“And you think yourself alone on that score?” Graham wondered, “Or is it that you know you are not, and you expect to leverage something by means of observational diatribe?” Captain “Flint” was not the only man on this island now who had been moulded by the cleverness of Admiral Hennessey – Graham was also all too well aware of the power of a story, the manipulation inherent in a sense of shared convictions.
“By all means,” He had been warned by Billy that Flint had a remarkable ability to draw people in – Graham was genuinely curious to see how this game was played here. He understood it well in the navy, and indeed he could execute it flawlessly amid the admiralty and through the streets of England – but here, in the heart of the new world – how well did the tricks of ‘civilization’ truly hold up against the wildness of free men? “Say your piece.”
Ocean Archive 