human
Well, said the colonel, laughing.
gpt
I hear we have the honour of the company of the _Flying Dutchman_ again.
human
Dutchman or not, sir, replied the master,
gpt
Well let her--we are a match for her, I should think; and my little girl here seems rather anxious for a brush. She puts to shame that steward of yours, who came skulking into the cabin just now as white as a sheet, declaring we were going to be boarded by ghosts or hobgoblins of some sort.
human
You must humour seamen, or you can never manage them, sir, replied the master.
gpt
They as firmly believe in the _Flying Dutchman_ as they do in the Gospel; and you can't persuade them that he is not to be met with. It would never do for me to go and tell them that they are cowards and credulous fools; and I well know that the same men would face three times their number with cutlasses in their hands.