Chapter 15 Chapter Fifteen The End of the Story

The signal ship San Fe, carrying supplies and replacements from Starn Island, departed from Buenos Aires on February 19.The wind and the water along the way were smooth, and the sailing was very smooth.That week's great storm did not cross the Strait of Magellan.Captain Rafaya was not affected by the storm at all, so he reached his destination a few days earlier. Twelve hours later, the two-masted ship would have sailed far away, and the idea of ​​hunting down Conga and his bandits would have to be given up. Captain Lafaya will not let it go easily this evening. He must find out what has happened here in Elgow Bay for the past three months.

Fasquez went on board, but his companions, Philip and Maurice, did not come with him.None of the people who came with him knew him or his name. Captain Rafaya ordered the two men to be brought to him in the officer's room, and his first words were: "The lighthouse is late, Fasquez." "It hasn't fired for nine weeks, Captain." "Nine weeks! What does that mean. Two of your colleagues—?" "Philip and Maurice are dead! Three weeks after the San Fe's departure, there is only one keeper left in the lighthouse, Captain." Here's John Davis chiming in:

"Captain. What Fasquez forgot to tell you," he said, "is that our two shots are far from enough. Although we have punched two holes through the two-masted ship, the Mill will still sail this morning. gone; but Fasquez, at the risk of his life, swam aboard, and blew a cartridge between the rudder and stern. To tell the truth, he did not achieve what he expected. The damage, though great, But it can be repaired in less than twelve hours, and it is precisely this twelve-hour delay that allows you to meet the two-masted ship in the harbour, all thanks to Fasquez; and when he saw the message ship, It is also his credit to think of catching up with the lighthouse and re-lighting the long-extinguished lighthouse this evening."

Captain Lafaya shook hands with the two warmly; thanks to the heroic actions of John Davies and Fasquez, the San Fe stopped the escape of the two-masted ship; then he told them that an hour before sunset, The situation when the letter ship began to see Starden Island. Captain Lafaya is very sure about his position, he had calculated it this morning.The letter-ship had only to sail for Cape Sanjoen, which she expected to see before dark. In fact, when the sky began to darken, Captain Lafaya had already clearly seen the mountains along the east coast of Starden Island.He was still ten nautical miles away from Staten Island at this time, and he thought that he could always reach the anchorage within two hours.

That's when John Davies and Fasquez saw the San Fe.At the same time, Cargante told Conga from the top of the lighthouse that the San Fe was approaching; so Conga put out hastily to get out of the harbor before the San Fe entered. At this time, the San Fey was sailing towards Cape Sanchouan.The sea was very calm, and the sea breeze had subsided at this moment, without even a ripple. Before the Skyrim Lighthouse was built on Starn Island, Captain Lafaya certainly would not have sailed so recklessly to the shore overnight, let alone sail into Elgow Bay to reach the creek. But now the coast was already lit by lighthouses, so he didn't think there was any need to wait until the next morning.

So the letter ship continued to sail southwest.By the time it was almost completely dark it was within a mile of the mouth of Elgow Sound. It slows down to half speed, waiting for the lighthouse to light. An hour passed.There was still no light on the island, and Captain Rafaya believed that he would never be wrong about his position.Elgow Bay lay before him.He was already within range of the light.However, the lighthouse is still not lit! Those on board at the time thought nothing more than that the mechanism of the lighthouse had just happened to be out of order.Maybe there was some big storm that scratched the spotlights, broke the lenses, or maybe the lights didn't work.No one thought that the three lighthouse keepers would be attacked by a gang of pirates, two of them had already died at the feet of the executioners, and the third had to escape to avoid the same fate.

"I didn't know what to do at the time." Captain Lafaya said, "It was so dark at night that I didn't dare to sail into the harbor. So I had to wait for the dawn in the sea. My subordinates and crew were all very worried. We I had a premonition that things were going wrong. Finally, at nine o'clock, the lights came on. It seemed that there was a slight problem with the lights, so I was delayed for a while. I refueled and drove towards the mouth of the bay. An hour later , the San Fe came in. About a mile and a half from the creek, I came upon a two-masted ship moored in the harbour, which seemed to be deserted. I was about to send men on board to have a look, when gunshots rang out. , was released from the lighthouse platform. Then we realized that our lighthouse man was under attack and was defending himself, probably fighting the men on the two-masted ship. I played the siren to scare the enemy After a quarter of an hour, the San Fe will arrive at its old nest."

"Just in time, Captain," Fasqueto said. "If you hadn't risked your life to light the lighthouse again," replied Captain Lafaya, "it wouldn't have arrived. By this time the two-masted ship would have been out to sea. Surely we wouldn't have seen the two-masted The ship sails out of the harbour, and the pirates will escape from us!" All this was immediately uploaded on the letter ship, and everyone congratulated Fasquez and John Davis warmly. Nothing happened overnight.The next day Fasquez met with the three new lighthouse men whom the San Fey had brought to Starn Island this time to replace him.

