"
I wondered, as I looked at him, if he had sprung from a line
of ministers; he had the refinement of look and air of command
which are the heritage of the old ecclesiastical families of New
England. But as Darwin says in his autobiography, "there is no
such king as a sea-captain; he is greater even than a king or a
schoolmaster!"
Captain Littlepage moved his chair out of the wake of the
sunshine, and still sat looking at me. I began to be very eager to
know upon what errand he had come.
"It may be found out some o' these days," he said earnestly.
"We may know it all, the next step; where Mrs. Begg is now, for
instance. Certainty, not conjecture, is what we all desire."
"I suppose we shall know it all some day," said I.
"We shall know it while yet below," insisted the captain, with
a flush of impatience on his thin cheeks. "We have not looked for
truth in the right direction. I know what I speak of; those who
have laughed at me little know how much reason my ideas are based
upon." He waved his hand toward the village below.
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