Digital heart book

I had no love indeed for
Captain Trent or any of his vanished gang; but the
desertion and decay of this once habitable cabin struck
me hard. The death of man's handiwork is melancholy,
like the death of man himself; and I was impressed with
an involuntary and irrational sense of tragedy in my
surroundings.
"This sickens me," I said; "let's go on deck and
breathe."
The captain nodded. "It IS kind of lonely, isn't
it?" he said; "but I can't go up till I get the code
signals. I want to run up "Got Left" or something,
just to brighten up this island home. Captain Trent
hasn't been here yet, but he'll drop in before long;
and it'll cheer him up to see a signal on the brig."
"Isn't there some official expression we could use?" I
asked, vastly taken by the fancy. "'Sold for the
benefit of the underwriters: for further particulars
apply to J. Pinkerton, Montana Block, S.F.'"
"Well," returned Nares, "I won't say but what an old
navy quartermaster might telegraph all that, if you
gave him a day to do it in and a pound of tobacco for
himself.


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