A Study in Piracy by Josephine Daskam Bacon

It might not have occurred to you to find the Head Captain terrible to look upon, had you seen him first without his uniform. There seems to be something essentially pacific in the effect of a broad turn-over gingham collar, a blue neck-ribbon, and a wide straw hat; and you might be pardoned for thinking him a rather mild person. But could you have encountered him in a black cambric mask with pinked edges, a broad sash of Turkey red wound tightly about his waist, and that wide collar _turned up_ above his ears-the tie conspicuous for its absence-you might have sung another tune. His appearance was at such a time nothing short of menacing.

The Lieutenant was distinctly less impressive. His sash, though not so long as the Head Captain's, was forever coming untied and trailing behind him, and as he often retreated rapidly, he stumbled and fell over it twice out of three times. This gave it a draggled and spiritless look. Moreover, he was not allowed to turn his collar up except on Saturdays, and the one his sister had made him from wrapping paper had an exotic, not to say amateur theatrical, effect that was far from convincing. The eye-holes in his mask, too, were much too large-showing, indeed, the greater part of both cheeks, each of which was provided with a deep dimple. Seen in the daytime, he was not-to speak confidentially-very awesome.