Chapter 9 Chapter 9 Sailing to Land

About seven o'clock the Spirit left the rocky headland and turned left out of Cockle Bay.A few nautical miles to the west is the coast of County Cork. Passengers gazed raptly at the high, half-shadowed ridges of Ireland's south coast before soaring across the vast expanse of sea.It was dusk, and the canopy of the quarter deck had been drawn up. They sat on the quarter deck and watched, not suppressing the excitement that was so natural at their age.They hardly remember now the time when they sailed across the ocean from the Antilles to Europe. Thinking of going to their hometown on this big trip, they were so excited and their imaginations ran wild.Their heads are full of these magic words, travel words like excursion, adventure, adventure, discovery.The relevant reports they have read, especially the reports they have read at Antilles Middle School in recent days, are still fresh in their memories.How much they think about travel when they don't know where the Spirit is going! ... They were flipping through the atlas and looking at the map, and they were so busy! ...

These young people are so full of hopes and longings that it is necessary to understand their over-excited state of mind.The trip seemed simple and easy on the whole, and though the purpose of the trip was no stranger to them now, they were always influenced by what they read.They intend that when they travel far and wide, they will follow the example of the great discoverers, occupy new lands, and plant the flags of their respective nations! … They want to be Christopher Columbus who discovered America, Vasco da Gama who discovered India, Magellan who discovered Tierra del Fuego, Jacques Cartier who discovered Canada, James Coke who discovered the Pacific Islands , Discovering New Zealand and Antarctica by Dimon de Uvill, Discovering the Pacific Islands by James Coker, Discovering New Zealand and Antarctica by Hudson Parry and James Ross! ... They always say, like Chateaubriand, that if someone has traveled around the world, the earth is too small.They regret that there are only five parts in this world instead of a dozen parts! ...they thought they had gone far, far, far, though the Spirit was still sailing in English waters at the beginning of her crossing...

On the other hand, on leaving Europe, each of them joyfully paid one last salute to their own country.Louis Clodijon and Tony Renault salute France, Niels Alber and Axel Wickburn salute Denmark, Albertus Löwen salutes Netherlands, Magnu Anders salutes Swedish salute, should have no idea about that. Only Roger Hinsdale, John Howard, and Huber Perkins might have had the pleasure of sending a final farewell to Ireland, which, together with Great Britain, made up the three islands of the United Kingdom. From crossing St. George's Channel the next day, until they entered the American waters, they would not see a continent, and each of them would recognize a little of what they had left in Europe.

They will find, however, that time passes and the coast of England has not disappeared on the horizon. In fact, the sea breeze that had just risen could make the Spirit leave Farma Cove.But just as people feared, the wind blowing from the land has no strength, and it won't last long, and it will disappear after blowing a few nautical miles to the sea. If the Spirit wants to keep its course after sailing out of St. George's Strait, it should sail southwest, and Captain Paxson is doing just that. If he can advance another hundred nautical miles, he may encounter a very strong wind in the open sea. Steady sea breeze.

This is obviously not what Harry Markle wants, because he will sail south after leaving St. George's Strait. Also, sailing off the coast as soon as twilight, and alienating the many ships that regularly move around the coast due to dead wind, will help Harry Markle to carry out his criminal plan. However, the sea is calm, there is not a ripple on the sea, and even the sound of the surf on the shore and the side of the ship cannot be heard.The Irish Sea quietly drains its waters into the Atlantic Ocean. From this, it seemed that the Spirit had entered a waterway with either a lake or a river bank, and could not advance or retreat.Due to the occlusion of the land, you can't feel the boat moving at all when you are on the boat.Mr. Harry Markle was secretly glad at the thought that he had had time to acclimatize to the weather, to get used to the rocking of the ship.

Passengers have a patient attitude towards this situation. Otherwise, what can be done to save it?But Harry Markle and his men are concerned about staying in water near land.They had been concerned that the National Frigate had come to moor at the exit of the St. George's Canal and was ordered to inspect all ships leaving Keco Bay. They were angry and worried.Harry Markle ponders whether he can keep his inner rage from showing.Coty and the rest of the gang put on faces that the passengers might end up terrified of. John Carpenter and Harry Markle tried unsuccessfully to hold them back.They didn't understand that a bad day would make everyone so angry.If there was any displeasure at the delay of the steamer, it was Mr. Pattenson and his group of young students in the first place, rather than sailors who were accustomed to the constant troubles at sea.

Harry Markle and John Carpenter strode up and down the deck as they chatted.Chatting and chatting, John Carpenter said to Harry Markle: "Well, Harry, it's getting dark, and we took advantage of the darkness in Falma Cove to take out the men on the Spirit. Can this be done a mile or two from shore? . . . Wangan is still very risky..." "You forget, John," said Harry Markle, "that we had to go that way when we had to get the Ghost." "So, Harry, who's going to stop us from taking out the passengers while they're sleeping in their cabins?  …"

"John, you want to know who's going to stop us?  …" "Yes," John Carpenter continued, "they're on board, and now...the Spirit is out of the bay...I don't think anyone's going to visit them here..." "No one?..." Harry Markle retorted, "In Queenston, the signal station will announce the news that the ship is stranded in the dock due to no wind. Surely you will not have a few friends to come to say their final goodbyes?... What will happen if they are not found on board the ship? . . . " "You know, Harry, that it's unlikely!"

