He had
all his directions written out straight as a string to give the
right ones. I wanted him to trust 'em to me, so I might have
something to show, but he wouldn't. I suppose he's dead now. I
wrote to him an' I done all I could. 'Twill be a great exploit
some o' these days."
I assented absent-mindedly, thinking more just then of my
companion's alert, determined look and the seafaring, ready aspect
that had come to his face; but at this moment there fell a sudden
change, and the old, pathetic, scholarly look returned. Behind me
hung a map of North America, and I saw, as I turned a little, that
his eyes were fixed upon the northernmost regions and their careful
recent outlines with a look of bewilderment.
VII
The Outer Island
GAFFETT WITH HIS good bunk and the bird-skins, the story of
the wreck of the Minerva, the human-shaped creatures of fog and
cobweb, the great words of Milton with which he described their
onslaught upon the crew, all this moving tale had such an air of
truth that I could not argue with Captain Littlepage.
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