"
"And which is the heart?" asked Sir George.
"Her heart is the master. With a sufficient commander no stout ship is
ever lost, so long as she has a foot of water beneath her false keel, or a
ropeyarn left to turn to account."
"And yet the Dane had all these."
"All but the water. The best craft that was ever launched, is of less use
than a single camel, if laid high and dry on the sands of Africa. These
poor wretches truly! And yet their fate might have been ours, though I
thought little of the risk while we were in the midst of the Arabs. It is
still a mystery to me why they let us escape, especially as they so soon
deserted the wreck. They were strong-handed, too; counting all who came
and went, I think not less than several hundreds."
The captain now became silent and thoughtful, and, as the wind continued
to rise, he began to feel uneasiness about his ship. Once or twice he
expressed a half-formed determination to pull to her in one of the light
boats, in order to look after her safety in person, and then he abandoned
it, as he witnessed the rising of the sea, and the manner in which the
massive raft caused the cordage by which it was held to strain. At length
he too fell asleep, and we shall leave him and his party for awhile, and
return to the Montauk, to give an account of what occurred on board
that ship.
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