Chapter 2 Go to sea-2

The whole atmosphere of the ship vaguely foreshadowed a catastrophe.As far as the Claytons were concerned, the boat appeared to be the same as before, but in fact, there was an undercurrent leading them to an unknown and dangerous abyss.They both felt this point, but they didn't make things clear to each other. The day after Black Michael's injury, Clayton came on deck just in time to see a limp crewman being carried from the cabin by four companions. The first mate, holding a belay bolt in his hand, glared at the sullen sailors. Clayton didn't ask anything -- he didn't need to.The next day, when the huge outline of a British warship appeared on the sea, he almost made up his mind and prepared to board that warship with Alice.Because he realized more and more with dread that staying on board this gloomy, slow, doomed "Fauvarda" could only lead to bad luck.

At about noon, they were so close to the British warship that they could hear each other talking.However, when Clayton decided to ask the captain to send them to the warship, he suddenly felt that this request was too ridiculous.What reason did he have for the commander of Her Majesty's warship to send him back to the place he had just left? What would they have thought if he had told them that it was because of two disobedient sailors who had been mistreated by the chief?I am afraid that apart from a secret laugh, the reason for leaving that ship can only be attributed to cowardice. Thus, John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, made no request to take the British warship instead.Later in the afternoon, he watched helplessly as the turrets and masts of the warship faded away in the far horizon.And what they had heard shortly before this had confirmed that his great fear was not unfounded.He cursed himself, so short a few hours before, for being stifled by abominable vanity for not being able to find a safe place for his young wife, a "safety" that had been so readily available and was now lost forever.

About three o'clock in the afternoon, Clayton and his wife were standing on the side of the ship, looking out at the dwindling silhouette of the huge warship, when the little old sailor whom the broken captain had knocked down a few days before appeared before them. before.The old man was cleaning the brass railing of the boat.He came over quietly sideways, and said to Clayton in a low voice: "Severe punishment, sir, in this boat. Mark my words, sir, severe punishment." "What do you mean, my old friend?" asked Clayton. "Why, don't you see what's going on? Don't you see that little bastard captain and his mates beating the brains out of the crew?

"Yesterday, two fellas got bloody heads, and today three more. Blake Michael's back to the way he was before, and he's not a bastard for that. no.Mark my words, sir. " "You mean, my friend, that the crew is plotting a mutiny?" "Rebellion!" cried the old man. "Rebellion! They're going to murder, sir, mark my words, sir." "when?" "Soon, sir, soon. But I can't say when. I fucking talk too much.But that day, you were really good.I thought it would be unfair not to tell you.However, you must keep your mouth shut.If you hear gunshots, just stay down there and don't move.

"That's all. Be sure to keep it to yourself, or they'll shoot you between the ribs too. Mark my words, sir." Then the old man, continuing to scrub the brass railing, left the spot where the Claytons stood. . "That's a promising prospect! Alice," said Clayton. "You should tell the captain quickly, John. Perhaps this disaster can be avoided." "I suppose it should be. But if it's purely selfish motives, I'd literally have to 'keep my mouth shut.' Right now, they're going to let us go because I'm on the side of that guy named Blake Michael. But if They find out that I betrayed them, and there will be no way for us, Alice."

"But you have but one duty, John, and that is to protect legal rights. If you don't warn the captain, it means that you are their accomplice. You personally helped them plan this conspiracy and carried it out together with them. " "You don't understand, my dear," Clayton replied, "I'm only thinking of you, and protecting you is my first duty. The captain did it to himself. Why should I risk my wife through the unimaginable What's more, it may be completely futile. Today's bad luck is caused by his own cruelty and stupidity. My dear, you can't imagine that once these murderous guys have controlled 'Fu Varda', what's going to happen."

"Duty is duty, John. No amount of sophistry will change its character. If I were to be responsible for your evasion of this obvious duty, I would be the most unfortunate wife for an English Lord. I have seen that it must befall danger, but I want to be with you to meet whatever is about to happen." "Then do as you say, Alice," he replied, smiling. "Perhaps we are asking for trouble. Although I don't like the state of this boat, it is not so bad that it is out of control. Then The words of an old sailor who should have been in the history museum may have been more the wishes of his own old, wicked heart than the truth.

