Chapter 5 chapter Five

A disfigured frigate, as ugly and unrecognizable as a man who has lost his nose.The serious-looking navigator guided it, and carefully crossed the shoals and mud banks of the delta in the high tide. The navigator asked his assistants to mark the turning point of the waterway with wooden poles in front, and then it painfully went up the river to change sailing, At the end of each straight voyage its head was turned by the skiffs--short straight voyages, because the San Francisco River had narrowed as the ground rose near the Penedo, The river is less than a mile wide.Even so, they finally carried it into the dock under the guidance of the torch, stopping only once in the waterway for waiting for the ebb tide, and Jack found with great satisfaction that Allen and the dock owner, Mr. The mast has chosen a good piece of wood, and the carpenters have already used greenheart hardwood to prepare a beautiful masthead for the new mast, and the first thing in the morning is to set up the lifting tripod so that Extract the stump of the broken tooth.

"This Lobez is exactly what I want," he said to Stephen. "He understands the importance of time and the importance of having the secondsprit well fully leathered and I have no doubts that we will be able to go to sea on Sunday." "Only three days," said Stephen. "A pity, poor Martin, I told him we were staying much longer, and he was bent on seeing boa constrictors, jaguars, owl-faced nocturnal apes, and collecting as complete a specimen of native beetles as possible; There is no hope of accomplishing so much in such a short time. However, I agree with you about Mr. Lobez. He is the kindest and most hospitable man he has ever been, and he has invited me to visit him. Spend the night there, to meet a gentleman from Peru, who is also his guest, and a great traveler. I heard that this gentleman has crossed the Andes, and he must know a lot about that inland country. wide."

"Oh, what a surprise!" said Jack. "But I must beg you, Stephen, don't let Lobez go to bed very late. We can't waste a moment--think of it, if the Norfolk were passing by now, we'd be dawdling here." , then we'd be fools—we'd have to start work before daylight. It would be a pity if he'd be dazed, sleepy, and exhausted tomorrow. Could you give him a hint, say, if he You'll be happy to entertain that Peruvian gentleman if you want to go to bed early." It turned out Mr. Lobez didn't need hints.He could only barely speak some Spanish, and seeing that the two guests spoke Spanish fluently, even very fluently, and talked very congenially, he apologized to them on the grounds that he needed to get up early for work, and said goodbye to them. Good night, leaving them on the spacious balcony.There were domesticated animals on the balcony, among them three different marmosets, an old bald-headed toucan, a row of sleepy parrots; farting, looking around critically every time, could have been mistaken for a sloth or an anteater, or even a doormat; there was also a young blue heron on the balcony, which was amazingly beautiful, always In and out.Two bottles of white wine were placed between the two of them, two hammocks were thrown behind each other, and a moment later Lobez returned, begging them to use the mosquito nets. "Not that we have any mosquitos in Penetto, gentlemen, but I must admit that at the beginning of the month the vampires do get a little dead."

The vampire bats didn't harass his guests, though, for vampire bats needed sleeping prey, and the two (despite their glum glances at them from the rafters) hadn't gone to bed.They watched the crescent of the new moon sinking from the sky, and the procession of bright stars moved across the sky, and they talked all night.A kind of kinder bat, two feet wide, was briefly visible in the light of the moon and stars, while the starlit wakes of turtles and the occasional crocodile could be seen in the river a few yards below them. ; the marmoset with the lion's mane, snoring softly on Stephen's lap, fell asleep all the time, but the conversation dragged on.They examine the notorious career of Bonaparte (with no end in sight, pity, pity), examine the sad history of Spain as an empire in the New World, and predict the almost certain future emancipation of its colonies—” Then again, seeing those reptiles come to the fore in places like Buenos Aires," said the Peruvian, "I sometimes worry that our new country might be worse than the old one What?"—and now, at the end of the night, they were talking again about the geological formations of the Andes, and how difficult it was to traverse them.

"If it weren't for these things, I'm afraid I would never have crossed the Andes," said the Peruvian, nodding at the half-full bag of coca leaves.The bag was on the table between the two of them. "When we were about to reach the top of the mountain road, the wind became stronger, mixed with small balls of frozen snowflakes, and I couldn't breathe. At such a high place, I was already out of breath, and every step I climbed Take two or three breaths. My companions are in the same situation as I am, and two of our llamas are dead. I think we should retreat, but the chief leads us to a sheltered place among the rocks, and takes out his and took out the little box of limes and handed them to us. We each chewed a small ball—we called it—and then we packed up our bags very easily and quickly in the snow Up the harsh slopes, over the top, and down into milder climates."

"It doesn't surprise me at all," said Stephen. "Since you kindly gave me the first acullico, I've been feeling hot in my head, growing mentally, and undoubtedly growing physically. I have no doubt that I can swim the river ahead. But I don't would do that, and I would rather enjoy our conversation, and enjoy my present marked euphoric feeling—no fatigue, no hunger, no worry, but an understanding and synthesis rarely experienced before. Your coca leaves, Your Excellency, it is the most potent herb I have ever seen. I have read about it in Garcilaso de la Vega and Fulkner, and it is a hundred times more powerful than I imagined."

"Of course it's the best flat-leaf alpine coca," said the Peruvian. "I have a good friend who grows coca, and he sent these, and I always take a big bag of fresh coca leaves with me when I travel. Allow me to pour you a glass of wine, and another There's still some in the bottle." "You're very kind, but it's a waste for me to drink. Since I chewed the first pellet, and the pleasant tingle subsided, my sense of taste has completely disappeared." "What, what's the shouting out there?" cried the Peruvian, for, from the Surprise, there came a shriek of whistles and a roar: "Get up or die, get up!" , or die. Get up, get up. I'm coming, I'm coming, my dagger is sharp, my conscience is clear, get up, or die. Roll up, roll up, roll up." Waking up the sleeping sailors, all the open portholes on the frigate looked golden in the dark.

"It's just them waking up the sailors," Stephen said. "They like to sweep the decks before daylight, and not let the sun get angry at seeing the dust. I'm afraid it's very superstitious." After some more time the stars began to dim; the east brightened; and within a few minutes the sun poked its edge over the distant sea.It was the briefest of dawns, and then there was broad daylight, full daylight.Captain Aubrey came out of the cabin, and Mr. Lobez from the house, and they met on the quay.An embarrassing, purely superfluous spider-monkey followed Mr. Lobez, and they hissed threateningly before driving him off, while Jack brought the navigator on as interpreter, and the In order to deal with possible technical problems.

At eight or nine o'clock, everyone was working non-stop.Everyone refers to all the sailors present. This is because Prince took the yacht, and Movitt took the barge, and each of them stayed far away from the sandbar with their respective crew members, collecting information while watching. .But there are still many "wonders" left here; the frigate has been hauled to the lifting tripod, and the dock workers are busy on her bow; Great chunks of smooth wood fluttered about the quay, with diligent handaxe swings on board; the sailmaster and his mates, with a very capable crew of sailors, were dismantling almost all of its rigging so that new logs When finished, it was methodically reassembled, using Bristow's specifications, while another group of sailors were gathered about the decks and sides of the ship, busily plugging up the seams with hemp thread. Few of the sailors on the "Defender" are capable of such technical work, but now they can more or less shake the oars, so they, together with the marines, were sent not far up the river A source at the site, to replenish the warships with fresh water.

