“Not what I mean! You know what latitude is?”
“Not I, sir!” returned the man, hesitating. “Though I believe it is French for the upper lakes.”
“Whe-e-e-w-!” whistled Cap, drawing out his breath like the broken stop of an organ; “latitude, French for upper lakes! Hark'e, young man, do you know what longitude means?”
“I believe I do, sir; that is, five feet six, the regulation height for soldiers in the king's service.”
“There's the longitude found out for you, Sergeant, in the rattling of a brace-block! You have some notion about a degree, and minutes and seconds, I hope?”
“Yes, sir; degree means my betters; and minutes and seconds are for the short or long log-lines. We all know these things as well as the salt-water people.”
“D—-me, brother Dunham, if I think even Faith can get along on this lake, much as they say it can do with mountains. Well, my lad, you understand the azimuth, and measuring distances, and how to box the compass.”
“As for the first, sir, I can't say I do. The distances we all know, as we measure them from point to point; and as for boxing the compass, I will turn my back to no admiral in his Majesty's fleet. Nothe, nothe and by east, nothe, nothe-east, nothe-east and by nothe, nothe-east, nothe-east and by east, east-nothe-east, east and by nothe-east—”
“That will do, that will do. You'll bring about a shift of wind if you go on in this manner. I see very plainly, Sergeant,” walking away again, and dropping his voice, “we've nothing to hope for from that chap. I'll stand on two hours longer on this tack, when we'll heave-to and get the soundings, after which we will be governed by circumstances.”
To this the Sergeant made no objections; and as the wind grew lighter, as usual with the advance of night, and there were no immediate obstacles to the navigation, he made a bed of a sail on deck, and was soon lost in the sound sleep of a soldier. Cap continued to walk the deck, for he was one whose iron frame set fatigue at defiance, and not once that night did he close his eyes.