MD3PAD 130-132

[Toby G Levy]

        A group of pretty girls sing to Mason and Maskelyne as they
enter the Moon tavern.

vw#32: quidnunc - A nosy person; a busybody.

        Mr. Blackner, proprietor of the Moon, delights in telling
everyone that Maskelyne is the brother-in-law of Lord Clive (a British
war hero). Mr. Blackner allows Maskelyne to run a tab that he is not
certain of ever collecting on.

        Mason and Maskelyne make their way to the observatory on Alarum
Ridge and although Mason attempts to be tactful on the subject of
Maskelyne missing the Transit, Maskelyne expresses his bitterness.

        Maskelyne asks Mason if he finds living on St. Helena disturbing
and Mason says he finds it "calming," after living in Capetown.
Maskelyne says he is wracked with nerves from living on an island that
is actually a live volcano that could blow up at any time.  He thinks
the gasses emitted from the volcano affect the minds of the residents of
the island.

Toby