"Seeing all these people taking their lives so seriously and doing nothing myself, I feel extremely guilty," Martin said. "I don't feel guilty," said Stephen, fresh and happy despite not having slept at all last night. "Let's go out and see the country. Some say there's a path up ahead that goes around behind the castano grove swamp and goes through that forest and leads to: a glade where there's a palm tree. I forgot the tree What is its name, but its fruit is round and dark red in color. We have little time, and it would be a pity to waste it on futile breast-beating."

There wasn't much time, indeed, but enough time was enough for Martin to be bitten dangerously to the bone by the owl-faced nocturnal ape.They walked along a wide forest path, behind a castano grove wetland, lined with dazzling green walls of plants, the solid foundations of which were trees, and innumerable curly and tangled climbers, bushes, vines, Parasitic plants filled all the gaps, and only snakes could get through the thicker parts of the tree walls.They walked forward, with stupid smiles on their faces, and looked in amazement at the countless butterflies of many different species and the occasional hummingbird; the air was filled with the chirping of insects.After the chirping lasted ten or twenty minutes, they were deaf to it and walked as if in complete silence—very few birds were present, and the occasional ones were silent.When they reached the glade, they startled a group of parrots of mixed species.Here the trees are far apart, and there is no vegetation on the ground.They also saw a group of ants carrying leaves and walking along a path they used to take.The colony of ants is a foot wide and grows so long that it cannot see its head on either side.Stephen stared at the ants, distinguishing between various ant soldiers and ant workers.As he liked to count, he calculated the number of ants in a square foot, and the approximate weight they borne.Based on this, he was going to make a certain estimate of the entire ant army in sight, but his arithmetic was always slow and hesitant, with many mistakes.He was still scratching numbers on a broad leaf with a branch when he heard Martin cry out.Martin was standing by a hollow tree on the other side of the glade. "Shh, be quiet," he said, frowning. "I'll write down three, and I'll put seven into one." But now he heard the pain in the cry, and turning around saw Martin's hand bleeding.He drew his penknife and ran up to him alertly, crying, "Is it a snake? Is it a snake?" "Not a snake," said Martin, with a very strange mixture of joy and pain in his face. "It's an owl-faced night monkey. It was here just now." He pointed to the hollow of the hollow tree. "Look out: the small face is covered with stripes, the eyes are round, as if looking into something, how pleasing, so I will take the risk..." "Bite the bone," said Stephen, "and if you do live, the nails are bound to fall off. Let it bleed, man, let it bleed. You've got that ape pissed off, no doubt, God Bless, the bleeding will take some of the toxins out. Well, now I'm tying it up, and we're going to hurry back to the ship. You must cauterize as soon as possible. Where's the ape?" "I am very sorry to say that it ran away immediately. I should have called you earlier." "Let's imitate it. Not a single moment is wasted. It's quicker to walk by the river than by the castochon swamp. Keep your hands on your chest. And I remind you that the handkerchief is mine." As they ran into the bright sunlight, Martin said: "Being bitten by an owl-faced nocturnal ape is something not everyone can boast about." Through a feathery strip of bamboo they came to the bank of the river, which was now wide and sandy after the tide had gone out.Before them stood two sailors, "Awkward" Davis and "Fat Ass" Jinx, both clutching sticks of driftwood and looking menacing. "Oh, it's the doctor," cried Davis, the wiser of the two. "We thought you were Indians—savages—cannibals." "There's a tiger," Jinx said, "tossing around in the reeds, trying to drink blood." "What are you doing here?" Stephen asked, knowing that these two were originally with the yacht. "Oh, haven't you heard the news, sir?" Davis asked. "what news?" "He didn't hear the news," Davis said, turning to Jinx. "Then you tell him, man," Jinx said. Excluding all irrelevant details, ignoring all trivial corrections, they figured out that the news was that the "Norfolk" had passed, sailing south-southwest with all normal sails; Colonel Lins was coming up to Penedo in his yacht at once, but they were having a hard time finding