"And do you know what it means, darling?"
"It means a place where they burn charcoal."
"I am not going into the charcoal business at present; and it is of no great consequence to me," added Felix.
"Knowledge is not all for business purposes; and it is worth while to have it, even if you cannot make any money out of it in detail."
"Point Mala," said Scott.
"And what does that mean, Louis?" asked Felix.
"Malo means bad, wicked, or sickly. Mala is the feminine of the same word; and it also means the mail, or a mail-bag. I don't know the history of this punta, or point, so that I cannot tell whether it is a sickly place, a wicked locality, or is the place where they formerly landed the mail on its way to San Roque."
"That is San Roque on the hill to the left of Carbonera Mountain," said Scott, who could hear all that was said on the forecastle.
"Then learning Spanish don't teach you everything, Louis, my darling," chuckled Felix. "It ought to let you know whether Mala is a wicked place or a mail-bag."
"Knowledge has its limits; and generally they are not very far off. But you might as well refuse to believe you had any hair on your head because you can not tell how many capillary shafts it consists of."