"I guess I'll have a boy," said Jones. "'Ere, you scum, send me Billy." And Billy came aft.
"I releases you temp'ry without bail," said the skipper fiercely, "so puckalow that case and foller me. No, you wait till I gets a tablecloth as a signal I'm willin' to 'ave peace."
When he came out with a cloth he went ashore and stumbled up the hill, followed by the boy Billy, bearing the case of brandy. He found the crew of the Frenchmen lining the crest, and heard them talk.
"Say, Johnny French," said old Jones, "if you wants war, prepare for peace. Who's the captain?"
"Sapristi!" said the French captain.
Jones nodded.
"Give it up, old son. It warn't my fault, if relyin' on the discretion of ambassadors ain't a fault: and maybe you can swaller the hultimatum with some real good brandy throwed in. And is your name Sapristi?"
"Nom de Dieu——" began the Frenchman, but Jones waved his hand with dignity.
"Call yourself what you like, but 'ave you got anythin' in the way of a marlinspike or a splice bar as'll open this yer case?"
The foreigners, perceiving that the Englishman was on an errand of peace, gathered about the case, and soon discovered from the stencilled inscription that it at any rate pretended to come from Cognac.