the waterway; it was the lowest tide of the synodic tide, or at least not far from it, and the yacht hit bottom many times on this last stretch, David Both S and Jinx were uncommonly fat, and the tail wind meant they didn't need to paddle, so Prince ordered them to make the last stretch, but watch out for the tigers.On the other hand, Mr. Movitt, who was in charge of the barge, had lowered all the masts, because the barge had hit the sand and turned over, and could only wait there for the warship to come down. "The yacht should have been docked an hour ago," Davis said. "Oh my dear, they're as busy as bees now." They were as busy as bees indeed, and bees at the command of an extraordinarily diligent overseer.Regular meals in the cabins and junior wardrooms and cadets were outlawed and cut down to ten minutes for the average sailor to devour; Working, there are so many people that they can hardly use tools.By nightfall, all work that could have been done by the light of the fires on the docks was done, and though there was still a lot of delicate work to be done after sunrise, Jack was pretty sure they would be able to do it at high tide tomorrow night. sailed. "You don't mind that tomorrow is Friday?" Stephen asked. "Friday?" Jack called, forgetting the day in his haste. "God bless us, it's indeed Friday. But you know it doesn't matter; we didn't mean to; we were forced to. No, no. But let's not talk about it for now--I beg you don't mention it to anyone. One thing, Stephen—Two things are in our favor: the first is that the Norfolk hoisted only ordinary sails, and she could have hoisted far more sails; so if we hurry, And it's possible to catch it. The other thing is that the synodic tide can take us out to sea very quickly, much faster than we can get here from the sea." The third event was Movitt and the barge crew who miraculously completed the restoration of the barge and made it back in the wee hours of the morning.With the help of a number of very clever riggers among those barges, the work went on at a remarkable speed.The new mast was brought up at ten-thirty, and at eleven it was lashed to the bow, the sails were rigged, and the new second-sprit was erected, and all the shrouds and shrouds were rigged at the lowest tide. All right.Jack gave the order to drink, then turned to Prince and said, "The paint and trim, we'll have to leave it at sea, of course it doesn't look pretty, but I never thought we could do so much in such a short time. Pls the navigator tell mr robez that we're happy to accept his invitation after all, he knows we'll have to leave him when the tide turns. lord, i'm starving, better have a glass of wine, see For God's sake." There was no shortage of wine at this merry feast, nor was there any shortage of fine food (for turtles were fish too), and there was no shortage of singing.In fact, Jack thought the navigator was singing too hard, with so many ditties he had learned from British and American merchant ships.But then again, Jack’s mind was occupied by the tide, and he couldn’t enjoy the music well. As soon as the cadet who was guarding the chronograph came to tell him that the time was up, he stood up immediately and thanked Luo sincerely. Mr. Bates walked out with Stephen and the navigation officer, completely ignoring the navigator's request to toast St. Peter for the last time. The tide is now high tide and the water is so high that the little waves are over the pier, for the tide has been leeward most of the time, although the wind is now turning favorably to the southwest.Once this vast expanse of water starts to fall back, thought Jack, looking at the overflowing banks in the distance; it will push the Surprise out to sea with great speed; They could have left the delta before, especially since there was so much water in the river, they didn't need to keep up with all the turns the ebb passed.The uncharacteristically high water had another benefit: Stephen stepped straight into the navigator's dinghy, and sat there peacefully, without falling to the bottom, falling over the other side of the dinghy, or scratching his calf. break.The navigator and his assistants oared them to the Surprise, which, anchored by two floating anchors belonging to the dock, was already moored in the channel, awaiting orders from her commander to depart. . "Here we go," Martin said, gazing at the sunlit wall off the starboard side as it slid by. "We could have stayed for three weeks if this had been a civilized discovery tour," Stephen said. "How is your hand?" "My hand is fine, I thank you," Martin said, "and even if