human
It's a pity, he would suggest to Captain Doane,
gpt
But I _was_ willing for two, the Jew would defend.
human
You know that, Grimshaw?
gpt
But not for three chronometers.
human
But if two was no better than one, as you said so yourself and as Grimshaw will bear witness, then three was no better than two except for an expense.
gpt
But if you only have two chronometers, how can you tell which has gone wrong?
human
Search me, would come the pawnbroker's retort, accompanied by an incredulous shrug of the shoulders.
gpt
If you can't tell which is wrong of two, then how much harder must it be to tell which is wrong of two dozen? With only two, it's a fifty-fifty split that one or the other is wrong.
human
But don't you realize--
gpt
I realize that it's all a great foolishness, all this highbrow stuff about navigation. I've got clerks fourteen years old in my offices that can figure circles all around you and your navigation. Ask them that if two chronometers ain't better than one, then how can two thousand be better than one? And they'd answer quick, snap, like that, that if two dollars ain't any better than one dollar, then two thousand dollars ain't any better than one dollar. That's common sense.
human
Just the same, you're wrong on general principle, Grimshaw would oar in.
gpt
I said at the time that the only reason we took Captain Doane in with us on the deal was because we needed a navigator and because you and me didn't know the first thing about it. You said, 'Yes, sure'; and right away knew more about it than him when you wouldn't stand for buying three chronometers. What was the matter with you was that the expense hurt you. That's about as big an idea as your mind ever had room for. You go around looking for to dig out ten million dollars with a second- hand spade you call buy for sixty-eight cents.