“About two hundred tons of gold bullion or native gold, consigned to the Bank of England to the order of Munster & Thorp.” The collector dropped his pen, stared speechlessly for a moment, and then flushed angrily. “I’d have you know, sir,” he exclaimed in savage tones, “that I am not here to be made game of. What do you mean by coming here with such yarns? Give me your proper ship’s papers, enter your vessel in the regular way, and get you gone,” and outraged official dignity glared at the captain of the _Mystery_ in righteous anger. Captain Penniman did not seem offended, nor was he repentant. He rather sympathized with the other’s wrath, and yet was amused by it. He judged it would be hardly prudent to allow his amusement to become visible; so he preserved a serious countenance. “I beg you to observe,” he replied conciliatingly, “that my papers are perfectly regular and complete. You can hardly doubt the corroborative evidence of New York newspapers on the point of the time of my departure from New York. As for my cargo, I admit it is an unusual one, but I have brought none of it ashore with me. If you will come on board I will show you that it is just what I have declared it to be. Besides, there is no duty on gold, is there?” The revenue officer now sat in helpless bewilderment. He looked again at the newspaper and at the ship’s papers. Her cargo was not specified in the latter, but the date of leaving New York seemed to be clearly established. His credulity was able to digest that fact, marvelous though it was, in the face of such evidence. But two hundred tons of gold! Why should not a wonderful ship have a wonderful cargo? It was a tremendous strain to put upon the mental apparatus of even so important a functionary as Her Majesty’s collector of customs at Southampton. But he struggled hard to meet the emergency. His face was still flushed, and he breathed heavily for a few moments, apparently in fear of an apoplectic stroke. It was a noble effort to keep reason still seated on her throne, and it succeeded. “How much money do two hundred tons of gold represent?” he asked faintly, after a long silence. “Oh, a matter of £25,000,000 or thereabouts,” was the reply. “Enormous, but I thought it was more,” was the comment of the man, still dazed, but trying to recover his mental equilibrium. “Well, as I said before, I shall be glad to show you the ship if you care to go aboard of her with me,” said Captain Penniman, rising. “I’ll be thankful, though, if you will kindly refrain from mentioning the nature of our cargo until to-morrow. The crew know nothing about it, and I want to get it up to London without attracting attention. I must arrange for docking and engage a special train to take the bullion to the city early to-morrow morning. I’ll attend to that now, and call for you in half an hour or so, if you wish.”