"That can hardly be, commodore, since the points of the compass only refer to objects on this earth. You know, I suppose, that a man starting from this spot, and travelling due west, would arrive, in time, at this very point, coming in from the east; so that what is west to us, in the heavens, on this side of the world, is east to those on the other."
"This I confess I did not know, general. I have understood that what is good in one man's eyes, will be bad in another's; but never before have I heard that what is west to one man, lies east to another. I am afraid, general, that there is a little of the sogdollager bait in this?"
"Not enough, sir, to catch the merest fresh-water gudgeon that swims. No, no; there is neither east nor west off the earth, nor any up and down; and so we Yankees must try and content ourselves with heaven. Now, commodore, hand me the bowl, and we will get it ready down to the shore, and offer the ladies our homage. And so you have become a laker in your religion, my dear commodore," continued the general, between his teeth, while he smoked and squeezed a lemon at the same time, "and do your worshipping on the water?"
"Altogether of late, and more especially since my dream."
"Dream! My dear sir, I should think you altogether too innocent a man to dream."
"The best of us have our failings, general. I do sometimes dream, I own, as well as the greatest sinner of them all."
"And of what did you dream--the sogdollager?"
"I dreamt of death."
"Of slipping the cable!" cried the general, looking up suddenly. "Well, what was the drift?"
"Why, sir, having no wings, I went down below, and soon found myself in the presence of the old gentleman himself."