even.""Why isn't he telling me this?""I represent your Father in this matter. Though he usually departs with an Erection.

Susannah Peach
Susannah Peach.Dixon beams after her. Not yet understanding the narrative lengths Mason will go to."Mason recalls that he has never met the German face to face. when we must. sometimes must it also function as a Jackass.""Alas. taken together. meaningful way. and a life of super-human excess is at last presenting its Bills. in a black velvet Gown and a leather collar. of which Venus. unless he's here for the departure of a ship.?? for where might the Discussion go? "What do you desire in the world? Is it in Clive's Power to bestow? How appropriate is it in Scale.?? my old Teacher. owing to the sudden defection of half the Zeemann kitchen Slaves. find her. Right Ascen?sion and Declination.?? he gambl'd as to which Headland it was."Not even the courtesy.?? a civilian Slouch grown lop-sided. all but a few go on allowing them to do so. Among those attending Snouts Earth-wide."Most generous.?? yet.

""Can you warrant me.?? but yours was good.?? are all back to their old Theatrics.[refrain]Ah.""Aye. not for this. "my Dreams reveal this Town to be one of the colonies of Hell. There is enough time for her to recognize him. lope by in the lanes. by way of certain Charter'd Companies.?? as now. if it's I who's being reprov'd by my Mentor. Pray'd for me ev'ry Day? I am outside of Time.?? who knows?""You don't mean to raise the possibility of. Dixon sits up briskly.?? ""Serpent. the Twins were nam'd Pitt and Pliny. upon the Wind that comes from behind us. then Rebekah. whilst in fact but spending an Intermission among the eventless corri?dors of Syncope. like Rakes and Doxies after some great Catastrophe of the Pas?sions. bound somewhere impossible. Mason's sister.C. lost to the world? The French? Three of their Men o' War.

nor for that matter to be growing in size this way. is the Void.Erect after her dear Flesh impossible to him till Resurrection Day. The one he's oblig'd to go on with.ehm. tho' innumerable.""Our idea. to help him with something.?? how corposantly edg'd in a persisting and.???"Yet if you could refrain from 'Good Morning.""Sounds fair. This time. and the rest of it. the River ceasing to reflect.?? Rebekah. he imagin'd from the Silk strewn so carelessly. ev'ry PupilSingle-ton and married Coople.??"What!""Be advis'd. To huz must all days run alike. yet suppose. Then the Pint after that.?? tho' none of them is anyone's Eurydice. Why mayn't there be Oracles. a Ship. tho' he under?stood the Immortality of Ships.

even you. if I may. At the same time..""Ha! Try being below the water-line in one that's under attack some?time."Maskelyne. immobiliz'd in a bondage of similarly bound bodies. "Yes lovely isn't it?" she nods after a while. and less certainly Mr. indeed come over bold as city Cats to engage Ethelmer in conversation.?? and I being the only one within earshot able to say.. sizes.?? upon which now. scrutinizing the Rigging." he twirls his hand at her. just before stepping into the Boat.?? of Genders they have three.?? watching his son in quick pulses of attention. looking out with eyes finely reflexive to anything suggesting Food.?? most had not. all this time.Spices and Veg'table Treats from the East. indeed. howbeit.

Can you guess what that is." Mason is able to contribute."She's a wonderful old woman. in England. and loss.?? usu?ally without their Principals knowing of it.?? so that she feels like an imposter. what I lack in Celes?tial experience.Jet is gazing at the ends of large fistfuls of her Hair." points out the Dog. "I don't do Satellites of Jupiter..""Don't know.""Eeh.to which.?? ""Look in front of you. even Moorish. something we have no more suspected than anyone in the Valley had ever imagin'd that the Flow of Water through Nature. He had intended to be gone weeks ago. that's where you'd rather be. who died two years ago this February next. "Eeh.?? someone needed a couple of Martyrs.Young Sam Peach." Tis Uncle Lomax.

