He ceased smiling for a moment.
“I know that there is gold at Kalmut Fiord,” he said. “Does that ease you?”
“If I knew how you know there is gold there, I would be more satisfied. And even granting that you know there is gold there—Captain Brack, you will pardon me—but it scarcely seems in keeping with your character to cheerfully sail a ship-load of people to this gold-field, where they will have an equal chance with you to enrich themselves.”
“No?” he said, and his smile was back in its place. “You have sounded my character then, have you, Mr. Pitt?”
“My dear captain! I am sure you hardly expect to impress even a casual observer as a man who would freely invite a crowd to share a gold find with him.”
He laughed, nodding at me approvingly.
“That isn’t bad, Pitt. The sea air sharpens wits. But have you ever been in the North, away from police officers and courts?”
“Never.”
“Have you ever been in a spot where laws do not reach?”
“No.”