Chapter 17 CHAPTER XVII ON THE CLORIDA

Early the next morning, just after six o'clock, a yacht with a load of forty-five to fifty tons left the small port of Jonah.With a light north-easterly wind blowing, the yacht took wind on her starboard side and sailed into open sea. The Yacht Cloreda carries Miss Campbell, Olver Sinclair, Sam, Seab, Lady Beth and Partridge. It goes without saying that the nasty Aristobulus Ursyklaus will not be on board. This is the decision that everyone made after the accident happened the night before, and it was immediately implemented. On leaving Abbe Hill and going back to the hotel, Miss Campbell said succinctly: "Uncles, since Mr. Ursey Krauss claims he will stay at Jonah, we will leave Jonah to him. Ben, here again, and it was his fault that we were unable to observe twice. Let us not stay here another day, where the ignorant man has the privilege of exercising his clumsiness!"

The Melville brothers could find nothing to refute at the suggestion so plainly made.They were as unhappy as the others, and cursed Aristobulus. —obviously, the situation of their suitors will always be affected by this event.Nothing would bring Miss Campbell back to him again.From now on, he should stop thinking about that unrealizable plan. "Anyway," as Sam reminded him, taking Seab aside, "a promise made on the spur of the moment is never a handcuff." To put it another way, that is to say, one is never bound by rash promises.Seab gestured decisively that he fully agreed with the Scottish adage.

When everyone was saying good night in the hall below the Ormo de Dangan, Miss Campbell said, "We're leaving tomorrow, and I can't stay here any longer!" "It's settled, Helena dear," said Sam, "but where shall we go?" "To a place where I'm sure I'll never run into this Mr. Ursey Claus again. So it's important that no one knows we're leaving Jonah, or where we're going." "It's settled," replied Sib, "but dear Helena, how shall we go and where shall we go?" "What," cried Miss Campbell, "can't we leave the island early in the morning? Can't the coast of Scotland provide us with an uninhabited or even uninhabited place to continue observing the green light quietly?" ?"

Certainly neither of the Melville brothers could answer either question, and the tone of Miss Campbell's question allowed neither avoidance nor excuses. Luckily, Oliver Sinclair was there. "Miss Campbell," he said, "everything can be solved. Let me explain the solution. There is an island near here, a small island to be precise, which is very suitable for our observation. On this small island, there is no annoying person. Guys are going to bother us." "What island?" "Stafford Island. You can see it up to two nautical miles north of Jonah." "Is it possible to live there, and is it possible for us to get there?" asked Miss Campbell.

"It's all right." Oliver replied, "and it's very simple. In the port of Jona, I saw a yacht ready to enter the sea at any time, just like the situation in other British ports in the pleasant weather season. The captain and the staff listened first. Arrangements for tourists, they can provide services to the English Channel, the North Sea or the Irish Sea. This requires us to hurry to charter a yacht and pack enough food for about fifteen days, because there is nothing to be found on Stafford Island Arrive, and then leave at dawn tomorrow." "Mr. Sinclair," said Miss Campbell, "I would really appreciate it if we could leave the island secretly tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, as long as the wind blows in the morning, we will arrive at Stafford Island before noon!" Oliver replied. "We don't get disturbed by anyone there except for the tourist tours that last almost two hours twice a week." According to the habit of the Melville brothers, the nicknames of the menial maid immediately came into being in succession. "Bet!" "Beth!" "Beth!" "Betsy!" "Betty!" Mrs. Bess came out in response. "We're leaving tomorrow!" said Sam. "Leave early in the morning!" Sieb added.

Hearing this, Mrs. Beth and Partridge didn't ask any more questions, and immediately got busy making preparations for departure. During this time, Oliver Sinclair walked towards the harbor to confer with Captain John Aldeko. John Aldeko, the captain of the Yachts of Cloreda, is a real sailor, wearing a traditional little gold braided cap, wearing a metal buckle coat and blue tweed trousers. After finishing speaking, he immediately went to talk to the crew We are busy overhauling the yacht together, preparing to set sail tomorrow, and the six sailors are chosen by himself.They go fishing in winter and serve on yachts in summer.They have an advantage over sailors anywhere else, there is no doubt about it.

At six o'clock in the morning, the new passengers of Cloreda boarded the ship, and no one was told where the cruise ship was going.They took all the grain, fresh and preserved meat, and all drink.In addition, the yacht's cook always has a way of getting goods from the steamer, which runs regularly between Oban and Stafford islands for service. As soon as the sun came out, Miss Campbell was in a pretty, elegant cabin at the rear of the yacht.The brothers slept in bunks off the hall in the master cabin, which was built comfortably on the widest part of the boat.Oliver himself lived in cabins that lined the sides of the staircase leading to the Great Wall.The legs of the mast passed through the dining room, and Lady Beth and Partridge used the two hammocks on the left and right sides of the dining room.The two gondolas are just behind the captain's office and sleeping quarters.Further on, is the sailors' quarters, with six sailor beds.Nothing is missing on this yacht designed by Retese of Cowens.With its beautiful sea and lovely wind, the yacht has always occupied a prominent position in the "Royal Thames Yacht Club" race.