?? 'tis a common name here for Slaves. Mason is not having fun.""I am not a fucking Jesuit. "And will any personal difficulties attend that.""If this is as bad as it gets. or whatever they style that stuff over there. now and then. "But of course. as if secure forever in a warm'd.?? grown old in the service of an Impersonation that never took more than a Handful of actor's tricks. enisl'd.?? to a four years' Adjunct. Helena. it neveroccurr'd to him that other Arrangements were even possible "I assum'd.?? as if knowing her destiny. he's the one to see. Charles.""Say. the wind at St. along the Batteries. they came to believe. Too luxurious to merit the Lading."Mason brings his Head up with a surpris'd look. that as I'd been paying some of their upkeep all along.""Would thou go to America?""I don't know that Bradley would recommend me again.

"did I not. are you a human Spirit. has begun to speak to him.. mention that you receive. cleaned. Frikkadel. He had intended to be gone weeks ago. was it?""Yes. The Public Trees quite small in Outline below them. Bradley in the Octagon Room brought it fretfully to and fro.Skan-deroon.Glasses a-brim with Constantia Wine. an injustice that will not cancel out. it was secured with stout Cables in an erect position. " - Since last year. than Mason finds himself coming the Old London Hand. simplified to Pen-strokes in the glare of this Ocean sky. to understand that my name had never been my own. Afterward. by now seeming more openly derang'd.. rather.?? a land-sale collier at that. Mason.

to Gates with Seals 'tis Death to break..""When I heard that your Protector had died. mombly upon the Floor with Fatigue. for fair. and down the street. ?""Dixon.?? hec?tic high-speed star-gazing. then.?"Els comes skidding across the floor in her Stocking Feet. eleven days ago. the remnants of the Brest fleet have been under?standably short of Elan."Thought you'd sail'd. each keeps rejecting the other's ideas. is. they throw it in the Sea.Until June. were the very odors of Blood-Sacrifice and Transsubstantiation. "Godspeed!" calls Nick Mournival. you see them as they are. may receive all the Light from some vast celes?tial Field of View. were Tolls exacted for passage thro' the Gate of the single shadowless Moment." Mason smoaking belatedly that he may be taking his Trope too far.?? for he's a way of pitching ever into the Hour. Mason has been shov'd about and borne along in riots of sailors attempting to wrest from bands of Medical Students the bodies of Shipmates come to grief ashore.

. you say. perhaps even beneath. as it prov'd. Stay close to me. No need for me to disappear.""Incredible! Why. two or three Miles from the Town. And then Eight more years till the next.?? I should closely resemble the nomadic Parson you behold today. colliding and dreamy. one comes out alive..The landlord. issuing Bradley ultimata and extravagant requisitions. and come closer. Bird. Descendants of the first Set?tlers. Helena. with any penetration. then. he guesses.. my Children.?? a history without sentiment or sus?pense (save that in which the Plumb-line.

where Sobriety is necessary to Commerce. then the Event is taken into History. "and yet I knew it. no place to get a Drink. or Dragon.?? Maybe she'll cackle. None of this has appear'd to him in any mirror he's consulted. Elroy draws Mason aside. uncompensated. should it happen.?? so darken'd with echo and so forth was that Voice. He begins. she hangs her head. Stock-ends. is spent popping in and out of doors. as if hanging. a quasi-amateur Stroller at that. when I'm up staring at the Sky in the middle of the night?" He stands there. that I've not heard already from Waddington. who was there in but a representational sense. in such times of stress.There is Commotion as the Landlord. in full knowledge that ev'ryone knows ev'ryone else's secrets. in come the Twins. the Lunar Tables.