it was fifty times worse than it is now, I'd still think it's nothing, because these few hours - so rich ... Maturin, If you put your binoculars at that big tree on the headland, and look to the right, can you see something like a group of monkeys?" "Yeah. I think they're howler monkeys, black howler monkeys." "Howler Monkey, you mean? Yeah, sure. I wish," he added in a low voice, so the navigator wouldn't hear, "I wish that dude could be quieter." "He has become a little agitated." Stephen said. "Let's go to the bow." But even when they got to the bow, the navigator's gaiety, with his imitation of the jaguar's call--a rough plop--followed them; and most disappointingly, he moved the ship mid-stream In this way, the details on both sides of the strait cannot be seen clearly.The tide began to fall, and the ship, pulling all topsails and jibs, was propelled by the wind blowing obliquely astern, moving surprisingly fast.But it suddenly began to slow down steadily, and finally came to a dead stop on a sandy bank, its deck tilted back and forth, and in the rushing water, the muddy sand flowed away from under it like a huge cloud.The sailors let go the sheet at once, and while they hoisted the sail Jack was running from the cabin to the bow, calling, "Bring the lead here, bring the lead here." The headrail leaned far out and stared at the water as it slowly became clear: the warship had plowed so far and so high on the sand that its bridle hatch was less than a yard above the water. "Take a sounding out at a distance," he said to the helmsman, hoping that the lead test might show that the sand bank was a narrow sand spit so that the ship could be pulled sideways.The lead test did not indicate this; and as the lead tester spun for the second plunge over the port side, he saw weeds and reeds under the front of the frigate's keel.The mud bank where the warship is located is very large, and most of the mud bank is outside the warship.He ran to the stern to see what was going on, and saw that Prince and Mowett had launched the two boats. "Bring the anchor chain through the porthole of the junior wardroom," he called as he passed. The stern was sunk low in the water and the rudder post was probably loose, but there was no time for that now. "Just under the stern," he said, and the lead splashed into the water. "Two fathoms, my lord," said the helmsman in astonishment, "not two fathoms." Things are really bad, but not hopeless. "Big anchor to the yacht," he called, "small anchor and big line to the red dhow." Looking over the taffrail, wondering if the direction of the current might hint him at the boundaries of the mud bank, he noticed the pilot The officer and his assistant were already two hundred yards away, in their own dinghy, pulling violently to his feet."Fresh water over the side," he said to the navigator, and hurried down to the lower deck of the frigate, where the foreman and the strong ropers of the double watch were pulling a fifteen-inch new The hawser went to the stern, and they yelled "Pull one, pull two, pull away, pull away, go" rhythmically.Everything is normal here, and the action is fast.He ran up on deck again, calling for a single-seater and a buoy bucket; and a part of his mind still had time to thank God for such a good officer and well-trained sailor. When he jumped into the scooter, the smaller anchor had been lowered into the red dhow, and the larger anchor had been hoisted from the anchorage, hanging over the yacht, while fresh water was gushing over the side of the boat, lightening the boat rapidly. the weight of. Like an eager dog, the single-seater explored the depths back and forth, looking for a good anchoring place, and at the first place where he could barely anchor, Jack dropped the buoy over the side and called out to the yacht.Now the big anchor was on the yacht, and the anchor chain was dragging behind the yacht, and the yacht was pulling as fast as she could against the wind, against the ebb tide, which was much stronger than the wind, and it was pulling so hard that the faces of the sailors It was flushed red, while the oars bent dangerously in their saddles.This is because, as every sailor knows, there is not a moment, not even a moment, to waste now, when the tide will drop thirty feet, and in the first ten minutes alone five feet of precious water, and if they don't get the boat in today's tide, there's little hope for the next tide, because it won't rise as high next time.Moreover, after the tide falls, the keel is still in danger of breaking. "Pull it out, pull it out," Prince yelled from the