“Mr。Dodd。”returnedNares，“you’rerightaboutmehavingbeentoseathebiggerpartofmylife。Andyou’rerightagainwhenyouthinkIknowagoodmanywaysinwhichadishonestcaptainmayn’tbeonthesquare，nordoexactlytherightthingbyhisowners，andaltogetherbejustalittletoosmartbyninety-nineandthree-quarters。There’sagoodmanyways，butnotsomanyasyou’dthink；andnotonethathasanymortalthingtodowithTrent。Trentandhiswholerackethasgottodowithnothing——that’sthebed-rockfact；there’snosensetoit，andnouseinit，andnostorytoit：it’sabeastlydream。Anddon’tyourunawaywiththatnotionthatlandsmentakeaboutships。Asocietyactressdon’tgoaroundmorepubliclythanwhatashipdoes，norismoreinterviewed，normorehumbugged，normorerunafterbyallsortsoflittlefussinessesinbrassbuttons。Andmorethananactress，ashiphasadealtolose；she’scapital，andtheactressonlycharacter——ifshe’sthat。
Theportsoftheworldarethickwithpeoplereadytokickacaptainintothepenitentiaryifhe’snotasbrightasadollarandashonestasthemorningstar；andwhatwithLloydkeepingwatchandwatchineverycornerofthethreeoceans，andtheinsuranceleeches，andtheconsuls，andthecustomsbugs，andthemedicos，youcanonlygettheideabythinkingofalandsmanwatchedbyahundredandfiftydetectives，orastrangerinavillageDownEast。”
“Well，butatsea？”Isaid。
“Youmakemetired。”retortedthecaptain。“What’stheuse——atsea？Everything’sgottocometobearingsatsomeport，hasn’tit？Youcan’tstopatseaforever，canyou？——No；theFlyingScudisrubbish；ifitmeantanything，itwouldhavetomeansomethingsoalmightyintricatethatJamesG。Blainehasn’tgotthebrainstoengineerit；andIvoteformoreaxeing，pioneering，andopeninguptheresourcesofthisphenomenalbrig，andlessgeneralfuss。”headded，arising。“Thedime-museumsymptomswilldropinofthemselves，Iguess，tokeepuscheery。”
Butitappearedwewereattheendofdiscoveriesfortheday；