“And ven you stop to think,” said he wistfully, “that we are still something like six thousand miles from home,—oh, veil! Vat's the use? I bet you I never go so far avay from my business again. Vat a fool I vas to make this trip ven the whole ocean is full of submarines and German agents and plotters and—Yes, vat a fool ven I had so many high-priced men vorking for me who vas crazy to come. But my vife she vould do it. Paris and London every year it used to be, so she must haf a little holiday or she vill die, she say. Veil, here we are. And ven I think vat a long holiday it is going to be maybe,—by gracious, I could kick myself for not giving in to my brother-in-law ven he begged so hard to be allowed to make the trip because he needed the change from not being avay from the office for five years, and his vife and children too. His vife she needed a change as much as he, vat with not being able to get into any good hotels in the summer time and not being able to keep out of them in the vinter time, she vas nearly distracted. No, I vas selfish. My vife she vas selfish too,—and him her own brother. Vy shouldn't he haf a vacation vonce in awhile?”
He turned abruptly to the sailor who lounged near the perspiring Percival.
“How far is it to land, my frient?” he inquired.
The sailor touched his cap. “Which way, sir?” he asked solemnly. “Fore or aft?”
(Percival said to himself: “By golly, I'll bet that man is an American.”)
“Vat? Land,—you know vat I mean,—the end of the ocean. How far avay is it?”
The sailor calculated. “Well, the nearest land, sir, I should say, is about three hundred miles away, to port.”
“How deep is it here?” asked Mr. Nicklestick, moving away from the rail suddenly.
The sailor glanced down at the water, squinted an eye, and then spoke reassuringly.
“It ain't half as deep here as it is a little furder on,” he said. “It's only a shade over three miles where we are now, sir. We're comin' to the deepest part of the ocean,—ought to be there inside of a couple of hours. Here, you! On the job, on the job!”