"Rebellion on the high seas may have been commonplace a hundred years ago, but in a time of peace and prosperity like 1888, the possibility of it happening is extremely small. "Oh, the captain's gone to his office. It's the most disgusting thing to do for me to warn him. I have no appetite for talking to the brute." Saying so, he casually walked towards the elevator entrance.The captain had just come down from there, and in a short while, he knocked on his door. "Come in!" barked the brutish captain savagely. After Clayton entered, he closed the door behind him.

"what's up?" "I'm here to tell you a story I heard today. Because I feel that, though it may be unnecessary, you'd better be prepared. All in all, the crew is preparing for mutiny and murder." "Lie!" shouted the captain. "If you disturb the discipline of my ship again, and interfere with things that have nothing to do with you, you will bear all the damn consequences! I don't care if you are some British Lord or not, I am the ship. Captain. From now on, you don't mind my business!" The captain flew into a rage, his face turned purple, and those last words were almost out of his mouth.And for emphasis, one huge fist slammed on the table while the other dangled in front of Clayton's eyes.

Greystoke stood motionless, staring at the mad man. "Captain Bellings," he said slowly, after a long while, "if you will excuse my bluntness, I must tell you that you are a complete ass." After speaking, he turned and left the captain, and walked away as nonchalantly as before.This was his customary practice, but to people of Bellings' class, it was more annoying than calling him bloody. Had Clayton calmed him down, the captain might have easily regretted his rashness.But now his fiery temper had been irretrievably fitted into the "mold" Clayton had thrown him. Thus, the last chance of working together for their common good was lost.

"Oh, Alice," said Clayton, returning to his wife, "I shouldn't have bothered to talk about it. That guy didn't appreciate it, he jumped straight at me like a mad dog. "Let him go to hell with his bloody wretch! I don't care about him! When we're safe and sound out of this boat, I'll just give my energy to our own happiness. I think, for the moment. The first thing to do was to go back to our quarters and examine my pistols. Unfortunately, we packed the long guns, ammunition, and other things together in the cabin below." They found that the residence had been turned into a mess.The suitcases and bags were opened, and the clothes inside were strewn about in the small room, and even their beds were turned upside down. "Obviously, someone is more eager to check our things than we are," said Clayton. "Let's take an inventory, Alice, and see what's missing." They examined it carefully, and found that nothing was missing but Clayton's two pistols, and the few son's cartridges set aside for them. "They took the most important things," Clayton said. "They wanted guns, and only guns, and that was a bad omen." "What shall we do, John? Perhaps you are right that our best course of action is neutrality. If the captain and the first, second, and third mates can stop this rebellion, we have nothing to fear. If these rebellions The only hope is that we are not trying to thwart them or rebel against them." "You're quite right, Alice. Let's be 'on the fence.'" As they began tidying up the cabin, Clayton and his wife simultaneously noticed a corner of paper protruding from under the door.Clayton bent down to pick it up, and was surprised to see the corner of paper moving towards the house.He immediately realized that someone must have inserted a piece of paper from the outside. He walked silently and swiftly to the door, and was about to grab the handle and open the door when his wife grabbed his wrist. "No, John," she said softly. "They don't want to be found out, so it's better not to see them. Don't forget, we're 'on the fence.'" Clayton smiled and dropped his hand, and they just stood there, staring at the white piece of paper until it finally stopped moving on the floor by the door. Clayton bent down and picked it up. It was a dirty white paper, hastily folded into an irregular square.They opened it, and there were a few lines of handwriting that were almost illegible, and it was clear at a glance that the person who wrote it was not good at it. The note warned the Claytons not to report the gun drop or to tell anyone what the old sailor had told them.Anyone who violates it will be shot to death. "I don't think we will be in any danger." Clayton said with a wry smile, "Now we can only wait patiently and resign ourselves to fate."