I looked in vain for the one whom they had called Captain.

He was not in sight.
It will be readily appreciated how eager was my desire to stand in the presence of the creator of this prodigious machines of this fantastic personage who occupied and preoccupied the attention of all the world, the daring inventor who did not fear to engage in battle against the entire human race, and who proclaimed himself "Master of the World." I approached the man on the look-out, and after a minute of silence I asked him, "Where is the Captain ?" He looked at me through half-closed eyes.

He seemed not to understand me.

Yet I knew, having heard him the night before, that he spoke English.

Moreover, I noticed that he did not appear surprised to see me out of my cabin.