They found Mrs. Hendry in the cheap , shoddily furnished rooms in which she had lived since the war had started and the Libyan had been at Harwich , packing her belongings before going home to her people in the north .sx She had been told of her husband's death the day before , and had got over the first of her grief .sx White-faced and tight-lipped , though not tearful , she listened attentively to what Kerrell had to tell her , stopping him every now and then to ask a question .sx Looking at her , Toby came to the conclusion that Hendry must have kept the worst side of his nature for the ship , for this small , pretty little woman with the large grey eyes had obviously loved her husband .sx Toby told her every detail that he could remember of Hendry's coolness and handling of the ship under heavy fire , of his final decision to ram , regardless of consequences .sx " If he had lived , " he added , " he ought to have had the D.S.O. " .sx For the first time Mrs. Hendry sobbed a little and held a handkerchief to her eyes .sx " He so hoped for that , " she replied faintly .sx " That , and his promotion , and now .sx .. now it's all over .sx .. all gone .sx .. everything , everything !sx " .sx " He died in action , " said Mutters after a decent interval , his voice very gentle .sx " If I go under during this war , I .sx .. I hope it will be as gallantly as he did .sx " " Thank you , " she replied quietly .sx " It is some consolation to hear that .sx " Before leaving , they went on to talk of other things , delicate matters money for Mrs. Hendry's journey and for the immediate future ; what should be done with Hendry's personal effects from the ship ; the question of the funeral .sx She , and Hendry's parent's , would like him to be buried side by side with the men who had died with him , she replied .sx She wished him to have a naval funeral .sx She would try to be present .sx It took place two days later at Shotley , and Toby never forgot the poignancy of that two-mile stretch to the little village churchyard .sx At the head of the procession went the firing party of seamen marching two deep with their arms reversed , then the guard , followed by the band playing Beethoven's 'Funeral March,' the solemn music and throbbing of drums seeming to echo and re-echo through the still afternoon air .sx The curious villagers doffed their hats and stood silent as the rumbling gun-carriages went by , each one dragged by seamen and escorted by pall-bearers , each bearing its coffined burden with the red , white , and blue of its shrouding Union Flag all but hidden in wreaths .sx Behind the coffins came a pathetic little group of private mourners wives , fathers , mothers , sons , daughters , relatives of the fallen ; men , women , and children from every part of the country and from every walk of life , dressed for the most part in rusty black .sx There was a father with a row of medals pinned to the breast of his civilian coat , marching with head erect and misty unseeing eyes ; the coxwain's widow with her two children who had come all the way from Chatham ; the newly married nineteen-year-old widow of one of the men .sx Mrs. Hendry , with Hendry's father and mother , who .sx had elected to walk with the relatives of the men rather than to drive , rubbed shoulders with the remainder .sx In their common distress distinctions of class were entirely forgotten .sx They all had the same feelings .sx Then came the naval mourners , officers and men from every ship in the harbour , including the Commodore himself , come to honour his dead .sx Those awful , gaping holes in the ground , and the solemn words of the officiating clergyman " Man that is born of woman hath but a short time to live .sx He cometh up , and is cut down , like a flower .sx .. " Mrs. Hendry , hitherto mistress of herself , swayed slightly as her husband's body was lowered into its grave .sx Kerrell found himself gulping , tried hard to think of something else .sx " Earth to earth , ashes to ashes , dust to dust .sx .. " .sx .. the horrible , hollow thuds as the handfuls of loam fell on to the coffins below .sx Mrs. Hendry's eyes were filled with tears .sx Hendry's mother , leaning on her husband's arm , was sobbing unrestrainedly .sx Then the final words of the Burial Service , a sharp order to the firing party , followed by the tearing crash of the three volleys alternating with the mournful wail of bugles .sx Finally the ` Last Post,' and the sudden smack of rifle slings and the flash of bayonets as the firing party presented arms in a last tribute to the dead .sx The Commodore detached himself from the group of officers , and , saluting , said a few words to each of the private mourners , words that brought a few grains of comfort to their sorrowing hearts .sx In that moment they felt that the deaths of those they loved had not been altogether in vain .sx Leaving the bereaved with their dead , the procession filed out of the churchyard and formed up in the road outside .sx Kerrell hardly remembered the march back to the jetty with the band playing a lively march .sx His mind was full of other things .sx The newspapers made much of the Libyan , and , as their names had figured in the official communique , Toby , Mutters , and Mr. Huxtable all found themselves minor public characters .sx They were pestered with letters from photographers , and those who desired a personal inter-view for press purposes , though they strenuously refused to be thus honoured .sx This , however , did not prevent the appearance in the illustrated daily papers of a photograph of Toby taken years before as a sub-lieutenant , or the representation of Mrs. Huxtable and all her children , with an old photograph of the gunner himself inset in the corner .sx ` Hero of the Libyan,' they called him .sx Even the Admiralty bestirred themselves , for it was a week later , when the ship was safely in dry-dock at Chatham , that the engineer-lieutenant-commander , who had his home at