"Waal, I'll be jiggered!" exclaimed the skipper, turning to his mate. "Hear that, Silas?  I'll bet yew ten dollars the critter calls hisself a sailor, and yet he can't tell the difference between the _Virginia_ and the _Preciosa_ without lookin' at their papers!  I'll tell ye, stranger, where the difference is between them two vessels.  One on 'em has V-i-r- g-i-n-i-a, N-e-w O-r-l-e-a-n-s cut--_cut_, mind you--and painted on her starn, and she flies that galorious flag that's floatin' up thar," pointing to the American ensign fluttering from the gaff-end--"while t'other has the words P-r-e-c-i-o-s-a, H-a-v-a-n-a cut and painted on hern, and she flies a yaller flag with two red bars.  I know, because I've seen her--ay, most as often as I've seen the _'Ginia_!  Now, sonny, d'ye think ye'll be able to remember that little lesson in sailormanship that a free-born American citizen has been obliged to give ye?"