It marked an epoch, and you may Recall the action in A place called Quaxipotle bay? Yes, both the navies ran away; And yet, if Ecuador can say That on the whole she won the day, The fact is due to Sin. [Illustration ** Two men in rain gear at the wheel of a ship.] The Fleet was hardly ten weeks out, When somebody descried The enemy. Sin gave a shout, The Helmsmen put the ship about; For, upon either side, Tactics demanded a retreat. Due west retired the foreign fleet, But Sin he steered due east; He muttered, “They shall never meet.” And when, towards the close of day, The foemen were at least Fifteen or twenty miles away, He called his cabin-steward aft, The boldest of his men; He grasped them by the hand; he laughed A fearless laugh, and then, “Heaven help the right! Full steam a-head, Fighting for fighting’s sake,” he said. [Illustration ** Sailors firing a cannon.] Due west the foe--due east he steered. Ah, me! the very stokers cheered, And faces black with coal And fuzzy with a five days’ beard Popped up, and yelled, and disappeared Each in its little hole. Long after they were out of sight, Long after dark, throughout the night, Throughout the following day, He went on fighting all the time! Not war, perhaps, but how sublime! [Illustration ** Sin in military uniform greeting a fellow officer boarding a ship.] Just as he would have stepped ashore, The President of Ecuador Came on his quarter deck; Embraced him twenty times or more, And gave him stripes and things galore, Crosses and medals by the score, And handed him a cheque,-- And then a little speech he read. “Of twenty years, your sentence said, “That you should serve--another week “(Alas! it shames me as I speak) “Was owing when you quitted. “In recognition of your nerve, “It gives me pleasure to observe “The time you still had got to serve “Is totally remitted. [Illustration ** Portrait of five men in military uniforms.] “Instead of which these friends of mine”-- (And here he pointed to a line Of Colonels on the Quay)-- “Have changed your sentence to a fine “Made payable to me. “No--do not thank me--not a word! “I am very glad to say “This little cheque is quite a third “Of what you have to pay.” The crew they cheered and cheered again, The simple-loyal-hearted men! Such deeds could never fail to be Renowned throughout the west. It was our cousins over sea That loved the Sailor best,-- Our Anglo-Saxon kith and kin, They doted on Commander Sin, And gave him a tremendous feast The week before we started. O’Hooligan, and Vonderbeast, And Nicolazzi, and the rest, Were simply broken-hearted.