The officer smacked his lips over the glass of rum, and then poured out a second one, the sailor whom he had brought on board standing respectfully behind him. Neither of them noticed that the captain had left the cabin and gone on deck, or if they did observe it they suspected nothing. The officer found the rum of excellent quality, and it did not take long for his brain to become considerably muddled. Meantime something he little dreamed of was going on outside the cabin. A signal of recall had been hoisted on the British ship, from which we had drifted somewhat, so that the distance was twice as great as when the officer came on board. Somehow our captain did not observe the signal of recall; neither did the mate nor anyone else. I asked Haines what the signal was, and he replied in a low voice, "Shut your mouth, you young idiot! Don't ask no questions; don't you see the old man's looking the other way?" I turned my eyes in the direction of the captain, and found that his gaze was directed as far as possible from the British ship. He was doing nothing in particular, and I thought he might be looking out to see if any other ship was happening along from that quarter of the ocean. Ten or fifteen minutes passed away in this manner, and then a gun was fired from the man-of-war. The firing of the gun compelled our captain to look in the direction whence the sound came, and after looking a moment toward the other vessel, he proceeded slowly toward the cabin, where he had left the officer and the bottle of rum enjoying each other's society. He told the officer about the signal of the gun-fire, and the latter thanked him in a voice that was decidedly husky. The condition of the sailor who accompanied the officer below showed that he had been treated to a drink or two; the kindly nature of the officer had been awakened by the rum that he had imbibed, and he wished all around him to be happy. It's very easy to be generous with what belongs to somebody else. When the officer and his man came on deck, the former was very effusive in his thanks to our captain for his hospitality. Thereupon the captain asked that he would let the two alleged deserters come aboard the ship a moment to get their dunnage. "Oh, certainly," said the officer, who was in a condition to consent to anything. He turned to the sailor and told him to order the men up. The sailor obeyed his instructions, and in a moment the men were on deck and told to go below and get their dunnage. Then the officer went over the side and descended into his boat, followed by the sailor. By this time night had begun to spread over the ocean, and the darkness was such that it half obscured the outline of the British ship. When the officer and sailor had reached the boat, our captain gave an order in a low voice to the mate to brace around the yards and square away. "And don't make any fuss about it, either," he added; "be as quiet as you can."