Fresh new career prospect in the Judicial Judgment Business

Sometimes I get SPAM that is so intriguing, I cannot stop myself from opening it. And I'm so glad I did this time! Look what was at the bottom of the message:

However irregular the motion might be, it was sure, if continued, to bring him to land in time, and that was all he cared about just then. When night fell his slumber was broken and uneasy, for he wakened more than once with a start of fear that the machine had broken and he was falling into the sea Sometimes he was carried along at a swift pace, and again the machine scarcely worked at all; so his anxiety was excusable

I think this is the prologue to The Machinist...