"Given at the Foreign Office, London.
"The American skipper listened and was visibly impressed. It looked as though his eyeballs would start from their sockets in his astonishment. He banged the cabin table with his first, exclaiming—
"'Snakes alive, man! that is the real thing, ain't it?'
"I explained that it was merely an ordinary Foreign Office passport, which I had acquired through my banker when, for a brief period, I had a bank account in London; but Captain Shagg was not disheartened.
"'Wal,' he said, 'it bluffed me, anyhow. And I conclude that what is good enough to bluff me is good enough to bluff the dagos. I'm with you, stranger, in your gallant enterprise. Full speed ahead!'
"I further pointed out that, in order to carry conviction to the eye as well as to the ear, the credentials of an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary must be tied up in green ribbon and fastened with green sealing-wax; and Captain Shagg, with the natural adroitness of the sailor man, showed me how this could be managed.
"'I have no ribbon,' he said, 'but I can make some out of the lining of my hat. I have no green sealing-wax, but I have plenty of green paint. It won't be the real thing, any more than the papers are, but it will be near enough for the dagos. And now we'll pipe all hands on deck and tell the crew just what it's needful they should know."
"So, our plan being arranged, the preparations for carrying it through were set in hand at once. We hove to in mid-ocean and gave the ship a new coating of black paint; we holystoned the deck: we smartened up the vessel's rig; we painted some spare spars and fixed up dummy guns; we lettered H.M.S. Terror on the caps of the crew of the gig; and we hoisted the Union Jack conspicuously.
"The result was satisfactory. I do not say we could have stood inspection by an admiral; but there was no admiral to inspect us. Captain Shagg, at any rate, was gratified and confident.
"''Tain't the real thing,' he repeated, 'but it's near enough to bluff the dagos. No dago will express doubts as to the genuineness of this show—more especially when he observes that my hand is deep down in my revolver pocket.'