I did not ask Jim about the nature of his feelings during the ten days he spent on board.

From the way he narrated that part I was at liberty to infer he was partly stunned by the discovery he had made--the discovery about himself--and no doubt was at work trying to explain it away to the only man who was capable of appreciating all its tremendous magnitude.

You must understand he did not try to minimise its importance.

Of that I am sure; and therein lies his distinction.

As to what sensations he experienced when he got ashore and heard the unforeseen conclusion of the tale in which he had taken such a pitiful part, he told me nothing of them, and it is difficult to imagine.
'I wonder whether he felt the ground cut from under his feet?
I wonder?
But no doubt he managed to get a fresh foothold very soon.