MD3PAD 439-441

[Toby G Levy]

        Dixon suggests that Mason ought to subtly emphasize Maskelyne's
unworthiness at every opportunity.  Mason suggests that Dixon is
thinking like a Jesuit, but Dixon says he is only a simple. man.

        Chapter 44 begins on page 440 with a long quote from Wicks'
Day-Book. He explains a little about his idea that it is possible for
humans to fly though the air by following the ley lines in England, and
then muses about the line that Mason and Dixon are creating across
America.

        It is now March and Mason and Dixon are taking many astronomical
observations to determine the exact angle to proceed westward.  They hoe
to set out in April.

        The farmer Harland has been hired as an instrument carrier. Mrs.
Harland suggests there is much danger in the are west of the York river.
Mason and Dixon speculate on how much Mrs. Harland resented her husband
joining the crew.

        Another crew member runs up to tell Mason and Dixon that there
is a stranger "over by the monument" acting strangely.  The "monument"
is the quartz stone planted in the field to mark the starting point of
the west line. The stranger is prostrating himself before the stone.

Toby