The Cloreda weighed anchor, set sail, and began to ride the wind with her big sails, fishtail, stern jib and topmast.At this time, everyone was really happy.The boat tipped gracefully to the wind.The waterline was cut perpendicular to the stem, and the spray from the split stem did not touch the white deck of Canadian timbers. The two small islands of Jonah and Stafford in the Hebrides are very close to each other.With a tailwind, a small yacht can easily reach 8 knots without too much effort.Ten to twenty-five minutes will suffice to cover this distance.But it was headwind at this time, but at most it was a breeze.Besides, the tide was low, and the boat had to sail through some harbors against a strong ebb tide before reaching the same latitude as Stafford Island.

From Miss Campbell's point of view, it was nothing.Clorida sails, that's all that matters.An hour later, Jona Island was lost in the morning mist.The shadow of that loathsome kill was gone too, and Helena wanted to forget his face, and even his name. She told her uncles frankly: "Am I wrong, Papa Sam?" "Quite so, my dear Helen." "Mother Sib, don't you agree with my approach?" "Absolutely agree." "Well," she went on, kissing the two uncles, "it's not a very good idea for you to entrust me to such a husband!"

Both men admitted as much. All in all, it was a pleasant voyage, the only drawback being that it was too short.But who can stop the extension of the voyage.Let the cruise ship pass by the green light in this way, and then go to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean to find the green light?But you can't pretend like this!It was agreed to go to Stafford Island, and Captain John Aldeko was going to sail to this famous island in the Hebrides when the waves were together.Towards eight o'clock breakfast was served in the dining room in Cloreda, and it consisted of tea and butter and sandwiches.The guests were all in a good mood, happily enjoying the meals on board, and did not regret not having the meals in the Yona Hotel at all.O forgetful people!By the time Miss Campbell came on deck again, the yacht had turned, changed her suit of armor, and headed for the magnificent lighthouse on Skyrewall Rock.The tallest light on the lighthouse was fifty feet above the sea.The wind picked up, and Clorida sailed against the ebbing tide with her great white sails.But relative to Stafford Island, the boat didn't make much progress towards it.But to use Scottish parlance to describe its sailing speed, it is "cutting the pen".Miss Campbell was reclining at the back on a cushion of rough canvas, of English origin, and kept on board for amusement.She was delighted at the boat's speed, without the jolt of the road, without the jolt of the railroad, and with the speed of a skater on a frozen lake, nothing more elegant to look at.On the freshly frothed water, the tiny Cloreader leaned slightly, rising and falling on the waves.Sometimes it seems to be gliding in the air, like a big bird with powerful wings.This sea, covered on the north and south by the Hebrides, and on the east hidden by the coast, is like an inland basin, whose waters cannot yet be undulated by the breeze. The yacht was leaning towards Stafford Island, towards an isolated cliff off the sea off the Isle of Mull. The cliff was only over a hundred feet high from the open sea. The basalt rock wall on the front, and the hills formed by the rocks piled up near the sea in the east, due to the visual illusion.The cliff seems to be sailing on the base, changing the angle.Seen from different angles, the boat cuts open the cliff and shuts it shut again. Despite the low tide and light wind, the yacht moved on.The water rocked the boat more violently beyond the tip of the Isle of Mull as it swooped westward, but the boat held the first wave coming up from the open sea with great delicacy.In the following tack, the water was calm and rocked the boat gently as if it were a baby's cradle.When it was almost eleven o'clock, the Clorida yacht had gone up high enough to the north, and it had to go to the middle of Stafford Island.The kerbs are lowered, the topsails are lowered, and the captain is ready to drop anchor. Stafford Island has no port.But the wind was blowing from every direction, and the boat could easily slide down the eastern face, among the rocks that the turmoil of geological ages had wrought at will.However, due to the bad weather, that place cannot rely on ships of a certain tonnage. Clorida sailed almost on this bed of black basalt.The boat sailed nimbly.Tossed Jochai's rock aside.The sea was now so low that it submerged the bundles of prismatic columns.On the other side, the dike that delineated the coastline was thrown to the left.The causeway is the best anchorage on the island.The same boat that brought the tourists, after they had visited the Stafford Heights, went there to pick them up again. Clorida sailed into a small bay near the entrance to Cranshall's Grotto.The mizzen-mast tip of the boat tipped under the slackened Fusso.The jib was pulled up and the anchor dropped.After a while Miss Campbell and her companions disembarked, and went up to the basalt-headed steps on the left side of the cave, where a wooden staircase, with railings, led from the lowest floor to the rounded back of the island. Everyone climbed the stairs to the upper platform. They were at Stafford at last, cut off from the world of outsiders, as cut off from it as a storm had thrown them on one of the wildest islands in the Pacific.