yacht. "Pull out, pull out," Mowett bellowed from the dhow. When they got close to the buoy barrel, the yacht pushed the dangerous and huge iron anchor from the side of the ship into the water with human power; anchor, thus holding the big anchor itself.Jack stood up and shouted to the warship: "Reel hard, reel hard." Immediately, the windlass winch on the rear deck of the frigate began to turn. When those small boats came back, it was also the most tense moment.The windlass winches were still turning, but very slowly, and the men bent over the winch rods, panting heavily.Stephen and Martin pushed side by side, but as the boat crew jumped onto the frigate and scrambled for the winch rod, Jack pulled Stephen out and took his place himself, saying, "I've got a little more weight on my shoulders." ’” Then Jack said louder, “Push hard. Push hard.” Now the capstan rod was completely full of sailors, and the capstan capstan made a full turn, and the iron pawls cluck-cluck-cluck The sound was so strong that the anchor chain was snapped.Stephen looked aft and saw that the hawse chain was almost straight.It has been thinned to half its original size. "Hands tight," Jack called, his voice hoarse from putting hard. "Push hard. Push and push." The windlass capstan barely moved.There was a grunt—then a long, forced pause—and another grudging grunt. "Push hard, push hard." Then the rattling of the paws grew quicker, gal--gal--gal--gal; and the cook cried, "We're in the water." The man who found his position on the winch rod also began to cheer, but it was only the anchor being pulled out.The Surprise didn't move except sinking deeper in the mud, and the tide was now back two feet. "Stop," Jack said, straightening up from the winch rod, "Captain Prince," he said, looking around the banks of the river, "I see the boat will lean to starboard as the tide goes out, so we'll have to take some stock off in the meantime we must find firm ground on the nearer shore, and transfer the cannon there, so that it will be afloat at the next high tide." "Or," he said to himself, "until the next high tide. It's time. Oh, please God send us a great flood tomorrow." "There have been times, my dearest soul," Stephen wrote to Diana, dated "from the banks of San Francisco," "that you are not entirely satisfied with Jack Aubrey, But if you've been watching him for the last two weeks, I think you'll admit that there's something heroic about him, some great soul. As I said, a drunk navigator led the ship up here and it was at the height of the highest tide that we could not pull it under, despite our best efforts; It was lifted from the muddy river bed, so it didn't move. After this, there was no other way but to wait for the end of the month, when there would be another synodic tide. The thought was comforting, but, with each passing day, we and the enemy The distance of the ship was only a hundred or two miles, and all Jack's happiness, his career, his reputation depended on this enemy ship. We had that high tide last time. But since then I haven't heard Jack complain, nor have I heard him say 'Oh, to hell with everything', nor have I heard any hotter, common sea A phrase that he himself uses at will on various occasions. Of course he requires everyone to work very, very hard all day, because all the guns have to be brought ashore, and there are countless tons of food, stores, plus When the water was shallow, a channel was also contrived to be dug, so that when the time came the boat would be more easily pulled into the water, and the rudder-post had to be refitted at the same time; A word of blasphemy, he hardly even reproached. The strange thing is, this calm completely stupefied everyone. They looked at him anxiously, and performed their duties with magical diligence. To me and Martin In the first few days, the weight of the ship had to be lightened quickly, lest it be deformed or its keel broken because the waist was lifted by the low tide, and all the skilled sailors had been sent to carry the cannon, so He entrusted Martin, the quartermaster, and me to the scooter (a nasty instrument), and ordered us to go and bring the heavy bucket ashore; eyes; we always felt him watching us as we went back and forth, and we were as docile as schoolchildren." "The first few days went by, we had blood on our hands and we had no doubt permanently damaged our spines, but we took it easy because there were no totally unskilled jobs anymore; I have to confess, lately I've been extraordinarily comfortable this week. It's the only mosquito-free tropical river I know, yet has a superb