“Yes; but where?”
“Anywhere—North Pole; South Pole; tropics. Start free from all trammels, open new ground away from the regular beaten tracks. You don’t want to go by line steamers to regular ports. Get a big ocean-going yacht, and sail round the world. Here, what are you grinning at, patient?”
“At your idea, sir. It is so wild.”
“Wild to you, sir, because you are so tame. It may have seemed a little wild for Captain Cook and Bougainville and the old Dutch navigators, with their poor appliances and ignorance of what there was beyond the seas. Wild too for Columbus; but wild now! Bah! I’m ashamed of you.”
“You must recollect that Jack is no sailor,” said Sir John, interposing. “He was very ill when we crossed to Calais.”
“Iii! A bit sea-sick. That’s nothing.”
“I am not sailor enough to manage a yacht.”
“What of that? Charter a good vessel, and get a clever captain and mate, and the best crew that can be picked. You can afford it, and to do it well, and relieve yourself of all anxieties, so as to be free both of you to enjoy your cruise.”
“Enjoy!” said Jack piteously.
“But the responsibility?” said Sir John thoughtfully. “I should like it vastly. But to take a sick lad to sea? Suppose he were taken worse?”