"'It is a name that you know well enough. I am Jean Antoine Stromboli Kosnapulski.'
"For I had forgotten. The president had a list of the crew and passengers in front of him, and desired me to find my name in it. As well as my fetters would let me, I pointed, and then, when it was too late, I perceived the blunder that I had made.
"A grim and cruel smile appeared upon General Burriel's face. From the paper in front of him he read aloud the words—
"'John A. Strongboiler, dealer in cigars.' Then he pointed to me, and to the tin box, with 'Jean Antoine Stromboli Kosnapulski' painted on it, which lay upon the deck with other pièces de conviction, ready to be used when needed. Then he spoke slowly, with a bitter ring in his lines—
"'Untie the prisoner and let him open the box. Without doubt it is his cigar-box. If it is found to contain enough cigars to give the members of this court one hundred each, I undertake that the prisoner shall be acquitted.'
"Well, I have no surprise in store for you. You know quite well what was in the box. Under the bayonets of the marines I unpacked it defiantly; and as each article came forth—the cocked hat, the heavy boots, the scarlet tunic, the pipe-clayed breeches—the deck of the Tornado literally shook with shrieks of laughter. Yes, for the first and last time in my life, I, Jean Antoine Stromboli Kosnapulski was laughed at to my face.
"Perhaps for an instant the thought crossed my mind that these men would be merciful to me because I had afforded them amusement. If so, it was a thought that was dispelled with great rapidity. The members of the court-martial conferred aloud, with mocking laughter.
"'A man who travels under a false name——'
"'Talks Spanish——'
"'Says that he is an American——'