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"
"That is right Captain Robarts, if you had but the British Channel all to
yourself."
"Perhaps you will leave me my deck all to myself."
"I should be delighted: but my anxiety will not let me." With this Dodd
retired a few steps, and kept a keen look-out.

At noon a lusty voice cried "Land on the weather beam!"
All eyes were turned that way and saw nothing.
Land in sight was reported to Captain Robarts.
Now that worthy was in reality getting secretly anxious: so he ran on
deck crying, "Who saw it?"
"Captain Dodd, sir."
"Ugh! Nobody else?"
Dodd came forward, and, with a respectful air, told him that, being on
the look-out, he had seen the coast of the Isle of Wight in a momentary
lift of the haze.
"Isle of Fiddlestick!" was the polite reply; "Isle of Wight is eighty
miles astern by now."
Dodd answered firmly that he was well acquainted with every outline in
the Channel, and that the land he had seen was St. Katherine's Point
Robarts deigned no reply, but had the log heaved: it showed the vessel to
be running twelve knots an hour.


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