Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Black Rock Pool

Human nature is always prone to indulge in fantasy.Of course, it is extremely possible that the "Horror" has left Blackstone Bay, and we even have to admit that Wells did see it moored here yesterday.Whether its three-in-one power system had been forced to seek refuge in Blackstone Cove because of trauma that prevented it from going to its hiding place on land or water.But now, we haven't seen it in Heishi Bay, so what conclusion should we draw?Apparently, it has continued sailing well out of the waters of Lake Erie since the restoration was completed. This possibility has been there from the beginning, but it has been ignored by us when we set out to get here.We have to accept the fact that we should have met the "Terror" to practice the virtues of saints, and to do the work of ruling the king.During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Guo Xiang once used "Nei Sheng" as the "Nei Sheng" and we should have seen it moored at the bottom of the cliff in Heishi Bay when Wales had witnessed its appearance.

But now, what a disappointment!I would even say, what despair!All our hard work has paid off!Even if the "Terror" is still on the lake, to find it, approach the daily newspaper founded by the opposing Rhineland bourgeoisie. In 1842, there was nothing we could do to intercept it—and, it must be clearly realized—was far beyond the reach of any human power. There we stood, Wells and I, dismayed; and John Hart, Neb Walker, equally dismayed, trawled along the shore of the bay, trying to find what was left of the escaped Terror. any clue. I stood at the mouth of Blackstone Bay with Wells, and hardly spoke a word. At this moment, we knew each other well, so what else could we say!Conscious pursuit after the eager waiting and attendant desperation, but with metaphysical abstractions in place of supernatural gods.Now we are exhausted, our carefully planned efforts have come to naught, we are not willing to give up our actions, but there is no way to know how to proceed.

Nearly an hour passed, and we left without giving up; our eyes were still searching the night.Now and then a speck of light quivered on the surface of the lake because of the flickering of the surf.Suddenly the light faded, and just then a foolish but not hopeless thought crossed my mind: for a moment we saw a dark figure appearing in the night, as if a ship were coming towards us; On the surface of the lake below our feet, we seemed to see circles of eddies rising up, as if something stirred the bottom of the river bend.One by one these imaginations are driven away, and they are nothing more than fantasies stirred up by the last hope we have in despair.

John Hart and Neb Walker were now with us, and I asked first, "What's new?" "No," said John Hart. "Have you checked both sides of the river bend one by one?" "Yes," answered Neb Volker. "We went as far as the shallow waters, and found no sign of the boat that Mr. Wells had seen on the shore." "Let's wait a little longer," I said, unable to decide whether to go back to the woods. At this moment, we were attracted by a sudden restlessness of the lake water, which was churning up at the bottom of the cliff. "It's like the waves of a big ship," Wells said.

"That's right," I subconsciously said, lowering my voice, "Why does this happen? There's no wind at all. Could it be that there's something on the lake?" "Maybe there's something under the water!" Wells said, bending over to look down. The turbulence of the lake must have been caused by the progress of the boat.It doesn't matter whether the boat is under the surface of the lake or heading towards Heishi Bay from outside the lake. Silent and holding our breath, we listened and watched in the dark night.The waves beat against the distant shore of Heishi Bay, and we could clearly hear the slow and faint sound coming from the night.Nab Walker stood on the edge of the cliff, leaning slightly forward; while I bent down and looked at the lake, the water was rising, not only unabated, but becoming more and more obvious and stronger.I began to notice that the commotion was very regular, like that of a steamship in motion.

"That's right," Wells assured him, moving closer to me. "There's a boat coming toward us." "Definitely," I agreed, "unless there are giant whales and big sharks on Lake Erie." "No, it must be the ship," said Wells. "Is it heading for the mouth of Blackstone Bay, or is it moving away from the mouth of the bay?" "Are you the same boat that you saw twice here?" "Yes, right here." "If it is indeed the same ship and no other ship, it will definitely return to the place where it was moored before."

"Look!" whispered Wells, pointing to the mouth of Blackstone Bay. John Hart and Neb Walker and Wells and I crouched on the shore of the lake and looked in the direction Wells pointed. We vaguely saw a group of dark shadows moving in the night.Its speed was very slow, and it was still on the lake north of the mouth of Heishi Bay, and it seemed to be about as long as a cable.At the moment, we can barely hear the faint hum of its engine.Perhaps, the engines had stopped, and the ship ambled forward with its inherent inertial momentum. It seemed that this was indeed the submarine that Wells had seen, and it was returning to its hiding place in Blackstone Bay just like the last time.

