‘I never was a great reader,’ said Jack. His friends looked down at their wine and smiled. ‘I mean I never could get along with your novels and tales. Admiral Burney – Captain Burney then – lent me one wrote by his sister when we were coming back with a slow convoy from the West Indies; but I could not get through with it – sad stuff, I thought. Though I dare say the fault was in me, just as some people cannot relish music; for Burney thought the world of it, and he was as fine a seaman as any in the service. He sailed with Cook, and you cannot say fairer than that.’ ‘That is the best
...more
