When he was gone, they all looked at one another like men awaking from a
dream.

Staines alone took it quite coolly. It did not surprise him in the
least. He had always thought it incredible that the boa-constrictor
should be larger than any sea-snake. That idea struck him as monstrous
and absurd. He noted the sea-serpent in his journal, but with this
doubt, "Semble--more like a very large eel."

Next day they crossed the line. Just before noon a young gentleman
burst into Staines's cabin, apologizing for want of ceremony; but if
Dr. Staines would like to see the line, it was now in sight from the
mizzentop.

"Glad of it, sir," said Staines; "collect it for me in the ship's
buckets, if you please. I want to send A LINE to friends at home."

Young gentleman buried his hands in his pockets, walked out in solemn
silence, and resumed his position on the lee-side of the quarter-deck.

Nevertheless, this opening, coupled with what he had heard and read,
made Staines a little uneasy, and he went to his friend Fitzroy, and
said, "Now, look here: I am at the service of you experienced and
humorous mariners. I plead guilty at once to the crime of never having
passed the line; so, make ready your swabs, and lather me; your ship's
scraper, and shave me; and let us get it over. But Lord Tadcaster is
nervous, sensitive, prouder than he seems, and I'm not going to have him
driven into a fit for all the Neptunes and Amphitrites in creation."

Fitzroy heard him out, then burst out laughing. "Why, there is none of