It seems almost unnecessary to remark that the characters and ships
figuring in the sketches throughout this book are entirely fictitious.
"Bunting," "The Acting Sub," "Our Happy Home," "The Lost Sheep," "The
'Muckle Flugga' Hussars," and "The Mother Ship" appeared in the _Daily
Mail_, and "The 'Pirates'" in the _Weekly Despatch_. They are here
reprinted, with minor alterations, by kind permission of the Editors.