At lunch Dean Pitferge told me that the reverend gentleman had admirably enlarged on his text

Too Long; Didn't Read

At lunch Dean Pitferge told me that the reverend gentleman had admirably enlarged on his text. Battering rams, armed forts, and submarine torpedoes had figured in his discourse; as for himself, he was made great by the greatness of America. If it pleases America to be thus extolled, I have nothing to say. Entering the grand saloon, I read the following note:— Lat 50° 8´ N. Long. 30° 44´ W. Course, 255 miles. Always the same result. We had only made eleven hundred miles, including the three hundred and ten between Fastenet and Liverpool, about a third part of our voyage. During the remainder of the day officers, sailors, and passengers continued to rest in accordance with established custom. Not a piano sounded in the silent saloons; the chess-men did not leave their box, or the cards their case; the billiard-room was deserted. I had an opportunity this day to introduce Dean Pitferge to Captain Corsican. My original very much amused the Captain by telling him the stories whispered about the “Great Eastern.” He attempted to prove to him that it was a bewitched ship, to which fatal misfortune must happen. The yarn of the melted engineer greatly pleased the Captain, who, being a Scotchman, was a lover of the marvellous, but he could not repress an incredulous smile.