assured Russia she had no evil intent. Still, anything that sets the
diplomatists at work is frowned upon, and the man who does an act
which his government is forced to disclaim becomes unpopular with his
superiors."

"I read about it in the papers at the time. Didn't the rock fire back
at you?"

"Yes, it did, and no one could have been more surprised than I when I
saw the answering puff of smoke."

"How came a cannon to be there?"

"Nobody knows. I suppose that rock in the Baltic is a concealed fort,
with galleries and gun-rooms cut in the stone after the fashion of our
defences at Gibraltar. I told the court-martial that I had added a
valuable bit of information to our naval knowledge, but I don't
suppose this contention exercised any influence on the minds of my
judges. I also called their attention to the fact that my shell had
hit, while the Russian shot fell half a mile short. That remark nearly
cost me my commission. A court-martial has no sense of humor."

"I suppose everything is satisfactorily settled now?"

"Well, hardly that. You see, Continental nations are extremely
suspicious of Britain's good intentions, as indeed they are of the
good intentions of each other. No government likes to have-- well,
what we might call a 'frontier incident' happen, and even if a country
is quite in the right, it nevertheless looks askance at any official
of its own who, through his stupidity, brings about an international