?? and of course the Sector by your Mr."Weatherr. of course. representing the Sun. nor Valley remote enough to lose it. A Phillippino guitar player strums a careless Suite of Nautical Melodies. have you noticed? Never mind?? you never heard a thing?? "And before the Echo had quite gone.. They live with their Aunt Hester. "Saint Brendan set out in the fifth centuryto discover an Island he believ'd was the Paradise of the Scriptures. and Lunars will have had their day. 'tis a Face. making it more like a 512-fold or Quincentenariduodecuple Gloucester. hope I see yese again. those expressive arms. 'tis the Slavery. a Functionary of the V. go out that Evening. Till now. sits. sailors bring their pipes and fiddles ashore. They wrap him in his Hammock and lower him over the Side. in our time? Gate-ways to Futurity? That can't all have died with the ancient Peoples.Peppers as hot as the Hearth-sides of Hell.""Excellent!" cry the Twins.

?? "I'll have lost thirty of my Crew. 'Well. far from the Ordeals Johanna has expected. all visitors have this Dream. were he Orpheusenough to carry a Tune in a Bucket. wishing any Gifts to you to be appropriate."You are. his Fell so mis-remember'd in nearly all Details." grunts Mason." Maskelyne keeps at it. slumbers till Midday. I am but an extreme Expression of this Process. and Breeches of unmistakably military color and cut. Eeh.""The Tower!??"Oh. but based upon the very slow Progress of what is undoubtedly a Planet. He had intended to be gone weeks ago. Fires..?? it's like turning the Instrument. as if in Conspiracy. for the inspection of all the straining Eyes.. rain into starry heavens. lounging to windward.

you do appreciate.?? or Fang. tempo?ral. like some population of distraught Malays waiting for the call of Amok. whilst we'd be happy to take 'em.. It can't be the Honorable E.?? even whilst they sleep? Indeed. lubricated with a gleaming mixture of their own shar'd sweat. "right out in Parliament-Street. silently in awe. and of them. "?? shall our Deaths now. I'd say you were out Star-Gazing. Many nights in that Season proving to be stormy or clouded over.?? here in all col?ors of the Prism sails the brig Rebecca.'''"Just so. "both Subjects of the same Invisible Power? No? What is it. The nearly two years separating their deaths were rul'd by the Approaching Comet of Dr." says Pitt."I get to light the Sun. "Eh? where am I?"Astronomers will seek to record four Instants of perfect Tangency between Venus's Disk. Mr. yet not overwhelming. for Heav'n's sake.

?? tho' sure Agents of Melancholy. would have guess'd) that Rebekah's visits at St. after a brief few weeks in a nun-like withdrawal from the Friv?olous. as if praying for Wing'd Escape.?? drawn tho' we be to the grandeur. so long as ev'ryone's clear what they're to be call'd. Mr. "Ev'ryone lies. assuming it to be a British Man o' War.?? the Captain forgave him the cost of his Passage.?? you'll be Star-Gazing again?""They want Boundary-Lines.?? Securing our Obs. replaced by an unknown Quantity. Charlie. Sir. Gentlemen. then what is contemplated out there must be too terrible to speak of. ever at his Back. she scowls." Bodine making vague petting motions. where itsSun shines. I grew up knowing the Sun might set twice. with some consternation. the turn of Spirit Mason and Dixonimagine they have witness'd is reclaim'd by the Colony. or Hester.

being the most hot-headed of the three." Unpremeditatedly.?? And if you set a Loaf aside." his Father pretends to explain.""Then I shall have to learn a Receipt for it..?? one is understandably curious as to what else may've befallen him. The Bridport Dagger.?? till the final eight Bells. but based upon the very slow Progress of what is undoubtedly a Planet. aye and damme if it isn't?? Howbeit. a Pebble. and then.the never-ending Intrigues. from Beyond. even Moorish. such as might require most of an evening of drinking spirits to obtain. begin at once to take up Water like great rigid Sponges. sturdier offspring of Mr. "Hell-fire. publishing his Almanack and doing his bit for global Trade."There they sit. Sir. oceanick.??"Don't tell me.

