Chapter 6 Chapter 6 The Captain of a Ship

The snatching of the boat is done.The first part of this tragedy ended in the most terrible and most daring conditions. After the Hurley, Harry Markle became the captain of the Ingenuity.No one will doubt what has just happened, no one will expose the crime in one of Britain's most ship-traveled ports, even though this port is at the entrance of Cockle Bay and is the gateway for many ships sailing between Europe and America. Port of call. Now, the gang no longer fears the British police.The British police will not board the Spirit to hunt them down.It's time for them to return to their old piracy skills in the far waters of the Pacific without fear.They could leave the St. George's Canal in a few hours by sailing out to sea.

When the boarders from Antilles Secondary School came to port the next morning to board the ship, the Spirit was out of berth.They searched Cockle Bay, or Queenstown Harbour, but found no sign of the Spirit. Everyone agrees that the boat is flying like wildfire, but can you think of why? ... Do you have any ideas in your mind? ...What is the reason? . . . it was not bad weather that forced the ship out of Farma Cove. . . the sea breeze was almost imperceptible around the bay . . . The day before, someone had seen the Spirit moored at this place. Even though it had been hit and sunk by another ship at night, there was no wreck left, but this was not too plausible.

It is therefore to be believed that the truth of the matter will not be clarified immediately, and perhaps never, unless the body is found on which beach the mystery of this horrific murder can be unraveled. But the point is that Harry Markle left the Falma Cove anchorage early, and the Spirit was no longer at the anchorage by daybreak. When the Spirit came out of the St. George's Canal, if the timing was in her favor, the Spirit did not have to turn her course southwest, toward the Antilles, but sail directly south. Harry Markle will be careful to stay out of sight of people on land and away from the usual course of ships heading towards the equator.It is that there are guard ships tracking, and driving under such conditions can prevent him from being caught again.

There was indeed nothing to suggest that Captain Paxson and his crew were not on board the steamer chartered by Mrs. Karen Seymour.Why Paxson drove the boat away, I am afraid that no one knows. If you want to know, you have to wait at least a few days. It can be seen that Harry Markle had the right time and place at that time, and nine people under his command snatched the "Smart" without any effort.It showed that his seamen were able, and that they had absolute faith in their captain, and that his captain was worthy of their trust. Therefore, they went all out to ensure the success of the operation.A few days after the accident, the "Spirit" did not show up in Cockle Bay again. The authorities have to believe that after the "Spirit" went to sea for unknown reasons, all the people and ships on the "Spirit" have sunk in the vast Atlantic Ocean.It would never have occurred to anyone that escapees from Queenstown Prison had robbed the Spirit.Police will continue their investigation and extend it to the outskirts of the city.County capitals will be closely monitored.Villages will be warned.All in all, there is no doubt that this criminal gang will be recaptured in the short term.

The timing is not conducive to immediate sailing, which will definitely change the situation. Not only did the weather not change, but it really looked impossible.Fog has been falling slowly from low-pressure areas of the sky.The motionless clouds seemed to keep descending to the surface of the sea.Sometimes even the lighthouse light at the entrance of the bay is hidden from view. In the middle of the night, not a single steamboat attempted to enter or leave the bay.Because of the inability to measure the signal lights on the shore and on the St. George's Canal, sailing in high tide was dangerous.

As for the sailing boats, it may be that the lack of wind stopped them a few miles from the sea. Still, the sea doesn't "feel anything."The water in the bay is barely rippling due to the high tide.The boat tied to the mooring rope was barely swinging. "Without the wind, I have no money to earn!" yelled John Carpenter, with some of the worst foul language. Sailing should not be considered. The sail was limp and hung down the mast.The boat was pushed across the bay by the waves until it reached Queenstown Harbour. Generally, when the tide starts to come, the water brings a little breeze.The wind picked up, but against the wind, Harry Markle circled around, still trying to get the boat out.

The boatswain is more familiar with the waters in this area, so it will not affect his navigation.Once the Ingenuity was out of the bay, she would be in a good position to gain the upper hand.John Carpenter climbed up the mast to look a few times and he found that the cove was blocked by cliffs, so the wind might have kept it out... no, there was no wind at all, because the weather flag on the mainmast did not turn . However, even if there is no wind before dawn, there is still hope.It was just ten o'clock.After midnight, the tide will turn.Won't Harry Markle take advantage of the low tide and go to sea then? ...Using the small boat he prepared to tow the Spirit, wouldn't the Spirit be able to sail out of the bay? … There is no doubt that Harry Markle and John Carpenter have thought of this move.

What would have happened if the Ingenuity had actually stalled due to a lack of wind?Passengers can't find the boat, so they will return to the pier... Later, when they learn that the Spirit has left the port, they will look for it in the harbor... What if the Marine Bureau sends a motorboat to chase it beyond the rocky point? …is there any danger from Harry Markle and his associates? ...their boat would be called to anchor for identification and inspection...they were immediately arrested...police learned of the bloodshed that claimed the lives of Captain Paxson and his crew! ... It was well understood that, since the Spirit had certainly not sailed away, there was a real danger of it going away, and an impractical danger of staying in Farma Cove.At this time of year, the calm weather sometimes lasts for several days.

