“Masser can see him wid he naked eye.”
“Ay, but what make you of him by the aid of the glass?”
“He’m ship, sir.”
“True. On what course?”
“He got he starboard tacks aboard, sir.”
“Still true. But has he signals abroad?”
“He’m got t’ree new cloths in he maintop-gallant royal, sir.”
“His vessel is all the better for the repairs. Did you see his flags?”
“He’m show no flag, masser.”
“I thought as much myself. Go forward, lad—stay—one often gets a true idea by seeking it where it is not thought to exist. Of what size do you take the stranger to be?”