If its purpose was only to return, why did it leave the berth earlier?Did it encounter some new disaster that weakened its momentum again?It seemed to have to leave when it couldn't be fixed?What made it come back again?Is there any other reason why it can't transform into a car and drive off the road in Ohio? All these questions came one after another in my head, and I couldn't answer them.Besides, Wells and I have been looking for convincing reasons for the supposition that this was indeed the Terror commanded by the Master of the World.In this name he wrote a letter of contempt for the United States government; but the premise of this assumption has not yet been proved, although we are sure of it.

No matter what kind of ship it is, it is now slowly and stealthily continuing to sail towards us in the night. Obviously, the captain is very familiar with the deep waterways and lake shores of Black Stone Bay, because it dared to sail in the dark.There was no light to be seen on the deck, and no light shone through any chink of her cabin. After a while, we heard the low mechanical sound of the hull moving slowly.The waves formed by the vortex became more and more violent, and soon the boat reached the "dock". The word "wharf" applies here only, and signifies a certain place precisely.Below us the cliff formed a platform five or six feet above the water.Vertically downward, just like a dock that can be docked.

"We gotta get out of here," Wells whispered, grabbing my arm. "No," I answered, "we'll be found. We'll have to crouch on the bank! Or hide in a crevice." "Okay, we'll follow you." Time can't wait.The huge black monster had now arrived, and on the deck a little above the water we could see two figures. No, three, but only two on deck. We returned silently to the canyon under the woods.There are several places to hide on the rock face, within reach.Wells and I squatted in one, and my two assistants squatted in the other.If the men on the Terror won't see us when they come ashore, but we can see them, we can play by ear.