In any case, an idea had to come up. If there is no wind at night, and if any kind of departure is impossible, Harry Markle and his gang may abandon the ship, get a small boat into the innermost bay, and then flee into the wilderness villa in an attempt to escape the police. hunt.Once this trick fails, will you try another trick? ...Maybe hide in the meandering gully of the coast during the day, wait for the sea breeze to return, and return to the boat in the dead of night? ... But the passengers will return to Queenstown when they find the abandoned ship the next morning.The relevant authorities will immediately send someone to seize the Spirit and tow it back to the dock.

All these issues, Harry Markle, the bosun and Coty are discussing, while the rest of the people are all gathered on the foredeck. "Damn the sea breeze! . . . " babbled John Carpenter, "not too long, not so much!" "The waves don't bring the wind," Coty interjected, "the wind doesn't come from the land at low tide..." "Passengers are going to be on board tomorrow morning!..." the bosun shouted loudly, "are you waiting for the passengers?" "Then who knows! What do you say, John? . . . " "Anyway," said John Carpenter, "they were nothing more than a dozen...according to the papers...accompanied by a teacher!... We knew we had lost the crew of the Spirit, and we It must be able to..."

Coty is shaking his head, not because he disagrees with John Carpenter, but because he thinks it should be considered: "What is easy to do at night is more difficult during the day... And this group of students will be led by someone on the pier who may know Captain Paxson! ...... When the students ask why the captain is not on board, how to tell them?  … ..." "Let's say the captain's gone ashore," said the bosun curtly. "...they're going aboard...their boat's going back to Queenstown...and..." It is certain that, in the depths of the deserted cove of Farma, at a certain moment when not a single boat was in sight, the gang could easily overwhelm the teachers and students.They wouldn't pass up the chance to do it again... Mr. Pattenson and his students, like the crew of the Ingenuity, were killed without even fighting. However, according to his habits, Harry Markle has always let his staff speak freely.Harry Markle is thinking about how to get out of the very dangerous situation where he can't get out of the sea.Harry Markle doesn't hesitate, but to come up with an idea, I'm afraid I'll have to wait until the next night... another twenty hours... Besides, there's always this serious complication: one of them knows Parker Captain Mori, how do you explain Paxson's absence on the day of sailing, and then say that the Spirit is about to sail, is that okay? ... no.But the good news is that the weather conditions not only allowed to sail, but also allowed to leave the anchorage at night and go to the south of Ireland, some twenty miles away.Even so, there are still many unfavorable factors that hinder sailing to avoid tracking. In short, perhaps the problem is patience.It was not yet eleven o'clock.Don't atmospheric conditions change before dawn?Yes, Harry Markle and his cohorts may not be able to observe any favorable signs, although they are accustomed to observing the sky.The lingering mist caused them a perfectly normal uneasiness.This indicated purely electrical disturbance weather, which the sailors said was one of those "hot flashes" which could last for several days, and there was nothing to be hopeful about. Whatever the case, the only recourse right now is to wait.That's all Harry Markle could say to his staff.When the time came, he would decide whether it would be right for them to abandon the Spirit and go off into the wild countryside, or to hide on some headland in Falmar's Cove. At any rate, after stealing the money that Captain Paxon and his crew kept in drawers or purses, they probably also prepared food.They took off their own clothes and changed into the uniforms that the crew of the Ingenuity had left at their posts, since the new clothes were less suspicious than the clothes of the Queenstown escapees. With money and food, they can foil the police pursuit, board the ship at another dock in Ireland, and embark on the voyage to other headlands of the European continent without incident. Can anyone dare to guarantee it? ... So it takes five or six hours to analyze the situation before making a decision.Harry Markle and his accomplices boarded the Spirit exhausted and hungry when they were hunted by the police.So, as soon as they got the boat, their first concern was to get food. One of them sent on this drudgery was, of course, Ranya Coker.Ranya Kirk lit the lantern and inspected first the kitchen and then the pantry.The food store is located under the seamen's mess room and is accessible through hatches.The food in the pantry is prepared for round-trip journeys, so it is quite sufficient, and can even meet the needs of the Spirit across the seas of the Pacific Ocean. Ranya Coke found everything he needed to feed his fellows: brandy, whiskey, and a good deal of gin. The problem of eating is solved.After Harry Markle had finished his portion of the meal, he ordered John Carpenter and the rest of his men to strip themselves of their clothes and put on the clothes of the sailors who were lying dead on deck.After changing their clothes, they went to sleep in the corner, and woke them up when the sail and anchor were needed. As for Harry Markle, he doesn't really want to rest.Checking the ship's papers, he felt, was the most urgent task, because he could undoubtedly get some information from them.So he went into the captain's office, lit the lamp, opened the drawer