sed when he observed his nose, which
was of the right copper hue, and asked him how much he _could_ drink if
it was a case of life and death. "O king," he answered,

"I am but a poor captain, and wine is very dear. I never tried
seriously. I can't afford to exceed my seven quarts a day; but if your
majesty would stand treat I would undertake to finish twelve at least.
But my squire who is called Balthasar the Bottomless, is a much harder
drinker than I am." Balthasar was called, a thin, ashy-pale little
fellow with lank straight hair, and the king sent them into a tent by
themselves, with some fine old casks of Hochheimer and Nierstein, and
told them to get drunk. They began at 11 a.m., and by 4 p.m. they had
finished eight gallons of Hochheimer and twelve of Nierstein. When the
king went to see them they were quite sober, but Captain Tosspot said
he thought he should soon have to loosen his sword-belt, and Balthasar
had undone three buttons of his collar. Then said the king, "What
better ambassadors can I find to talk the fair city of Bremen into its
senses?" So Tosspot was made ambassador and Balthasar the Bottomless
his secretary, and they were properly rigged out, and their
instructions were made out; and the first of these was that they were
to drink nothing but water on the way to Bremen, that the battle in the
cellar might be more glorious afterwards; another was that Tosspot was
to rub his nose with a white ointment, that no one might see what a
practised mouth he was. They arrived safely at Bremen, but both of them
naturally quite ill through drinking water: the Senators of Bremen
thought they would have an easy victory over two such milksops, and so
the burgomaster said he would look after the ambassador, and Dr.
Redpepper should settle the secretary. So in the evening they were
solemnly led into the cellar with a lot of senators who were invited to
assist in the negotiations. They sat down in this room and had a little
spiced meat and ham and red herrings; but when Mr. Ambassador Tosspot
wanted to begin the negotiation in an honourable manner, and Mr.
Secretary Balthasar took parchment and ink-horn from his pocket, "Not
so, noble gentlemen," said the burgomaster; "it is not the custom in
Bremen that we should settle weighty matters with a dry throat, we will
first drink to one another, as our ancestors in like cases have always
done." "I am but a poor drinker," said the captain, "but if it so
pleases your Hig