swamp nearby, not only rich in wading birds--just imagine, my dear, a A rose-coloured spoonbill, if you can imagine it--and, of course, a treasure trove of plants. I have seldom seen anyone so delighted as my friend Mr. Well worth the trip, but not only did he collect a lot of very strange beetles, but he also saw a boa constrictor, which was one of his greatest wishes. We were walking in an open area of ​​the forest, talking about Jaguar, the two of us were suddenly thrown to the ground. I thought it was a thick tree trunk, or a vine, but the vine twisted violently, and I quickly saw that it was in fact a vine. A boa constrictor that fell from a tree. But the snake was terrified, panicked to the point of losing its mind; it struggled to free itself, while its tail flailed about. Seeing Martin wrap his hands around its neck, I Tell him it was rash, careless, and thoughtless. I would have continued to remind him of Laocoon's fate, but the serpent's tail curled around my neck and cut me off. He replied, gasping, This is a boa constrictor—boa constrictors are notoriously mild-tempered creatures—he just wanted to see its degenerated hind legs—and then let it go—he wasn't hurting it. By this time, the poor boa constrictor Returning to its senses, it sprinted out of his grip (thick, thick, and almost infinitely long, if that's the word for such a massive reptile) with a determined lunge, Climb up the tree, like a reversed torrent, and we never saw him again. Judging by his colorful appearance, and his frightened state of mind, I think he must have recently molted." "The greatest wealth of the day, though, is botanical wealth, which reminds me of coca, or cacao leaves, given to me by a Peruvian traveler. Chewed with lime, it sharpens the mind miraculously to a certain extent, it produces a euphoric feeling of well-being that counteracts hunger and fatigue. I stock up on a lot because I think it will help me get rid of a somewhat troublesome habit: you may have noticed it earlier, because of insomnia and other I've been taking laudanum for all sorts of discomfort; taking it does tend to become too habitual. I don't think I have any abuse problems, let alone addiction; but it creates a need, not unlike tobacco I would be more than happy to get rid of it, and I think these precious leaves will do the trick. I'm amazed at how effective it is, and I'll enclose a few in my letter so you can try it too All this time was extremely tiring work and anxiety all day, so I suggested Jack try coca leaves, but he said they would be of no use to him if they would deprive him of sleep and hunger -- in this crisis he needs sleep, he needs food -- in short, he will not take medicine till the boat is afloat, no, not even for the king's ransom. "It is now afloat, well equipped, neat and pretty, and little damaged, having been drawn from the shore, or island, last night at the height of the synodic tide; but in so doing, We lost an anchor and it took a lot of time to get it back, we had to wait for the next high tide and the excellent Mr. Lobez (God bless him) will guide us out to open sea. I'm about to add conditions' If only he'd come in time', but before my pen fell, I saw his skiff come round the bend of the river. He's aboard now; When I leave, I will entrust him with this trust." "But would I do that?" he asked aloud, rereading the letter.The tone of the letter was wrong, perhaps unpleasantly wrong.这种语调假定了他们之间没有任何困难，而现在他意识到这种假定是毫无根据的，于是这封信就显得虚伪，显得刺耳地矫揉造作。他慢慢把信揉成一团，一边凝望起河那边那艘漂亮的小军舰来。它在水道里游着，和它那恶劣的小岛离得很远。等他看见小艇从它旁边驶开，却又改变了主意。这条小艇会把他送到舰上，而直到太平洋深处，或许他也再不会看见陆地了。他展平了信纸，写道：“亲爱的上帝才知道什么时候信会到你手里，但无论早晚，它都带着我所有的爱”。 “惊奇”号需要补足十六天的航行；而虽然很有可能，为了节省它的储备、圆材和帆布，“诺尔福克”号在南下航程中不会扯起很多风帆，但在平稳的东南贸易风里，就算它晚上适中地收缩中桅帆帆篷，它的航速至少也不会低于五节。这就意味着它比“惊奇”号超前了两千英里。 “惊奇”号因此而处在极度的匆忙之中。于是它刚刚和领航员告别，就扯起了很多的风帆。话又说回来，这种情况并没什么非同寻常之处：这条军舰和它的指挥官，在他们几乎整个服役期间，都一直被时间催促着，到现在匆忙已经差不多成了正常状态——海上的悠闲，有着某种令人心神不定的东西，有着某种不自然的平静。但尽管匆忙，杰克还是不打算把它推到它能力的极限，不打算让圆材和风帆处在崩裂的边缘，而以前在追踪的时候，只要他看得见敌船，或者甚至只要敌船恰好冒出海平线，他都经常问心无愧地这么做过。不过他确实想要离那个极端速度越近越好，但脑子里会同时记住，现在他前面就是遥远的南海了，在它海岸上没有航船配件零售商，更不要说船坞了。他再一次感谢天命，给他送来了普林斯和莫维特这两个军官，他们会以同样的决心和力量让“惊奇”号日夜行进的。 “现在我们可以重新恢复到真正的航海了。”杰克非常满意地说。这时“惊奇”号正进入南大西洋，在东北柔风下抢风航行着。柔风里没有丝毫陆地的气息，是一股纯粹的海风。“而且也许我们可以让军舰看上去不那么像快进拆卸场的样子。我多么厌恶紧靠着陆地航行啊，”他又说，一边扫视着巴西。现在的巴西是隐现在西方水平线上的一条暗淡的带子，可对深海航行家来说它仍旧太近了，深海航行家最坏的敌人就是背风海岸。“可是那宽绰的回旋余地，那亲吻着月亮的云涛，还有那泪滴，我并不在乎。”他借用莫维特的辞句评论道。随后他又考虑到，命运可能会把他这番话当成某种挑战，于是他抓住一个缠索栓，说道，“当然，我只是打个比方。” 杰克不是时下那种极其注意军舰仪容整洁的舰长，他觉得一艘优良的军舰，在港口撤除中桅杆时并不需要比其他船快五秒；一艘优良军舰上大量的黄铜部件也并不需要在任何时间、任何天气下都比太阳更加明亮；一艘优良军舰上的候补生们并不需要身穿紧身白长裤，头戴三角帽，脚登黑森士兵穿的靴子，靴子还带着镀金的弯边和金绶带、特别适合于收缩中桅杆帆篷；一艘优良军舰的炮弹架子和索环上的圆炮弹并不需要仔细弄黑，而自然黑的伙食木桶圈也并不需要用沙打磨成银白。