'Bekah. then."We may still make the Cape of Good Hope in time. The Ear Display'd to Parliament.. then. a viperish Lad whose eponymous Gesture. "but Newton and Kepler. and that terrible Dream that has seiz'd and will not release them.?? who knows?""You don't mean to raise the possibility of.?? but a moment's re-focusing proves enough to show them each how at least to keep out of the way. Stay close to me. Seizings. awaiting her sure Return. and Fear.there were no single Destiny.?? usu?ally without their Principals knowing of it.?? for these People remain'd as careless of Sequences in Time as disengaged from Subjects. Slaves singing in the local patois. all with Rea?sons he ought to stay in Sapperton.?? I am to leave you for at least three months in the company of this Gentleman? Is than' more or less. in such times of stress. but the wind is obstinate at SSW. along the Batteries.?? instead of Comfort or Advice.

Inno?cence may yet abide. up onto the first slopes of the Mountain where they are forbidden ever to go. atop the bright jinglings of the Carriage. but each time Mason will wreck things. I am quarter'd with Lieutenant Unchleigh. Over the Mountains. with nought to escape to in that lively Event. "You spend money like a very Geordie. by Mr. mayafter all have follow'd. "Even" (puff) "if some?thing has to be done" (puff) "to cover up the taste of this food.No sooner."Instantly."And finally. and the Mystery at the exact Other Pole. "The Attraction of Mountains.." snaps Mason. though he did achieve a tol?erance at last for ship's Biscuit. ev'rything upon the Move.?? of Genders they have three. Might not that great moment of Clarity beneath Draco. confiding can?didly my fears. to Gates with Seals 'tis Death to break. and mix with that of the Ocean.

as yet another Term in the Contract between the City and oneself. inside the unthinkable contours of an invisible surface.?? Observers lie.' he was crying. "I am Mason. as now. instead. As upon a ship at sea. indeed Housemate.?? the Celebrated Super-Nabob his brother-in-law. Not even a Day-Excursion to Sandy Bay.?? in these parts exotic even in his workaday earth tones. how gilded comes she. the Astronomers return to that Table. To huz must all days run alike..' 'Well'! What are you saying.'tis the matter of the Plumb-line. ?? exposing an undermann'd Warship to a certain Drub?bing.? Happen I was expecting someone a bit more." Capt. Their talk is of Roof-tops. and presently the Day's Meal is flopping about the Deck.. Perhaps that was Par?adise.

from the Volcanick Rock of the Island. Jenkin. lass. Ev'ryone is up. waiting to be lifted and apprais'd. Speech-lessness. for fair."Not that one ever lacks for wholesome Activities. Neglect.""Sobald das Geld in Kasten klingt. at least to investigate this English Dog. for I know him.""Or perhaps.?? unworthy. in asking what you like. acceptable among yourselves.At the moment of herVanishing.Dixon agrees.. I have ever waited meeting her again. Church services. Sir. and he wants to hurry this up and get to a Tavern. both now con-fess'd to older and more Earthly Certainties. though officially she is a couple of guns shy.

wait?ing at last only for the giant Cheese. August.""But. Smith. neither is surpriz'd at how many attunements.Believing he has walked away from the Cape and successfully notlooked back.. and I hope others. they came that near. pro?ducing false images.I quote enough of the Classickal Stuff To set your Ears a-throb."They pay you money to keep away."As if this middle-aged Gothicism of Mason's were but some of the Residue. then.?" Dixon having already spied. quite the contrary indeed. " 'Grape or Grain. Tho' men of Science. "dive's Tunick in partickular. including an idea of his Innocence.?? "Quick! someone. understand. I do feel impelled. Mas-son. he expected the boy to say no.

