"
All this was given in chorus and much of it lost. Those who didn't speak
aloud their heart's desires thought them. Fortune had shown her golden
form to these crude men for a fleeting instant, and dreams, long hidden
in their hearts, suddenly leaped to life. They were poor dreams, selfish
dreams, foolish dreams, but for the moment they poised, like liberated
fairies, for a flight to the land where dreams come true.
"We sail in the morning," explained Madden, "for a South American port.
Is there anyone in this crew who knows anything about running a marine
engine?"
The men fell silent and looked inquiringly at each other. Fortune was
beginning to show herself elusive, even in the Sargasso, save to those
who _know_.
"I b'lieve not," said Mulcher.
"We could raise steam, sir," suggested Galton, "and then pull all the
levers and twist th' w'eels, sir and see w'ot'd 'appen."
"W'ot 'ud 'appen!" cried two or three voices. "W'y, we'd hall be blowed
galley west, 'at's w'ot'd 'appen!"
"Sure Misther Madden can figger it out!" suggested Hogan cheerfully.
"We might leave th' dock and run 'er 'ome by sail," suggested Galton.
"No! No! Take th' dock!" "We'll run'er by steam!" "Steam's th' word!"
A storm of determination cried down any such suggestion.
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