with the key he took out of the pocket of the unfortunate Paxson, took out all the papers, and sat at the table to look through them, keeping the time when he was doing desperate business. That composure and calmness. People knew that the ship was going to set sail the next day, and all these documents were in compliance with the formalities.After reading the crew list, Harry Markle was convinced that all the crew members were on board when the ship was raided, so there is no need to worry about individual crew members not returning home due to duty or leave.The crew was wiped out. When Harry Markle checked the cargo register, he also found that there were canned meat, dried vegetables, biscuits, salted goods, flour, etc. on board, which were sufficient for at least three months of voyage.As for the cash in Captain Paxson's drawer, the amount was as high as six hundred pounds. Harry Markle now thinks it would be useful for him to know the route of Captain Paxson's trip with the Spirit.In fact, in his future voyages across the oceans, the key problem is that the ship must not enter the ports it has moored in the past, because entering those ports may be recognized by its captain.Harry Markle is not the kind of person who does things carelessly. He wants to anticipate all kinds of situations and make as few mistakes as possible. A look at various registers gave him information on this: The Spirit is a three-year-old ship built by Birkenhead Simpson Shipbuilding Company. After launching, it has only sailed twice in the Indian Ocean, visiting Mumbai, Ceylon and Calcutta, and then returning directly to Liverpool, its home port.Harry Markle should be completely relieved that the Ingenuity has never sailed across the Pacific Ocean since its launch.He could call himself Captain Paxson if necessary. In addition, according to Captain Paxson's logbook records of his previous voyages, Paxson has never been to the Antilles, whether it is French or British, and whether it is under the jurisdiction of the Netherlands or Denmark, Spanish jurisdiction.If Paxson was chosen by Mrs. Karen Seymour to transport students from the Antilles Secondary School on travel grants, and if the Spirit was chartered just for the trip, it was with some contact in Liverpool. recommended by the agency.Thus, the agency has a duty both to the ship and to the captain. At half past twelve, Harry Markle walked out of the captain's office and onto the quarterdeck, where he met John Carpenter. "Is everything safe and well together?..." Harry Markle asked John Carpenter. "All right," replied Bosun John Carpenter, "and the weather shows no signs of changing!" Indeed, the sky is full of immovable clouds, the same drizzle falls from low-hanging clouds, the same gloom hangs over the waters of the bay, the same silence is not broken by the lightest turbulent wave of the current.This time of year is a high tide, and the tides are not too violent, so that the waves can only trickle slowly through the narrow bay to Cork Harbour, rising only two feet back in the Lee. However, that night, towards three o'clock in the morning, the sea was probably at low tide, for the signs of ebb were already showing. John Carpenter certainly had good reason to curse bad luck.As the tide goes out, no matter how light the sea breeze blows, and no matter where it comes from, it is possible for the Spirit to set sail, round the headland of Falma Cove, and enter the narrow waterway, even if it is zigzag for a while, the day In any case, before going out, we can reach the sea around Cockle Bay... No!The boat lay there, anchored, motionless, like a buoy, or like a corpse, with no hope of sailing under such conditions! Gritting your teeth and waiting until the sun rises over the high cliffs of Farma Cove.Don't expect things to change! Two hours passed.None of Harry Markle, John Carpenter or Coty wanted to take a nap, while most of their mates lay fast asleep on the forecastle along the bulwarks. No change in weather conditions.Clouds pile up and don't move.Although there was a light breeze blowing from the sea now and then, it stopped almost immediately.There is nothing to suggest that sea breezes may return anytime soon, either from the sea or from land. At 3:27, when wisps of twilight began to turn the eastern sea horizon pale, the boat tied to the end of the rigging was swept off course by the ebb tide and hit the hull of the Spirit, which Immediately turn around the anchor, the stern facing the sea. It might be hoped that the ebb tide would bring a little northwesterly wind, which would enable the boats to leave the anchorage and enter the St. George's Canal, but this hope was soon dashed.I am afraid that the boat will not be able to anchor overnight. The problem now is to clean up these bodies.Beforehand, John Carpenter wondered if the whirlpool wouldn't hold up the bodies in Farma Cove.John Carpenter and Coty went down to the boat and found that the current was rushing towards the headland that separated the cove from the narrow channel, because the ebb tide was bringing the current in that direction. The boat came back along the side of the ship and stopped near the mainmast, and the corpses were carried onto the ship one by one. Then, just to be more cautious, the boat carried them as far as the back of the headland, because the current blocked by the headland would reverse and wash the bodies on the sandy shore. John Carpenter and Coty threw the bodies into the water one by one.Here the current is steady and the shock waves are barely audible.The corpse first sank into the water, then surfaced again, and finally was carried away by the ebb tide and disappeared into the depths of the vast sea.