然而他确实喜欢“惊奇”号为数不多的裸露铜制部件闪闪发光，喜欢它的油漆看上去匀称到过得去的程度；他的第一副官则更加喜欢这样；而奇怪的是，那些得亲手干活的人们却也完全同意他们的观点。整洁是他们所习惯的，而他们珍视习惯了的东西，即便这意味着每天用沙土和沙石在潮湿的甲板上苦干，每天起得比日出还早很多，比早饭时间就早得更多；即便这意味着在军舰上下颠簸翻腾，从侧面穿过大西洋海涌时，在军舰颠簸得需要四个人掌握舵轮，而且值班岗大部分水兵都站在一边让所有舵手都可以试试手段时，还去油刷军舰露出水面的部分。并不是说这样的事会经常发生，因为泛泛而言，比起航行的初始阶段来，风对“惊奇”号并不更加青睐；而虽然侯隆在军械官私人水域里游弋得很成功，但他的脊梁骨——个吃掉了风的约拿的脊梁骨——仍旧遭遇了很多歪斜的目光。 于是“惊奇”号火速地向南推进，一路把新鲜的油漆气味散布到背风方向；等到比较脆弱的油漆干了之后，它又开始散布出刺鼻的、令人兴奋的硝烟气味。很少有哪次全体集合时，连轻武器都没有开火，更少有哪次全体集合时，大炮没有被推进推出。天气越坏演习越有效，杰克说，因为你永远不能确定你会在平静温和的海面上和敌人相遇，所以最好还是学会在疯狂摇摆的甲板上怎么推动你五英担重的身体，早早地预先学会这种以后会用得着的本事。这样持续地进行准备，有着两个理由：第一个理由是，杰克·奥布雷彻底地喜爱生活；他有着兴致勃勃、乐观自信的天性；他的肝和视力的状况都一流，除非世界非常粗暴地对待了他——这不时也会发生——他醒来时总是感到满意，总是充满了享受生活的强烈期望。因为他在生活中找到了这么多乐趣，所以他愿意活得越久越好，在他看来，在海战中保证这一点的最好方法，是对敌人的两轮偏舷炮，还击三轮偏舷炮，而且还要射得笔直，致命。第二个理由是和第一个紧密相连的，他的优良军舰的标准，是它要有一支强有力的、高度熟练的、能以谋略制胜的、能在炮火上压倒对手的官兵队伍，它必须是艘纪律严明但快乐活泼的军舰，必须是一艘有效率的军舰——简而言之，一艘在敌我差距不大的情况下，几乎都可以打赢的军舰。 就这样向南，一个纬度接着一个纬度，在巴西温暖的洋流里向南行进；还没等他们穿过南回归线，那正规的、习以为常的、被钟声规定好的航海生活，看来就好像已经持续了很久很久。船现在已经油刷一新了，它的黄铜部件在强制性的干船坞时期已经擦亮了，它扯着浅色的全副晴天风帆，朝着南方展翅航行着，把太阳留在后面，这时候它看上去非同寻常地优美。候补生们开始接触希腊动词不定过去时，拉丁语的独立夺格结构，还有球面几何的基本知识；这些东西他们学起来毫无热情，等到放学之后，和邦敦学习马蹄形编接，和法斯特·杜德尔学习不寻常的扭结时，他们才变得兴致勃勃起来。因为完全笨嘴拙舌，杜德尔从来不做任何解释，可是他耐心无穷，会一遍遍地给他们做演示。他一句话不说，就可以把用于独桅船支索的三眼滑轮扭结做上十遍。而在其他时间，他们很少见得着马丁先生，有时候看来他和他的学生们一样渴望放弃正弦、正切和正割；事实上，他正在整理自己非常庞大的巴西鞘翅目生物标本，这些标本以前只是匆忙地采集来了，等到现在，丰富的新种、新属、新科才完全显现出来。他和斯蒂芬希望有几个月时间，愉快而安定地把这些造物进行分类；不过，斯蒂芬对这些甲虫并没有那么大的激情，况且他的职责（还有他不愿意放弃的任何经过的飞鸟和鲸鱼）也常常让他离开。 他越来越对作为手术助理的希金斯感到不满了。毫无疑问，这个人拔牙技术很高明，但他对医药和手术都极端无知，他不仅无知，而且大胆、卤莽。而且他还在利用着普通水兵的轻信。咒语和白片，可以说都有可取之处，但希金斯却做得过了头，他的行为，远不是用对病人有利这样的理由，就可以辩解的。况且，从那些生病的水兵，或者那些希望在伤病室装一会儿病，轻松一下的水兵身上，他还开始收取非法的诊费（外加鳗鱼、老鼠和蠼螋）。斯蒂芬于是决定自己照看所有的病人，让希金斯只管病人的牙齿。他知道自己不可能完全终止这个人私自的，或者说秘密的活动，因为水兵们就是那个样子，但至少他可以把最危险的药品锁起来，保证他们不会中毒。 他上午给桅前普通水兵看病，下午通常在杰克的陪同下，他会巡视伤病室，再次见到这些普通病人，而军官们则通常通过病床的护理员，通过那个医护兵，预先约定诊治时间。但这也完全不是一成不变的，尤其是对下级军官室里和他一起吃饭的人来说，就更是如此。于是在离开佩奈多几天之后，斯蒂芬听见敲门声一点也不惊奇——他知道有几个任命的或者委任的肚子仍旧苦于过量的海龟和热带水果。可他想的一点也不对：是荷纳太太，在所有水兵都在甲板上的时候来了，因为“惊奇”号已经顶风停了船，正升旗和普莱特河来的一艘商船对话呢。他建议在军械官的舱房里，在军械官在场的情况下给她做检查，但是她拒绝了；而且她也不希望兰姆太太或者中士的妻子在场。事实上，确实也用不着很长的详细检查。荷纳太太怀孕了，自从上次月亮变化以来，这个事实她自己也完全清楚。斯蒂芬把检查结果告诉了她，她说：“是啊，而且不是荷纳的。你知道他的麻烦，大夫。他告诉我了。不是他的，他要是知道了，是会杀了我的。他是个可怕的人。除非我打掉它，他会杀了我的。”在接下来长长的安静中她低声对自己说：“他会杀了我的。” “我对此非常遗憾。”斯蒂芬说。“我不准备假装不知道你要我做什么，可这是做不到的。我会尽我所能来帮助你，但不会做那件事。你得试着……”他的杜撰失败了，他的声音渐渐平息，只能眼睛看着地面，他感到，她所有的苦涩烦恼和目前的失望，都在压迫着他。 “我了解他，是啊，”荷纳太太用钝浊的声音说，“他会杀了我的。” 过了一会儿，她至少恢复了镇定的样子，站起身来，整平她的无袖女服，她的模样看上去可怜地年轻而病弱。“在你离开之前，”斯蒂芬说，“我要告诉你两件事：一是，在这些事情上，对自然进程的任何干预都是极其危险的；二是，自然也经常会自己干预自己，十次妊娠中有超过一次是以自然流产告终的。我希望你至少每星期来见我一次；你可能会感到稍有不适，心情也可能需要调整。” 很清楚，她几乎没听见他说的话，可在他说完的时候，她屈膝行了个礼，穿过门的时候还嘟囔着对自己说：“他会杀了我的。” “或许他真的会这么做。”几分钟之后，斯蒂芬这么想。他已经走上了甲板，想摆脱这次交谈留下的痛苦印象，还想去听听那艘商船说了些什么，这时他看见跳板上离他几英尺的地方，站着军械官，黝黑、愤怒、危险，为了一点小事就可能大发脾气。他是个壮实的男人，手臂长长地垂在两边。 斯蒂芬来得晚了，只听到告别的礼貌寒暄。在白浪点点的、汹涌的、蓝宝石般的海面上，相隔四分之一英里远，这两艘航向相反的船正在道别。不过普林斯告诉他，消息极其令人失望：“诺尔福克”号没在普莱特河进港，而是直接继续航行了，不然的话，紧随其后的“惊奇”号本来是可以把它们之间的距离缩短几百英里的。一艘蒙特威迪奥的三桅帆船在南纬四十度的地方和它用旗语打过招呼，因为它一直有更有利的风，这几乎肯定意味着它已经拉长了他们之间的距离。 “现在我们唯一的希望，”他说，“就是在绕过荷恩角以前，遇到一艘船，碰巧曾经见过它，比方说，在好望港整修，不然的话，我们肯定要跟着它绕过荷恩角了。到了那个时候，上帝才知道我们还能不能找得到它。” “可艾伦先生熟悉英国捕鲸船出没的区域，而且'诺尔福克'号的唯一使命不就是追逐捕鲸船么？” “你说得很对。但最近几年渔业已经扩展到更南、更西的区域，要是在航行官熟悉的沿岸水域，要是沿着智利、秘鲁、加拉帕戈斯、墨西哥和加里福尼亚一带的水域，我们没有追上它——要是它已经向西航行了三千英里或者更多，我们怎么可能在那么大的海洋里找到它呢？那儿没有贸易，没有商船会看见它驶过，没有港口可以打听它的消息。得特别有运气才行，可到目前为止我们还一直没多少运气，这该死的航行。” 向南，一直向南，但他们连一艘船也没遇到过。日复一日，一个星期接着一个星期，安宁的洋面直到边缘都空空荡荡，是一片广阔的孤独。这段时间风一直很微弱，而且变化无常，有时候风向还是不利的。可首要的问题是，风一直很微弱。接连三个晚上，杰克反复梦见自己骑着马，马渐渐缩小着，直到他的双脚碰到两边的地面，而人们看着他，显出不以为然的，甚至是蔑视的表情；每次他醒来都浑身出汗，焦虑重重。 在不知不觉中空气变冷了，海也变冷了。每天中午观测的时候，太阳偏离天顶的程度至少比前一天多出了一度。到现在候补生们都已经可以差不多熟练地测量它的高度了。杰克非常满意地看着他们每天测量的、军舰在赤道以南、格林威治以西的位置，有时候他会把他们叫进去，听他们背诵些拉丁语颂歌的段落（现在他们正慢慢地糟蹋可怜的贺拉斯）或者背诵希腊语某个名词的变格。“就算他们明天都淹死，”他对斯蒂芬评论说，“他们的父亲也不能说我没对他们尽责任。我勉强挤进去当候补生的时候，没人管我每天的功课到底是对是错，更不用说学拉丁语，希腊语了……”他而且还每天喂他们，经常轮流邀请早上值班的候补生和他一起吃早饭，再邀请另一个或两个候补生一起吃晚饭。 在这段冗长缓慢的航行中，因为有了充足的时间，常规宴请重新变得稳定有序，甚至变得有些单调。舰长和他的军官们在下级军官室吃饭，下级军官室成员轮流到大舱吃饭，候补生每次一个或两个到大舱或下级军官室吃饭。军舰越是往南，伙食变得越差。两个厨师都尽力而为了，但私人储藏变得越来越少，不过每天早上，鸡笼抬上后甲板的时候，下级军官室的公鸡庞修斯·庇拉多仍旧啼唱，它的母鸡们有时候还会生个把鸡蛋，而山羊阿斯帕西亚也仍旧在为大舱的神圣咖啡提供着羊奶，然而最后一只绵羊在南纬四十度稍南的地方死了——为了它在赤道附近不至于热死，它被剪掉，不，剃掉了身上的羊毛，现在它却无法承受日渐增强的寒冷——而且某天随军教士和杰克共进午餐的时候，腌猪肉也在舰长的餐桌上占据了位置。杰克为这个变动道了歉，因为原本是邀请他“分享羊肉”的。不过马丁说，“完全不用道歉，完全不用道歉；这是我吃过最好的腌猪肉——西印度群岛的香料搭配得这么微妙——可就算今天吃的是黑乎乎的赎罪稀糊，我还是会觉得是个盛宴。今天早上，阁下，八点半，我见到了第一只企鹅。大夫告诉我说那是笨驴企鹅，它速度极快、非常优雅地从军舰旁边游过去，就好像在水里飞！” 有一股连接太平洋、大西洋和印度洋的洋流环绕着整个地球，很多南部海洋动物都共同生长在这股洋流里。事实上“惊奇”号正处在这股洋流的边缘；海面相当突兀地改变了颜色、温度甚至特性。虽然想看到大的信天翁或许还为时过早，但极有可能会看得见海洋鸟、蓝海燕、鲸鸟，当然还有很多企鹅。这个变化发生后的次日，他和斯蒂芬一听到沙石摩擦甲板的熟悉声音，就离开了温暖的小床。沙石的摩擦声离他们的头顶很远，与其说是他们听到的不如说是感到的，不如说它就是通过木板和绷紧的索具传下来的震动。他们先走到下级军官室，那儿的管家给了他们每人一碗热腾腾的燕麦牛奶粥——一种稀粥。到这个时候——因为马丁已经借着军需官蜡烛的光亮，洗完了脸，刮了胡子——东方现出了微弱的灰白，荷纳也赤着脚走了下来，他因为一直站在淌水的甲板上，双腿冻得通红，现在他暖暖和和地穿上了鞋袜。他告诉他们，甲板上的水五分钟之内就能差不多擦干了，夜里的小雨也停了。“风向东北，海浪跟在船尾。