He proved right in the end, but gained nothing.

Behold me; and where is Gooja Singh?
I made no prophecy, and he did.

Can the sahib explain?
Day after day we kept overtaking other ships, most of them hurrying the same way as ourselves.

Not all were British, but the crews all cheered us, and we answered, the air above our heads alive with waving arms and our trumpets going as if we rode to the king of England's wedding.

If their hearts burned as ours did, the crews of those ships were given something worth remembering.
We passed one British ship quite close, whose captain was an elderly man with a gray beard.