"We might be run down, then," he said, "and never even see the other vessel?"
"It's possible," I replied. "Though, from what I saw, it's evident that we're quite visible; so that it would be easy for them to see us, and steer clear of us, even though we couldn't see them."
"And we might run into something, and never see it?" he asked me, following up the train of thought.
"Yes," I said. "Only there's nothing to stop the other ship from getting out of our way."
"But if it wasn't a vessel?" he persisted. "It might be an iceberg, or a rock, or even a derelict."
"In that case," I said, putting it a bit flippantly, naturally, "we'd probably damage it."
He made no answer to this and for a few moments, we were quiet.
Then he spoke abruptly, as though the idea had come suddenly to him.
"Those lights the other night!" he said. "Were they a ship's lights?"
"Yes," I replied. "Why?"