The wind had entirely died away, and the slow swell of the ocean was like molten glass. No sooner did the screws cease to revolve than the ships changed suddenly from grim, threatening engines of destruction to bright and gay brides of a smiling god of the sea. They bedecked themselves from stem to stern, from mast-head to gun-ports, in a glory of bunting and color. Boats were launched and richly uniformed officers sped over the green water to the flagship of the international squadron. Ensigns were dipped, salutes were fired, and guests were welcomed with all the dignified courtesies of naval etiquette. On board the American battleship every preparation had been made for the peculiar duty which had been assigned to her. The admiral in command desired to make Robert Brent, who was the only civilian on board, the central figure in the performance of the day’s task. Brent had declined positively to act any part save that of spectator. The only special privilege he asked was permission to present to every man in the fleet a souvenir of the occasion in the shape of a substantial nugget from the gold-laden boxes. So when the foreign commanders came on board the _Massachusetts_, the boats which brought them took back each to its ship a box so heavy that davit and tackle was necessary to raise it to the deck. Many boxes from the magazine of the _Massachusetts_, where the gold had been stored, were brought upon deck before the visitors arrived, but none of them had been opened. A squad of marines stood guard over them on the upper deck forward. A large iron chute, projecting about six feet beyond the side of the ship and directly over the water, had been placed in position. At the upper end of the chute a small inclined platform had been constructed. It was so contrived that when by means of tackle and falls one of the wooden boxes had been placed there, its contents might easily be tipped into the chute, and carried by gravity over the side and into the waves. Just before twelve o’clock the visiting officers and all the ship’s company of the _Massachusetts_ were assembled on her deck in full view of the nearest ships of the squadron on either side. The American admiral signaled the fleet to move forward in the same order at quarter speed. As noon drew near the ensigns were dipped on each of the four convoys, and their heaviest guns began to thunder forth a national salute.