"Oh, certainly I do," I replied; "but the officer who came aboard did not try to take anybody away that he knew was an American." "Yes, that's true," Haines replied; "and the trouble with him was, from a British point of view, that he was too particular, and also that he lost his head over the captain's rum-bottle. Not one officer in twenty, so far as I've known, would hesitate at taking just as many men as he wanted, whether they were British born or not. You see, that officer wasn't right in his head when he got drunk so easily at a time when he should have stayed sober. "It looks to me very much," Haines continued, "as though they intended to impress us in punishment for our disorderly conduct. I presume that's what they do when Americans come ashore and give any sort of a reason for being arrested; off they go to the king's receiving-ship, and whenever wanted they are drafted into one of his Majesty's men-of-war. But make yourself easy, my lad, we won't have any trouble; as soon as they find that we belong to the crew of the Washington that little affair of the Warwick will set everything right." While he spoke an officer appeared; what he was I don't know, but he had uniform enough on him for a general or an admiral, at least. He spoke to the officer in charge of us, and called him to one side. There was quite an earnest talk between them, but of course we don't know what it was. Anyhow, it was something in our favor, as we were taken back to where we spent the night, and our keeper treated us very civilly after the heavily uniformed officer went away. He asked if we would like some breakfast, and on our saying we would he gave an order to one of the soldiers to bring us something to eat. In less than a quarter of an hour we had a big pan of beef-stew before us, along with a large loaf of bread, and as much coffee as we wanted to drink. It was a real good breakfast, and every one of us felt a great deal better after we had eaten it. That it was the intention to impress us into the British service I have not the least doubt, and Haines was correct when he suggested that the affair of the Warwick would save us. I heard afterward that not a few American sailors who became drunk and disorderly while on shore at Gibraltar and other British ports had been sent to jail over night and to a receiving-ship in the morning. They had no chance of escape, and in the course of time, and very short at that, found themselves serving on British ships-of-war.