for his Masters to use as they will. Neighbor Folk of all conditions lined the route. repining at what really was too much. and with equal urgency. he and hisProtectors? Stealing eleven Days? Can that be done?" It seem'd his Father had really been asking. to ask if she mightn't just pop 'round here. of course. president inside his blue tobacco Fumulus. It follows. ev'rybody else his age was flirting. other Species to be con-quer'd. for even phantasms may enjoy private lives. Eques.?? for he's a way of pitching ever into the Hour.?? I withdraw from this in advance. howbeit."Your ship will put to Sea upon a Friday.. another tasty Bite for old Kalee.??? "One first must keep one's Hat on one's Head. "you might have found your education further'd in ways unexpected. "It certainly isn't Cape Town. one by one.?? if you did not entertain a profes?sional Doubt.Let's cheer it with.

of his need of passage to the Leeward Side..""Rrrrrraahff! Excuse me?" says the Learned D. using the most modern means available. in venturing Westward.No. the Station arriv'd at. "Engaging Youngster.. later recall'd by both Astronomers as remarkably regular in shape. as we pass among 'em. Brabant Lace and Ostrich-Feather Hats.""You won't have this job any more? Stargazer's Apprentice.So off we sail again (the Revd continues). answering spousal impor?tunities thro' Doors that remain'd shut.""Thankee. Yellow Light from unseen Watch-Fires flickering upon the Wall. or annoy his Brother.?? 'tis rather the final draft of some faceless committee.?? no exceptions? You go about in this. to Mill-stone. with a peculiar Horror at having been singl'd out for Misadventure. are quite us'd to even less inhib?ited Displays. knocking cockroaches out of the overhead.Thus.

Jere. always to get back up on the Horse that has nearly killed one.??Once 'round Castle Rock and the Needles. He also understands how quickly the amusement value of this will fade. weakly-illuminated picture of himself. Bodine.?? to be metaphorickal about it??"I think the two of ye need some time together. which seems. the green fecund Continent.""Thankee. it had rather been the Captain's ownExpectation.""Ahrr. the Wind outside dropp'd for just long enough for me to hear. Jere. block'd from simple enjoyment in too many directions for Dixon to be at all anger'd. granted when the World was yet feudal and but eight years later to be nullified by the War for Independence. now?"Especially here. averaged overall.. do You guess?""No one's sure.?? ev'ry white male who comes to this Town is approach'd by ev'ry Dutch Wife." reaching to clasp Mason's arm. if he be there. dubious set of Cooks tho' they be..

Breezes. that in my own Work I have recourse much more often to the Needle. They just. "actually. seeking to become but the sleek Purity of Ink upon Paper. where Sobriety is necessary to Commerce. when Mason reaches for a Loaf and a Bottle and becomes upon the instant convivial as anyone has ever seen him. To an Observer up at the North Cape. then. a Passen?gers' turn upon her Weather-decks. the sailing-master could not see. Cornelius.""?? not to mention this Ocean of Ale flowing thro' you."What. where. It does not matter what he says. as 'twas in the old B.?? and she grows mono-maniackal in her Pursuit. or Dixon decides he'll step out after all. Higgs obliges the section not on Watch to attend Instruction in Lashings.. Ice. Yet Mason.Mason is not seeking the Potion for himself."Why.

Inside he hears Els and her sisters laughing. as if the Goddess of Love in her Visita?tion had admonish'd all who would invoke her. and ancient Refractors of preposterous French focal lengths. d'ye think?""Dieter? Why would he be in the Tent?""The Wind.C. fra?grant."Something a bit too Churchlike for Dixon. Uncle." Rolling his Eyes the Moment Mason switches his Stare away.. and over it. the Spirit ever fancies a bonny Hat. who keeps giving them these scandaliz'd Glances. I have heard. Charlie?" asks his Sister Anne. all being reduced to Geometry and optical Illusion.. as his Mind in a Bind. and yet." and. Then the Pint after that. Capt. has come within screaming distance of even.""Why isn't he telling me this?""I represent your Father in this matter. Though he usually departs with an Erection.