The training book shows an open hand. During the intervention, the steward closes his hand and continues holding the man. Later, the report says there was no mark, while the man supports his right hand in his left palm. He writes Thursday on the right hand using his left, and the steward steadies it. The report has room for eleven words; its printed account uses nine. Record and bodily action remain different forms of evidence.
Four amounts should be kept apart. The board asks for two hundred and forty words; the man has two hundred and thirty-nine. He is one word short. The steward's own file is ninety-one in arrears, without a stated unit of retained words. His wife has two hundred and six, with four years of Thursdays also mentioned. These household figures do not calculate a future crossing price.
The intervention becomes a lesson. Beside the book's open hand, the steward has written that the hold must continue until the room is quiet. He then sits, offers his own arm to a younger steward and places the younger man's fingers. Finally, he moves one finger higher. The particular grip is being transmitted through writing and demonstration. Its next use is not shown.