"I won't have to polish the brass on _those_ kits again." Shortly after the return of the last boat, smoke was sighted to seaward.
The crew was called to general quarters without delay, and our ship steamed out to investigate.

After a brief but exciting chase, we discovered that the supposed enemy was the auxiliary cruiser "Dixie," a sister ship of the "Yankee." She was manned by the Maryland Naval Reserves, and her armament was composed of six-inch breechloading rifles, not of the rapid-fire class.
It soon became evident that her commanding officer, Commander Davis, was superior in rank to Commander Brownson, and he took charge of affairs at once.

Captain Brownson was rowed over to the "Dixie" to pay his respects, and on his return a rumor that we were to be relieved of coast patrol duty by the "Dixie" and to proceed to Key West, went through the ship like wildfire.
Tom LeValley brought the news to a group of us gathered on the after gun deck.

We were just discussing the peculiar, and apparently ridiculous, degrees of etiquette found among naval officers in general, as exemplified by the ranking of Commander Davis over Commander Brownson.
"They are both commanders," Tommy was explaining, "but Commander Davis happens to rank Commander Brownson by sixteen numbers in the official list.

Both entered the service November 29, 1861, and--" "Whoop!" Down the ladder charged LeValley, wildly flourishing his cap.