vered it one dark night and left
her bones upon it. The reef is on the Admiralty charts. Captain Doane
will verify me . . . "

No one listened, save Dag Daughtry, serving hot cakes and admiring. But
Simon Nishikanta, becoming suddenly aware that the old man was babbling,
bellowed out ferociously:

"Oh, shut up! Close your jaw! You make me tired with your everlasting
'I remember.'"

The Ancient Mariner was guilelessly surprised, as if he had slipped
somewhere in his narrative.

"No, I assure you," he continued. "It must have been some error of my
poor old tongue. It was not the _Wide Awake_, but the brig _Glister_.
Did I say _Wide Awake_? It was the _Glister_, a smart little brig,
almost a toy brig in fact, copper-bottomed, lines like a dolphin, a sea-
cutter and a wind-eater. Handled like a top. On my honour, gentlemen,
it was lively work for both watches when she went about. I was super-
cargo. We sailed out of New York, ostensibly for the north-west coast,
with sealed orders--"

"In the name of God, peace, peace! You drive me mad with your drivel!"
So Nishikanta cried out in nervous pain that was real and quivering. "Old
man, have a heart. What do I care to know of your _Glister_ and your
sealed orders!"

"Ah, sealed orders," the Ancient Mariner went on beamingly. "A magic
phrase, sealed orders." He rolled it off his tongue with unction. "Those
were the days, gentlemen, when ships did sail with sealed orders. And as
super-cargo, with my trifle invested in the adventure and my share in the
gains, I commanded the captain. Not in him, but in me were reposed the
sealed orders. I assure you I did not know myself what they were. Not
until we were around old Cape Stiff, fifty to fifty, and in fifty in the
Pacific, did I break the seal and learn we were bound for Van Dieman's
Land. They called it Van Dieman's Land in those days . . . "

It was a day of discoveries. Captain Doane caught the mate stealing the
ship's position from his desk with the duplicate key. There was a scene,
but no more, for the Finn was too huge a man to invite personal
encounter, and Captain Dome could only stigmatize his conduct to a
running reiteration of "Yes, sir," and "No, sir," and "Sorry, sir."

Perhaps the most important discovery, although he did not know it at the
time, was that of Dag Daughtry. It was after the course had been changed
and all sail set, and after the Ancient Mariner had privily informed him