Читать книгу List, Ye Landsmen!. A Romance of Incident онлайн

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“I am without nautical instruments,” said I, looking at the quadrant which he held.

“I have three of these,” he answered, “and one is at your service.”

I rose and took a turn, full of thought, wishing to say “Yes” but wishing to consider, too.

“Even were Van Laar,” said he, “as good and trustworthy a seaman as ever stepped a deck, I would rather have a fellow-countryman for a mate than a Dutchman, though the Dutchman were the better man. In this case it is wholly the other way about. Here are you, fresh from a long voyage, with the experiences of the sea green upon you. You are young; you are English. I owe you my life; and what a debt is that! Together we can make this voyage not only a rich but a jolly jaunt. On the other hand, is Van Laar—no, plague on him, he is not on the other hand, he is out of it. Well, I must now go on deck to take sights. Let me have your answer soon.”

He extended his hand, received mine, pressed it cordially, and quitted the cabin.

I followed with Galloon, and, entering the stateroom, paced the deck of it and turned Greaves’ proposal over. While I paced, Van Laar, with a quadrant in his hand, came out of a cabin abreast of the captain’s. He stared me full and insolently in the face, and said in a tone of irony: