“Never heard of England!” exclaimed Dick.
“No,” said the Skipper, unconcernedly. “I never had no time to study goggerfy, I didn’t, so there’s lots of places I don’t know, no more than the Man in the Moon.”
“But don’t you find it very awkward?” cried the children; “however do you know how to go from one place to another?”
“We don’t know,” said the Skipper, laughing; “that’s just the fun of the thing. We get into our ship, and just go on and on till we come to somewhere or another, and then we land, you know. It’s much the best way, and saves such a lot of bother.”
“I am afraid we should be a long while reaching England that way,” remarked Dick, dubiously.
“Oh, I don’t know,” said the Skipper, “we might drop across it the first time, you know. You see, it’s not much use knowing in which direction it lies, because, once you get out to sea, there are no roads and things, so one way is as good as another.”
“But don’t you use a compass?” asked Marjorie.
“What’s that, Miss?” asked the Skipper.
“Why, a little thing that always points to the North,” said Marjorie.
“Blessed if I know, Miss,” said the Skipper, good-naturedly. “Here, Bill,” he called to one of the sailors, “do we use a little thing that always points to the North?”