Page:Christopher Morley--Where the blue begins.djvu/181

Rh the Captain. “In the first place, the needle does not point to the North Pole at all, but to the magnetic pole. Furthermore, it has to be adjusted by magnets to counteract deviation. Mr. Gissing, you may be a sincere student of theology, but you have not allowed for your own temperamental deviation. Why, even the gyro compass has to be adjusted for latitude error. You landsmen think that a ship is simply a floating hotel. I should like to have the Bishop you spoke of study a little navigation. That would put into him a healthy respect for the marvels of science. On board ship, sir, the binnacle is kept locked and the key is on the watch-chain of the master. It should be so in all intellectual matters. Confide them to those capable of understanding.”

Gissing saw that the Captain greatly relished his sense of superiority, so he made a remark of intentional simplicity.

“The binnacle?” he said. “I thought that was the little shellfish that clings to the bottom of the boat?”

“Don't you dare call my ship a boat!” said the Captain. “At sea, a boat means only a lifeboat