noon
Then there is no doubt about the future of your boy , if he is steady and industrious . I am pleased to hear it for my own sake , if for nothing else ; for although Pinder 's mates are capital sailors , and in all other respects able officers , they are not men of Pinder 's type . They can take , of course , a rough observation at noon , and work it out by rule of thumb and the aid of tables , but beyond that they can do nothing . They have not received the education to enable them to grapple with mathematical problems , even of the simplest kind ; and although , in case of Pinder falling sick , they might manage under favourable circumstances to bring the ship home , they would fare very badly if they had a long spell of bad weather and could not get an observation at noon for days or even weeks together . It will be a satisfaction to me to know that in case of anything happening to the captain there is someone on board who could , in such a case , take a lunar or shoot a star . Well , to-morrow morning we will go down to the docks , and I will hand your boy over to Pinder . I should , of course , be very glad to have him here , but I think it is of great advantage to a boy to see everything done from the first step .