'Now, when you started that sentence,' Jack observed, 'you were telling me about the procedure for amending the bylaws of the Society of Britannic Abductees, but by the time you got to the end of it, you had begun telling me about what happened when the ship packed to the gunwales with Hindoostani dancing-girls ran aground near a castle of the Knights of Malta – you're not worried that I'm going to drop you off, or sell you to some farmer, are you?'