It is needless to say that a strong force had taken possession of the two-masted ship that very night, and if it had not been the case, Conga would have attempted to sneak back on board and sail out to sea as soon as the tide was low. Now, in order to ensure the safety of the new lighthouse personnel, Captain Lafaya must eliminate the pirates secretly entrenched on the island.Although Cargante and Fargas were dead, there remained twelve of the party, including a leader who had nowhere to go. Since the island is so vast, the hunt must take many days, and even lead to nothing.All the crew on the San Fe could not search every inch of the ground despite their best efforts.As for returning to Cape Sanji Sulomo, Kanga and his disciples would never be so stupid.Because the secret lair over there may have been discovered.But the rest of the island left them alone, and it might take weeks, if not months, to catch the bandits to the last man.But Captain Lafaya must ensure that the lighthouse personnel will no longer be attacked, and that the lighthouse can always light; before that, he is determined not to leave Starn Island.

Of course, since Conga and his followers are now at the end of the day.It may not take long for this matter to be resolved.The pirates left no provisions in the two caves, either on the Cape San Basuloma side or on the Elgow Bay side.Captain Lafaya, who took Fasquez and John Davies the next day up Cape Sanchouan, thought there was nothing stored in the caves here at least; no biscuits, bacon, or canned goods, All the rest of the provisions were carried on board the two-masted ships.In the cave there were only a few worthless things from the wreck: bedding, clothes, utensils, etc., which were also sent to the lighthouse dormitory.Even if Kanga returned to his old storehouse at night to retrieve his loot, he would find nothing to feed his men.He couldn't even get a gun or sword for hunting; for the Cargante had found so many guns and ammunition that there was nothing left.He was forced to support himself only by fishing.In this case, he and his gangsters had no choice but to starve to death besides surrendering.

Even so, Captain Rafaya still carried out a search immediately.Squads of crews, led by an officer or mate, set off some into the interior of the island, and others along the coast in search.Captain Lafaya even went to Cape San Basuloma himself, but did not find any trace of the Pirates. A few days passed without seeing a single bandit. Until the morning of March 10th, six Fuego people went outside the yard, all of them were sallow, emaciated, and exhausted from hunger. The six bandits were immediately taken to prison San Fe No.After giving them food and drink, they were put in close confinement. Four days later, Captain Ricard searched the area near the south bank of Cape Webster and found five dead bodies. Among the five dead bodies, Fasquez also recognized two Chileans from the bandit party, and found some on the ground beside them. Fragments of bone showed that these men had tried to feed themselves with raw fish and shells; but there was no sign of fire anywhere, no ashes.Apparently these people didn't even have anything to start a fire. At last on the second evening, some time before sunset, a figure appeared among the rocks along the river, not five hundred yards from the lighthouse. This is almost the place where John Davies and Fasquez looked at the two-masted ship the day before the arrival of the letter ship, fearing that the two-masted ship would leave: Fasquez disembarked on the evening of that day. Determined to fight one last time. That person is Conga. Fasquez, who was walking in the yard with three new watchmen, recognized Conga at once, and called out: "It's him! It's him!" Captain Lafaya was walking with Captain Ligal by the water, when he heard the call, he ran over quickly. John Davies and some other sailors followed; and from the slope all could see the bandit chief, now the only one left of the gang. What is he doing here?Why expose himself?Are you ready to surrender?What is going to happen next, he should be very clear.He will be escorted to Buenos Aires to pay for his years of murder and robbery with his own life. The rock Kanga was standing on was taller than the rest, and Haibo was patting at its feet; Kanga stood motionless on it.His eyes looked out along the creek.He could see the two-masted ship moored near the Herald; it had been snatched from him by misfortune, which good fortune had brought him in time to Cape San Sesuloma. There must be a lot of thoughts in his mind at this time.And it must be very frustrating!If it weren't for the arrival of the letter ship, he would have reached the Pacific Ocean long ago, and he has been at large since then. Captain Rafaya was, of course, eager to have Conga arrested. He issued an order, and then Captain Ricard led six sailors to climb out from the wall, preparing to go to the beech forest first, and then cross the piles of rocks from there to catch the bandit leader. Fasquez led the group by the shortest way. They hadn't gone a hundred yards before they heard a shot.A person's body rose from the ground and threw itself into a pile of swarming waves. It turned out that Kang Jia pulled out the pistol at his waist and shot himself in the forehead! The scoundrel had reaped his own fruit, and now the receding tide was sweeping his body into the sea.