.' Neat and demure: and you're constantly coming on little things like that. 'Two straight lines cannot enclose a space'--so broad and convincing, when once pointed out!--and why is it not in _The Soldiers' Pocket-Book_ under 'Staff Axioms'?