MD3PAD 586-588

[Toby G Levy]

        Shelby suggests that British troops would be unlikely to come out
this far west to make sure that Mason and Dixon follow their orders.
Dixon asks Shelby if thinks they are spies.  Shelby says he does not
care if people who pass through his house are spies or not. Dixon
suggests there is nothing here worth spying upon.

        Shelby gives a poetic assessment of the art of surveying.

        As they cross the North Mountain, they are met with rain and
snow. They camp out and wait for the weather to improve. Dixon passes
the time learning to use Zhang's Luo-Pan and teaches Zhang how to use
western surveying instruments.

        Dixon talks to Zhang about the sign of the dragon and suggests
that there are many kinds of dragons and tells him about the Lambton
Worm. Lambton Castle is located near the North Sea in England.  The tale
of the worm was performed at fairs, where six actors were needed to play
the part of the worm.  The story begins when John Lambton is fishing and
catches a "small snakelike thing" with nine pears of vents along it's
body.  A friend comes to drag him off to the crusades and John tosses
the strange object down a nearby well.

Toby