"You will be took quick with your wits for me to fathom them, Master Murray," says she. "I am but a young maid that knows no more than that right is right."
"I protest you underrate yourself," he answered.
"What Moira thinks is of no consequence," interrupted O'Donnell. "You have not answered me."
"True, chevalier. I was thinking. My thoughts are not completely shapen, but 'twill do no harm if I reveal that it occurred to me that in many ways it might simplify our problem did Captain Flint resort to force."
The Irishman counted the gunports in the Walrus' side.
"He seems to carry as heavy metal——"
"But on the sea, as on the land, 'tis the brain which overmatches brute force, chevalier. You, who are an engineer, do not need to be reminded of this axiom. However, we are not yet come to the issue, and I am never one for engaging in a search for trouble. All I know clearly at this moment is that we can not afford to wander far afield from the island, with the cruisers of three nations quartering the seas for us."
"We are in an impasse," reflected O'Donnell gloomily.
"Not at all," rejoined my great-uncle. "We have played our hand with entire success so far in the game. 'Tis now for us to sit back and await the plays of other participants. What they do must determine our next— But Captain Flint is come aboard. This conversation is without purpose, since fact must now displace conjecture."
He eyed us all somewhat gravely.