"Burton," he said.
"Sir," snapped the other.
"Run back and fetch my pipe for me," said Mr. Stiles. "I left it on the mantelpiece."
Mr. Burton hesitated, and, the widow happening to look away, shook his fist at his superior officer.
"Look sharp," said Mr. Stiles, in a peremptory voice.
"I'm very sorry, sir," said Mr. Burton, whose wits were being sharpened by misfortune, "but I broke it."
"Broke it?" repeated the other.
"Yes, sir," said Mr. Burton. "I knocked it on the floor and trod on it by accident; smashed it to powder."
Mr. Stiles rated him roundly for his carelessness, and asked him whether he knew that it was a present from the Italian Ambassador.
"Burton was always a clumsy man," he said, turning to the widow. "He had the name for it when he was on the Destruction with me; 'Bungling Burton' they called him."