Читать книгу Pitcairn's Island. Sea Adventure Novel онлайн

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Young turned his head. “The booming of the surf?” he asked. “I have already ceased to hear it in a conscious way. To me it has become a part of the silence of the place.”

“I wish I could say as much. You have a faculty I greatly admire. What shall I call it? Stillness of mind, perhaps. It is not one that you could have acquired. You must have had it always.”

Young smiled. “Does it seem to you such a valuable faculty?”

“Beyond price!” Christian replied, earnestly. “I have often observed you without your being aware of the fact. I believe that you could sit for hours on end without forethought or afterthought, enjoying the beauty of each moment as it passes. What would I not give for your quiet spirit!”

“Allow me to say that I have envied you, many’s the time, for having the reverse of my quietness, as you call it. There is all too little of the man of action in my character. When I think what a sorry aide I am to you here ...”

“A sorry aide? In God’s name, Ned, what could I do without you? Supposing ...” He broke off with a faint smile. “Enough,” he added. “The time has not come when we need begin paying one another compliments.”