He carried a dozen copies of it with him, always, and referred to them for all required information.

If it was not there, he supplied it himself, out of a bountiful fancy, inventing history, names, dates, and every thing else necessary to make his point good in an argument.

Consequently he was a formidable antagonist in a dispute.

Whenever he swung clear of the record and began to create history, the enemy was helpless and had to surrender.

Indeed, the enemy could not keep from betraying some little spark of indignation at his manufactured history--and when it came to indignation, that was the Admiral's very "best hold." He was always ready for a political argument, and if nobody started one he would do it himself.