可外面还是很冷，你们就不能吃过早饭再去吗？闻闻糨糊的气味就知道早饭会有鳕鱼干。” 他们说不了，他们宁愿现在就到露天去，不要等哨子把吊床收起来，塞到船舷边上那些东西里面，很遗憾地挡住视线。他们会等上五分钟，等甲板差不多收拾干净了，就到甲板上去…… “噢阁下，噢阁下。”卡拉米光着脚跑了下来。“一头很大很大的鲸鱼——它就在船舷边上。” 它确实就在船舷边上，它确实很大很大：那是一头抹香鲸，它硕大的钝方形头颅和船首链台齐头并进，黑色的身体一直延伸到后甲板，是头七十五到八十英尺长的巨大造物，给人的印象安静而有力；在它旁边，连军舰都显得脆弱。它仰着身体，头的上半部分和整个不平整的脊背都浸在水里，而且它在喷水，粗大的白色水柱喷向上方，喷向船头方向，喷水持续的时间人可以从一数到三。稍微停顿了一下，它又刻意把头沉入水里，过了两倍那么长的时间，它又抬起头再一次喷水，再一次呼吸，喷水，呼吸，喷水，而与此同时它一直和军舰并行，巨大宽阔的水平尾巴做着轻微的拨水动作。它在灰色透明的水里游着，离开军舰的距离连饼干都能扔到的那么远。它水上和水下部分的身体都能看得清楚。他们趴在栏杆上静静地出神看着它。 “这是头八十琵琶桶重的老雄鲸，”航行官在斯蒂芬的胳膊肘旁边说，“也可能有九十琵琶桶重。我们把这种鱼叫做校长，不过它们通常孤孤单单。” “它看上去一点也不担心。”斯蒂芬低声说。 “它确实不但心。大概它是聋子。我知道好几头老鲸鱼，都是聋子，连两只眼睛都瞎了，可它们看来都过得不错。不过也许它是喜欢有伴，那些孤单的鲸鱼，看来它们有时候确实喜欢有伴。就像海豚那样。它马上就会下潜了，它已经喷够了水……”一声非常惊人的滑膛枪声打断了他的话。斯蒂芬沿着栏杆投去一瞥，看见海军陆战队军官头上还戴着睡帽，手里拿着冒烟的枪，脸上露出大傻瓜的笑容。鲸鱼把头扎入翻滚的海水，它巨大的脊背耸起来，尾巴露出了海面，它在水面上停留了片刻，就消失在水底下了。 斯蒂芬正希望自己不会露出极端愤怒的表情，在跳板上他就看见了船匠的妻子兰姆太太。在这种时间，或者在任何时间，她出现在这儿都很不寻常。她一直在等着宁静被打破，现在她匆匆向他跑来。“噢大夫，你能不能马上来一下？荷纳太太病得很厉害。” 荷纳太太确实病得很厉害，她在小床上痛得弯着身子，她的脸色发黄，满脸是汗，她的头发粘在脸颊上，而且她因为极度疼痛正屏着呼吸。军械官心神烦乱地站在角落里。中士的妻子跪在床前说：“好了，好了，我亲爱的，好了，好了。”今天早晨斯蒂芬根本没想到过荷纳太太，但他一踏进舱内，就明确知道发生了什么事情，就好像她亲口告诉了他一样：她做了流产，而且兰姆太太知道这件事。其他人却都不知内情。在一阵阵痉挛性巨痛的间歇，荷纳太太唯一关心的就是把他们都赶出房间去。 “我必须有亮光和空气，两盆热水，几条毛巾。”他用权威的口吻说。“兰姆太太留下来帮我。这儿地方小，容不下其他人了。” 快速地做完了检查、处理了紧要情况之后，他又赶紧跑到下面去，去药柜里找药。在路上，在很深的下层，他碰见了他的助手。因为没地方可逃，希金斯站在一边让他先过，但斯蒂芬抓住了他的胳膊，把他拉到一扇格子板下面，于是一些亮光落在了希金斯的脸上。斯蒂芬说：“希金斯先生，希金斯先生，要是我救不活她，为了这件事你会被绞死。你这个胆大邪恶、败事有余、害人性命的无知蠢货。”希金斯被逼到走投无路的时候，也并非没有应变的胆量和手段，可他在斯蒂芬灰色的眼睛里，看出了一种爬行类动物般被压制住的凶猛，于是他只是垂下头，不作任何回答。 伤病室是军舰上极少几处可以说话而不怕被别人听见的地方。稍后，在空荡荡的伤病室里，斯蒂芬接待了军械官，军械官问他麻烦出在什么地方——自己妻子到底生了什么病？ “是种妇科病，”斯蒂芬说，“而且这种病也并非少见，但恐怕这次她病得很严重。我们最大的希望是她年轻人的康复力——荷纳太太有多大年纪？” "nineteen." “可你也要有思想准备。她也许会熬过高烧，也许熬不过去。” “不是因为我吧？”军械官低声问道，“不是因为我的那什么吧？” “不是的。”斯蒂芬说。“和你毫无关系。”他看着军械官黝黑、野蛮的脸，“这脸上有依恋么，”他想，“有任何温情么？还是只有骄傲，只有对财产的关心？”他没法完全确定。但第二天早晨，在他告诉军械官他妻子根本没有好转的时候，他感觉到这个人的主要情感，在初始的震惊和沮丧消退之后，肯定只是愤怒——是对世界的愤怒，也是对她的愤怒，因为她生病而愤怒。这并没有让他惊奇：在陆地上行医的生涯中，他见过很多很多丈夫，甚至还见过一些情夫，见过他们因为女人的疾病而愤怒，见过他们毫无耐心、充满责备，相当没有怜悯心，而且因为人们期望他们怜悯而愤怒。 天亮得很慢，雨水越过海面从东北方向飘来。在光线渐渐增强，西南方向大雨的面纱撩开的时候，嘹望兵叫道：“甲板上的。右舷船头方向有帆船。” 坐在大舱里的杰克也隐隐约约地听到了叫喊的声音。他把端起的第一杯咖啡猛地放在桌上，洒掉了一半，接着他跑上了甲板。“桅顶的，”他叫道，“在哪儿？” “现在没法看清，阁下。”桅顶的说。“我看它可能在右舷船头偏一个罗经点的方向，距离很近，左舷抢风航行。” “穿上它，阁下。”基里克手里拿着一件带帽子的麦哲伦外套，匆忙地跟在他身后，恼怒地叫道，“穿上它。我特地给你做的，为了什么呢？整个晚上都在苦干，一针又一针，一剪又一剪。”最后这几句话是不满地嘟嚷着说的。 “谢谢你，基里克。”杰克把帽子拉下来盖住头，心不在焉地说。然后他又大声清楚地说，“大家去升帆。所有上桅帆和迎风面的补助帆。” 别的都不需要做了。听了杰克的话，“惊奇”号的桅楼员们飞快地朝桅顶爬去，两侧的支桅索上黑压压地都是人。掌帆长的哨子尖利地响了几声之后，风帆就闪了出来——非常迅速地，它们落了下来、帆脚索系好了，又拉了上来，帆篷也调整好了，风帆也张开了。随着“惊奇”号的船头浪很快地升起，它朝前方猛然地跳去。这时候，嘹望兵又叫喊起来了：“船还在那儿呢，可它转向下风了；它现在正朝南面行驶呢。” “布莱克尼先生，”杰克对一个候补生说，“带上望远镜，跳到前桅杆横桁上去，把你看到的告诉我。”布莱克尼虽然浑身湿透，但激动得脸色通红。 不久，喊叫声从上面传了下来：是的，它是转向下风了。布莱克尼先生可以看见它的尾波，它正在顺风行驶呢。 在后甲板上，杰克和很多人拥挤在背风栏杆旁边，从这儿他们都可以看见它在一片灰色中远远地若隐若现，但只是暗淡模糊的一块斑点，并不能看清什么。“你能不能看见桅楼守望台？”杰克问道。 “我看不见，阁下。”候补生搜寻了漫长的一分钟之后，回答说，“我肯定它没有守望台。” 所有军官同时都微笑了起来。在这片水域上，任何陌生航船几乎要么是捕鲸船，要么就是军舰，但从来没有哪艘出海的捕鲸船会没有桅楼守望台的；这是捕鲸船的关键设备，也是它最显眼的部分。这么说来，那艘船就是军舰了。可以想象得出，“诺尔福克”号也遇到了某些意外，或者遇到了非常糟糕的天气；也可以想象得出，它只好在南方某个遥远凄凉的港湾里停泊整修；同样可以想象得出，离他们背风几英里远的那艘船就是他们一直追踪的那艘。 “甲板上的，”第一个嘹望兵虽然嗓门很大，却闷闷不乐，充满了失望，他喊道，“它只是一艘横帆双桅船。” 快乐的紧张气氛马上就消失了。当然，当然，还有那艘邮船，那艘横帆双桅的“达奈依”号呢。回忆马上像潮水一样涌了上来。“达奈依”号一定也是进程极其缓慢，才会刚刚到了这儿。当然它会掉转方向，当然它会尽量快跑，它又不知道“惊奇”号是艘什么样的船。 “去它的，”杰克对普林斯说，“毫无疑问，我们得马上和它说话。等它可以看得见，我们就升起短三角旗和舰旗。可是不要太早了，在空空荡荡的空气里白白浪费宝贵的舰旗是没有意义的。”说完，他又喝起了咖啡。听说马图林大夫正在照看病人，脱不开身，他又接着单独吃起了早餐。 可是“达奈依”号有些古怪。很明显，它一开始并不信任“惊奇”号的旗帜，而且它的职责就是不信任。但奇怪的是，虽然现在天色已经相当亮了，它却对私密信号也没做出令人满意的、不可否认的回应。而且更奇怪的是，它一直稍许有点抢风，就好像它想抢到上风位置似的，而同时它的后桅外端，每隔很长时间就升起难以解读的信号。它确实是艘非常快的船，邮船总是这样快的，而现在它升起了很多风帆，正在离“惊奇”号越来越远。 普林斯叫人告诉他，他不喜欢目前的状况，于是杰克又回到了甲板上。他手里拿着一片烤面包，一边仔细观察它，一边考虑着。它的信号是准确的，它升起的旗也是正确的，而现在它发出了“带着急件”的信号，意思是说，它既不能停下，也不能被阻拦。但私密信号仍旧还有可疑之处：它从来也不显示清楚，总是在整串信号旗被风完全展开以前，就把信号旗降下了。“把信号重复一遍，”他说，“再给它迎风方向打一炮。” 他把烤面包小心翼翼地放在一架大口径短炮的滑动炮架上，用莫维特的望远镜观察着“达奈依”号。它表现出犹豫、失措，信号旗又匆忙地升上降下；扬帆绳也卡住了；又一次，还没等看清整个信号，关键的旗帜就消失了。为了在追逐中赢得宝贵的几分钟时间，他自己也很多很多次使用过这样的伎俩。对“达奈依”号这样一艘速度很快的船来说，这些都丝毫不能令人信服：他们本来同时还应该疯狂地转舵，再松开一些缩帆索或者束帆索。不对，不对，这完全说不通。它已经被俘虏了。它在敌人的手里，现在它正想尽办法逃脱。 杰克思索了片刻，考虑了柔风的力量、洋流、邮船的航向，然后说道，“让大家去吃早饭。然后我们会开始行动。要是它真像我想的那样，要是我们能抓住它，你就把它带回家去。” “谢谢你，阁下。”普林斯笑容满面地说。从职业的角度看，没什么比这对他更合适的了。这里面不会有战斗的荣誉——邮船的武器装备不可能和护卫舰匹敌，而且邮船也肯定不愿意进入战斗状态——但这都无关紧要，因为荣誉总是归于舰长和第一副官的，对一个志愿者来说，带回一艘重新捕获的贵重邮船，是他热忱和运气的更加明显、更加引人注目的证明，况且在雇佣者的眼里，运气绝对不是个可以忽略不计的品质。 “可是得花番工夫才能追得上它。”杰克手搭凉棚看着它，说道。“你可以去告诉大夫，他喜欢看精彩的追逐。” 过了一些时候，他问：“大夫在哪儿？”这时候，“惊奇”号正朝南疾驶，它扯起的风帆完全让人震惊，风在它的侧后方吹着。 “嗯，阁下，”普林斯说，“看来他一夜没睡——军械官的妻子生病了——现在他和随军教士总算在下级军官室的炉子旁边安定了下来，在桌上铺开了甲虫。不过他说，要是舰长给他直接下命令，叫他到冰冷的大雨，甚至雨夹雪，外加暴风里去，去放松一下自己，他当然会很乐意服从的。” 杰克很容易想象得出大夫那飞快流利、滔滔不绝的抱怨，想象得出普林斯觉得不便传达的、心怀怨恨的，而且常常是谋反的措辞。他说：“我得叫基里克也给他做件麦哲伦外套。他的仆人一点也不会做什么针线。你是说军械官的妻子吗？这可怜的女人。大概她是吃了什么东西。可是有大夫在这儿，她是不会有问题的。你还记得他在'索菲'号后甲板上，捣鼓戴先生的脑子，马上让他的脑子恢复正常了？船头的，把前桅支索帆的帆脚索收紧半个英寻。” “惊奇”号现在完全投入了追逐。这件事是它、它的舰长和它的水兵们可以干得很精彩的。在完美的和谐中，他们一起忙碌着，极少需要命令，他们把握住海浪的每一次涌动