My father then turning to me, "Son," says he, "you have enlightened me more than ever I was before, and have put me on a new way of thinking, for which I am to return you many thanks." And the whole company doing the same, says my father, "I lost a brave general officer lately, who was destined to the western wars which are breaking out, and have been long debating in my mind to whom I should commit his corps; and but for the hazard of the enterprise, I would have now given it to Nasgig; but shall be loth to lose him so soon after I am acquainted with his worth, so will think of some other post nearer my person for him, less dangerous, though perhaps not so honourable."
"Great sir," says Nasgig, "I am too sensible of the honour already done me, to think any post wherein I may continue to serve you either too mean or too hazardous for me; and as valour is nowhere so conspicuous as in the greatest dangers, I shall esteem my blood spent to great advantage in any enterprise where my duty under your command leads me. I therefore rather humbly request this dangerous post, that I may either lose my life in your service, or live to see you justified in your advancement of me by the whole nation. For what can I do, or how can I demonstrate my affection to your person and pleasure, in an inactive state?"
Here the whole level rang with applause to Nasgig.
My father then giving his hand to Nasgig, in token of friendship, and his word for investiture in the command of that vacant post, the whole level again resounded with, "Long live Pendlehamby, and his servant Nasgig!"
This being the last day of my company's stay, for they had agreed to go homewards next morning, some of them moved to return the sooner, that they might have time to hear out my story. So that our stay was very little longer.
In our return home, Nasgig singled me out to return his acknowledgments for my favour; and viewing my gun told me they had no such thing growing in his country. I told him if he had it, it would do no good without my powder. I then, at his request, described what I had heard of our method of fighting in battle in Europe; and mentioning our cannon, he said he supposed they killed every man they hit. "No," says I, "not so bad as that. Sometimes they hit the flesh only, and that is commonly cured; sometimes break a leg or arm, and that may in time be cured—some so well as to be useful again, and others are cut off, and healed up again; but if the ball hits the head or vitals, it is commonly mortal."—"Oh," says he, "give me the head or vitals, then; no broken limbs for me."
After dinner, at their request, I went on with my story, at repairing the castle, and my escape with Glanlepze, and so on to the crocodile; when I repeated his speech to me on that account, and told them it had made such an impression upon me that I had endeavoured to make it the leading thought of my mind, and had set it down upon one of my doors at the grotto that it might the oftener be in my sight when any difficulty arose.
One of the colambs begged pardon for interrupting, but told me, though he understood what Glanlepze meant, he could not tell how I could set what he said down at my grotto, or have it in my sight, and desired me to explain that. I would have told my guest I took it down in writing, if that would not have puzzled the cause more; but to go the nearest way I could, I told him we had a method in my country of conveying to a man at a great distance whatever we have a mind to say to him, and in such a manner that nobody but himself would know what we would have him know. And pausing here a little to consider the easiest method of demonstrating this to their senses, they told me they had gone as far as their conjectures could carry them, but could conclude on nothing so improbable as sending it by a messenger. I told them that in part was my way, but my messenger should not know the message he carried. That gravelled them quite, and they were unanimous that was what could not be done. By this time I had sent for a wood-coal, to write with upon my deal table, and kneeling down to the table, I began to write, "Honoured sir, I send this to gain by your answer to it an account of your arrival at Arndrumnstake." I then called them all to me. "Now," says I, "suppose I want to know how my father gets back to Arndrumnstake, my way is this—I set down so many words as will express my meaning to my father, after the manner you see on this table, and make a little distance between each word, which is the same thing as you do in speaking; for there, if you run one word into another, and don't give each its proper sound, who can understand you? For though you speak what contains all the words, yet without the proper sound and distinction it is only confusion. Do you understand that?" They told me they did. "Then," says I, "these are the words I would have my father know, I being at this arkoe, and he at Arndrumnstake. Honoured sir," and so I read on. "Here," says I, "you must take us to be countrymen, and that he and I understand both the same method. Now look, this word, which ends where you see the gap, stands for honoured, and this next for sir, the next for I, and so on; and we both using the same method, and seeing each other's words, are able to open our minds at a distance." I was now in hopes I had done, and was going on with my story: "But," says one of the colambs, "Mr. Peter, though this is a matter that requires consideration, I plainly see how you do it, by agreeing that all these strokes put into this form shall stand for the word honoured, and so on, as you say, let who will make them; but have not you set down there the word Arndrumnstake?"—"Yes," says I.—"Why then," says he, "none of your countrymen could understand what that means."—"No," says I, smiling; "but they could."—Says he, "You say you agree what strokes shall stand for one word, and what for another; but then how could your countrymen, who never knew what strokes you would set down for Arndrumnstake, know that your strokes meant that very country? for that you could not have agreed upon before either of you knew there was any such place."
I was at a loss, without spending more words than I was willing about it, how to answer this close reasoner; and talking of syllables and letters would only have perplexed the affair more, so I told him the readiest for despatch; that as every word consisted of one or more distinct sounds, and as some of the same sounds happened in different words, we did not agree so much upon making our strokes stand for several words, as for several sounds; and those sounds, more or less of them, added together, made the particular words. "As, for example," says I, "Arn is one sound, drumn is another sound, and stake is another; now, by our knowing how to set down these several sounds by themselves, we can couple them, and apply them to the making up any word, in the manner we please; and therefore he, by seeing those three sounds together, knows I mean Arndrumnstake, and can speak it as well, though he never heard the whole word spoken together, as if he heard me speak to him."—"I have some little notion of what you mean," says he, "but not clear enough to express myself upon it; and so go on! go on! And pray what did you do about the reeds?"
I then resuming my discourse where I left off, completed my narration that night; but I could perceive the water in my father's eyes when I came to the account of Youwarkee's fall and the condition I took her up in.