There was a slight sound on the boat, and someone was talking in English.Evidently the boat was about to stop here, when a thick rope was thrown over the pier where we had just stood. Leaning slightly forward, Wells saw the rope being grabbed by a man who had jumped onto the pier.Then, we heard the friction sound of the hook on the ground on the ground. In a moment, footsteps were heard on the river beach, and two men came up from the canyon, and under the light of a boat lantern, they climbed to the edge of the forest. Where are they going?Could it be that Black Stone Bay is the regular hiding place of "Terror"?Did its owner come here to store supplies or supplies?Did they come here to recharge their batteries, when it occurred to them, on their long voyage, to come to this part of the continent?Were they so familiar with this desolate and isolated place that they had no fear of being discovered here? "What shall we do?" Wells whispered. "Wait for them to come back, and—" I was startled by a panic before I could finish.The two men in the boat were only three feet away from us, and one of them just turned around, and his whole face was illuminated by the light of the boat's lantern. This person was one of the two strangers who followed me on Long Street.I am sure I am right, as my old servant recognized him as well.It was him, one of those two stalkers for whom I failed to find any further leads!There is no doubt that the threatening letter to me came from them, and therefore must have been sent from the "master of the world", and its writer must also be "the master of the world".Once again, I wondered whether this machine had any connection with the giant peak of Airi. I whispered to Wells what I had found, and all he said was, "It's incredible." Meanwhile, the two men continued to walk toward the woods, where they gathered sticks. "What if they find our bivouac?" Wells murmured. "No danger, as long as they don't go too far into the woods." "What if they do find out?" "They will return to the ship soon, and we will cut off their escape route." At the bay where the boat was anchored, and there was no more sound, I left my hiding place and went down the canyon to the pier, where I stood with the peg securely fastened. The Terror stood there, with no movement at the end of the cable, no light on the deck, no human figure in the sides or cabins.Is it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?Should I jump on deck and wait there for those two to come back? "Mr. Strack!" Wells whispered, standing beside me. I hurriedly turned around and squatted beside him.Is it too late to seize the ship now, or will our actions eventually lead to failure if they are discovered by those who guard the ship? The situation was indeed tense, for the two men carrying the ship's lantern were returning from the canyon at this moment, and would soon reach the place where the boat was parked.Apparently, they weren't suspicious yet.Both with a bundle of sticks in their arms, they finally made it back to the dock. One of them raised his voice, though not so loudly. "Hi! Captain!" "Here I am," said a voice from the boat. Wells whispered in my ear, "There are three." "Maybe four," I replied, "or five or six." The situation becomes complicated.What should we do with such a large crew?Any slight negligence will be in vain!Not only because the two men have returned, did they return to the boat with the branches?Will the boat leave the bend in no time?Or stay here until dawn?If it drives away, does that mean we won't know where it went?It may leave the waters of Lake Erie and cross the neighboring states by land; or it may still follow the road along the Detroit River to Lake Huron and the Great Lakes.Could this happen again in such narrow waters as Heishi Bay? "At least," I said to Wells, "there were four of us. They didn't expect an attack; they would be taken by surprise. It's hard to say what the outcome will be." I was about to call my two assistants when Wells took my hand again. "Look!" he said. We saw a man beckoning the boat to approach the stone wall.Sure enough, the boat moved closer to the stone wall.We heard the captain say to the two men on the shore, "Is everything ready? Aboard!" "Captain, yes." "There are two bundles of firewood here?" "Two bundles." "Run again, all the firewood? Most of it can be transported to the Terror." "Horror!" Yes, that's it! "Yes, just once," said one of them. "Very well, we'll set off in the morning." Could it be that there were three people, or only three people, on board at this time?The captain, the master of the world, and two other men. Evidently they intended to take the last two bundles of firewood aboard, and sleep on board without going ashore.Should we attack them suddenly before they can defend themselves? In the face of the persistent captain who remained on board, rather than try to approach the ship and intercept it, Wells and I agreed that it would be better for us not to disturb his crew beforehand, and wait until they were asleep. At half past ten, footsteps were heard on the shore again.A man held a lantern, and his companion climbed up the canyon again and walked towards the woods.When they were gone, Wells left hastily, and I signaled my two assistants to get ready, and I followed him quietly to the edge of the bend. The Terror was moored on the water near the end of the cable.It was long and slender, as far as I could judge, like a spindle, without funnel, mast, or rigging, just as it is described when it occurs in the waters off the coast of New England. I went back to my hiding place, and my other assistants took their places, and we put our pistols on, they will be of great use. Fifteen minutes passed by the time the two men reached the woods.We are waiting for them to come back to the ship at any time.We shall have to wait at least another hour before proceeding, as the captain and his crew will be fast asleep by then.It was critical that they not be given any opportunity to drive the boat out of Lake Erie, or dive under the water. Never in my detective career have I been so impatient.I seemed to have a premonition that the two men must still be stranded in the woods, perhaps unable to escape and return due to some accident. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a sound, and the horse seemed to be disturbed by something, and it was galloping furiously along the lake bank! It was our horses, frightened, perhaps, by the carelessness of the coachman, who had suddenly left the clearing in the woods, and were now running along the bank. At the same moment, the two men appeared, this time running like hell.Apparently they had spotted our camp and immediately suspected the police were hiding in the woods.They realized that they were being noticed and followed and possibly caught.At this moment, regardless of the danger, they will rush down the canyon and untie the cable; no doubt, they will try to jump onto the deck, and the "Terror" will disappear at the speed of a meteor, and our attack plan will be completely defeated. "Come on," I yelled, and we scrambled down the side of the canyon, trying to cut off the only way for the two men to retreat. They had spotted us, and just at that moment dropped the firewood and shot at us with their pistols, and John Hart got a shot in the leg. We also fired back, but missed.The two men continued to run without falling or being shot.When they reached the bay, before they could stop and untie the cables, they jumped onto the deck, and in an instant they were in the cabin of the Terror. The captain of the Terror leaned forward, pistol in hand, and fired at us, the bullets brushing past Wells. Nab Walker and I grabbed the cable and pulled the boat hard towards the shore.Can they cut the cables and escape from us? Suddenly, the hook snapped violently from the anchorage of the stone wall, and a hook just caught my belt, and at this moment the cable flew and knocked Walker to the ground, and I was dragged by the iron hook and cable to the lake—— Driven by the power of all its engines, the "Terror" only bumped a bit in the lake water before galloping out of Black Stone Bay at high speed.