Rochester , came on board to breakfast in a state of considerable excitement .sx A special honours list had been published for the Libyan the Distinguished Service Order for Mutters himself ; Distinguished Service Crosses for Kerrell and Mr. Huxtable ; a mention in dispatches for little Hartopp ; and some Distinguished Service Medals and more 'mentions ' to the men .sx It was not every day two enemy destroyers were sunk .sx It was with mingled feelings that Kerrell had the blue and white riband of his decoration sewn on to the left breast of his monkey jacket before going to London on ten days' leave .sx He was proud to wear it ; but could not help feeling that he had received a reward which rightly belonged to Hendry ; that , had the captain survived , he , Kerrell , would have probably remained undecorated , while Hendry would have been wearing the crimson , blue-edged riband of the D.S.O. .sx TOBY KERRELL'S mother had died in bringing him into the world , and he was the only child .sx His father , a retired Indian civilian , had never re-married , and departed this life three years before the war .sx Except for a few cousins whom he rarely saw , one uncle in the Colonial Service in East Africa , and another , the ex-colonel of an Indian regiment who had settled in Berwickshire with his second wife and a new brood of harum-scarum children , he had no kith or kin .sx Secure in the possession of a small private income left him by his father , he was financially independent of the Navy and more or less his own master .sx Once , but only once , he had spent a fortnight with Uncle Dick and his wife in the north .sx It was an experience he never wished to repeat .sx At one period before the war , he had imagined himself to be mildly fond of Janet Wintringham , whom he had first met at the house of mutual friends .sx Beyond the fact that she `did something ' in London and more or less earned her own living , he knew little about her .sx He knew that she liked him .sx She had written to him at intervals , and had even gone out of her way to collect home-knitted mufflers , balaclava helmets , and sea-boot stockings from her friends for the whole of the Libyan's ship's company during the first winter of the war .sx She had also sent them parcels of books and literature , plum puddings , chocolates , games , and a gramophone and records through some society or other in which she was interested .sx Her letters were always cheerful and friendly , and Toby , who liked receiving them , did his best to reply .sx But he had little spare time , and hated having to write letters .sx He never knew what to say .sx They had seen each other in London since the war , and for a long time had called each other by their Christian names .sx But this meant nothing .sx Everybody did it .sx Toby was always 'Toby ' to his acquaintances , and Janet 'Janet .sx ' Analysing his feelings , Toby came to the conclusion that he liked Janet , liked her better than anyone he knew , could even imagine asking her to marry him .sx She interested and attracted him .sx All the same , he did not quite feel the overwhelming sensation of blind adoration for her which he considered the proper prelude to a proposal of marriage .sx To tell the truth , he had purposely steered clear of any serious entanglement .sx When he married , he wanted leisure to devote himself to a wife , whoever she might be .sx And how could he devote himself to a wife as the busy first-lieutenant of a destroyer in wartime ?sx She would be ashore and he afloat .sx They would hardly see each other .sx He might even be killed .sx No .sx To tie oneself permanently to a woman during the war was a mug's game .sx He must wait until it was over .sx Then , he might seriously think about marrying and settling down ; settling down , that is , as much as it was possible for any naval officer ever to do .sx Unless another war seemed likely , he might even leave the Service and look for some congenial job which would enable him to live at home .sx At the best of times the Navy , with its ups and downs , and sudden moves , and long spells of foreign service , was no place for a married man .sx All Toby's brief periods of leave since the outbreak of war had been spent in London , where he belonged to one of the best of the Service Clubs .sx Club chambers were comfortable enough , and one was well looked after .sx Though food and cooking hardly troubled Toby at all , both were good .sx The Club itself , .sx however , though luxurious , rather savoured of a mausoleum , in which he felt frightened to raise his voice above a whisper .sx It bristled with admirals and generals and elderly retired colonels , now mostly in uniform , who , though kind-hearted enough when one got to know them , looked fiercely and disconcertingly at any member much under the age of forty who was not a habitue .sx Youth and juniority in the Service seemed to be almost a crime .sx Almost one could hear the more elderly members asking , " Who's that young devil ?sx What's he doing here ?sx " .sx No .sx Life in the Club was altogether too constrained and formal , Toby found .sx If anyone addressed him , he felt obliged to call him 'Sir .sx ' It seemed almost a breach of etiquette if he so much as dared to sit in an armchair , or fell asleep over a book in the ` dormitory ' upstairs , otherwise the library .sx But the Club certainly had its uses .sx It served as a convenient pied--terre when he was on an occasional week's leave , for he had many acquaintances in London who were always pleased to see him .sx Entertaining on any considerable scale had finished on the outbreak of war .sx Nearly all the young men of Toby's age had joined the army and were already fighting or training in England .sx Not a few had been killed .sx Many families he knew were in mourning for sons or brothers .sx There was nobody who had not lost a relative of some sort .sx And most of the women , matrons as well as girls , were feverishly busy .sx