MD3PAD 241-243

[Toby G Levy]

        Dixon's mother came to be known as the smartest woman to marry a
Dixon. She gives advice to a daughter telling her to learn her
arithmetic because "she who keepeth the  Books runneth the Business."

        Dixon's father died when he was 22 years old. He does not allow
himself to drink too much in his mourning because he wanted to do a good
job as a surveyor.  We learn everything he keeps in his work bag. He
wants to draw borders everywhere because he is afraid of unenclosed
spaces.

vw#63: Fell - a barren field.

        He was miserable to all after his father's death. His older
sister got married three months after the funeral and Dixon made a
spectacle of himself at the wedding.

        Dixon and his brother kept busy after their father died.  Dixon
worked hard indoors perfecting his drafting skills. He wanted to be able
to create a fantastical map of the world. At night he would go to pubs
and hang out with friends of his father and learned a lot about the coal
business.

        Just before leaving for America he spends a lot of time at his
favorite pub, The Jolly Pittman.

vw#64: Keel - barge used on the Tyne to carry coal.

        Dixon accepts an invitation to ride on a coal barge and is
startled by the amount of fog on the river.

vw#65: Pirogue - nearly flat-bottomed boat, able to cruise in shallow
water, marsh and swamp.

        Out of the for emerges a boat containing about twenty painted
American Indians. Everyone in Dixon's boat is at a  loss at their
appearance.

Toby