For time, during her three years' inaction, had eaten
deep into the DREAM and her fittings; she had sold
in consequence a shade above her value as old junk; and
the three adventurers had scarce been able to afford
even the most vital repairs. The rigging, indeed, had
been partly renewed, and the rest set up; all Grant
Sanderson's old canvas had been patched together into
one decently serviceable suit of sails; Grant
Sanderson's masts still stood, and might have wondered
at themselves. "I haven't the heart to tap them,"
Captain Wicks used to observe, as he squinted up their
height or patted their rotundity; and "as rotten as our
foremast" was an accepted metaphor in the ship's
company. The sequel rather suggests it may have been
sounder than was thought; but no one knew for certain,
just as no one except the captain appreciated the
dangers of the cruise. The captain, indeed, saw with
clear eyes and spoke his mind aloud; and though a man
of an astonishing hot-blooded courage, following life
and taking its dangers in the spirit of a hound upon
the slot, he had made a point of a big whaleboat.
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