THE IMMORTAL GAMBLE AND THE PART PLAYED IN IT BY H.M.S. “CORNWALLIS” By A. T. STEWART, ACTING-COMMANDER, R.N. AND THE REV. C. J. E. PESHALL, CHAPLAIN, R.N. _Post 8vo. Containing 32 page Illustrations from photographs, and a Map_ PRICE 6/- NET. (Post free 6/5) This book, written by two officers of the battleship from whose fore-turret was fired the first shot of the bombardment, gives an account of happenings of vital interest and importance. It is absorbing because the truth shines out everywhere, and you feel that for once you are really getting first-hand information as to what did happen. It bridges the gap between February 19th and April 25th (the date of the Great Landing), and of this period we have hitherto heard hardly anything. Besides the valuable nature of the material, this chronicle of great events is written with considerable literary skill. The authors have succeeded in making their “log” intimate. It is before all things a man’s book, and unless the publishers are much mistaken, this originally conceived Saga of the Straits will attract attention everywhere. PUBLISHED BY A. AND C. BLACK, LTD., 4, 5 AND 6, SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W. 1 THE GUNROOM BY CHARLES LANGBRIDGE MORGAN “We are carried so far out to sea that we lose sight of the quiet haven whence we set forth.” --_Dialogus beati Gregorii Papæ ejusque diaconi Petri_, translation 1608 and ROBERT BRIDGES. A. & C. BLACK, LTD. 4, 5 & 6 SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W. 1 1919 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE SHORE RECEDES 1 II. SEEN THROUGH STEEL 25 III. A CHAPTER WITHOUT NAME 36 IV. WAR, CARPETS, AND CANDLES 62 V. TWO WORLDS 85 VI. STRAIN AND RELIEF 101 VII. MARGARET 113 VIII. THE NET 143 IX. QUARTERED ON THE KINGDOM 149 X. EASTERN SEAS 162 XI. AWAY FROM THE SHIP 169 XII. THE CAPTAIN IN CONFIDENCE 177 XIII. LOOKING BEYOND 196 XIV. WASTE AND WONDER 212 XV. TRAFALGAR AND THE RED LAMP 227 XVI. THE ENGINES 236 XVII. DECISION 263 XVIII. IN THE CROSS-PASSAGE 276 XIX. CRISIS 287 XX. WINGFIELD ALTER 305 XXI. THE CURRENCY 311 XXII. MARGARET IN THE NET 320 XXIII. AN INSTANT FREE 334 XXIV. ONE YEAR LATER: THE WORLD IN THE NET 347 THE GUNROOM CHAPTER I THE SHORE RECEDES I