"That's what I'm doin'," said the Captain; "but how'd you know anything about them?"
"Oh, I've heard of them," said Thornton, modestly.
"Well, come and see me set the patent log," said Captain Whitby.
Thornton seemed to know something about that too, and the Captain decided that although the boy might have a good deal of useless knowledge in his head, he had hold of some facts worth knowing. He said as much to Mrs. Seabury, but she replied:
"What's the good of his knowing those things? He isn't a sailor."
"That's true enough," answered the Captain, remembering that the boy did not know one sail from another.
By six o'clock the schooner was well out to sea, and as it grew dark the Captain came on deck with his sextant. Thornton became intensely interested.
"Going to take Jupiter for latitude, Captain?" he asked.
"That's what," was the reply; "but what do you know about it?"
"Oh, I'm not so ignorant that I can't tell what latitude and longitude are," said Thornton; "and I know that Jupiter will be on the meridian at 8.32 to-night."