On the Beach (Penguin Joint Venture Readers S.)

Lieutenant-Commander Peter Holmes, of the Royal Australian Navy, woke early. He lay half asleep for a time and watched the first light of the Australian sun on the window. The position of the sun showed that it was nearly five o’clock. Very soon the light would wake his baby daughter, Jennifer. There was no need to get up until that happened. He woke happy, and he was not sure why. Then he remembered the date. This was Thursday, 27th December. Today he had to go to the Navy Department in Melbourne. He had to be there at eleven o’clock and he was hoping to receive a new appointment. If he got it, it would be his first work for five months. He hoped that he would be sent to sea again. He liked the sea better than a job on land. He was happy because he would have work to do. He had not had any work since the Navy made him a Lieutenant-Commander. That was in August, and he had almost lost hope of working again. But the Navy Office had paid him during these months, and he was grateful for that.