Unlikely, but still possible!The next day, the ship was still moored on the river bank. Why didn't there be any yachts approaching it? …It is unlikely that Harry Markle's associates will understand these principles.This horrific tragedy of the night must come to an end. The twilight deepened, and the coolness of the evening gradually eased the heat of the day.After eight o'clock, the sun will disappear from the cloudless horizon.There is nothing to believe that weather conditions are about to change. The young students were gathered on the quarterdeck, in no hurry to descend to their respective cabins.Mr. Pattenson bade them good night and returned to his cabin, carefully groomed before going to bed, methodically undressed and hung them where they had been hung during the trip, then put on a black silk bonnet and lay down on the canvas On the hammock, he began his last thoughts before falling asleep.

"Great Mrs. Pattenson! . . . My excessive caution did disturb her a little! . . . But it was the act of a wise man, and everything will be compensated in retrospect." However, if the calm of the sea can be equal to the calm of space, then the Spirit has been affected by the obvious current at the mouth of St. George's Strait.The waves come over from the surface and tend to push it closer to the shore.If Harry Markle doesn't anchor the boat, he may be worried about not only high tide, but other troubles.He definitely didn't want to be carried by waves from farther north all the way to Irish waters.On the other hand, if the Spirit hits a rock on the coast and the sea is calm, there will be no difficulty in rescue, but if the police focus their search on the vicinity of Queenston and Keke, the situation of their fugitives will be very bad !

Besides, many of the sailboats—a hundred or so at least—who couldn't make it back to the docks could see the Spirit.Those sailboats could not return to the dock that night, and they might not return the next day, so most of the sailboats prepared to anchor against the evening tide. At ten o'clock, the Spirit was only half a mile away from the coast, and its course was already a little westward, until it passed Robekoff. Harry Markle estimated that if he wanted to lower the anchor to the bottom of the water, he should not wait any longer, so he called his men. Louis Crowley, Roger Hinsdal and other students left the rear deck quickly after hearing the shout. "Are you dropping anchor, Captain Paxson?" Tony Raynor asked Harry Markle. "Anchor at once," said Harry Markle, "the waves are strong...we're too close to shore...I'm worried about hitting the rocks..." "Wind seems impossible?" asked Roger Hinsdal uneasily. "Impossible." "This is annoying," Niels Alber warned. "Hateful." "In the open sea, there is a possibility of wind," Magnu Anders said. "So we're going to want to be ready to take advantage of the sea breeze as Spirit goes down to anchor," Harry Markle said. "In that case, Captain, will you let us know when the time comes so that we can help set sail?" Tony Reynolds asked Harry Markle. "I promise." "Good! . . . Will wake you up on time!" John Carpenter whispered mockingly. Preparations for anchoring were only a quarter of a nautical mile from shore.The coast here is blocked by the protruding headland to the west and is not straight. The port side anchor was lowered to the bottom, the hawser chain stretched taut, and the Spirit turned her stern to shore. As soon as the anchoring operation was over, the passengers returned to their cabins and soon fell asleep peacefully. Now, what is Harry Markle going to do? ...to understand the hopes and demands of his men? ... Will the massacre be carried out that night? ...Will Wisdom ask him to wait for a more favorable time? ... Obviously, the Ingenuity is not moored alone in the Roberkov Sea area like it was in the small bay of Farmer, but is moored together with many ships stranded at the west exit of the St. George Strait due to the lack of wind.Like the Ingenuity, most ships anchored so as not to be pushed ashore by the waves.There are even two or three ships moored at most half a chain away from the Spirit.From then on, how dare you throw the passengers from the ship into the sea? . . . It would be easy to catch them unexpectedly while they were asleep, but who could guarantee that they would not resist, that they would not cry for help, that their cries would not be heard by a quarter of the other ships? ... This, Harry Markle wants John Carpenter, Coty and other murderous bad guys to understand, can never be done without talking, despite their obedience to him.If the Spirit had been within four or five miles of shore, it would have undoubtedly been the last of the lives of Mr. Horatio Pattenson and the nine winners of his Antillean High School examinations. From five o'clock the next day, Louis Clodiron, Roger Hinsdal and other students were walking up and down on the quarterdeck, while Mr. Horatio was still calmly lying on the canvas hammock Go to sleep. Neither Harry Markle nor the boatswain are up yet.They talked about the dead of night, going to bed very late.They were observing the direction of the wind, and they couldn't tell whether the wind was blowing from the land or the sea, but they only knew that it was no problem to spread the topsail.If it wasn't for the fear of waking up the sleeping people in the cabin, they would have lifted anchor and set sail without hesitation, squeezed out of the surrounding ships and set out on the road.At four o'clock in the morning, the tide was low, but the waves would rise again at any time, so they had to give up all thoughts of staying away from Roberkov, and returned to their respective cabins next to the sailor room under the aft deck to sleep for a few hours. Two sailors were on watch on the foredeck, and the students saw Coty only on the afterdeck. They asked Coty the one question they all had to ask: "how is the weather?" "great." "How is the wind?" "Can't blow out a single candle!" The sun was now rising above the horizon, shining through the hazy vapor on the waters of St. George's Channel.The water vapor dissipated quickly.The sea glistened in the light of dawn. At seven o'clock, as soon as Harry Markle opened the cabin door, he bumped into Mr. Pattenson who was walking out of the cabin door.So one of the two said good morning cordially, and the other simply nodded. Mr. Pattenson boarded the quarterdeck, found everyone there, and asked: "Hey! Boys, are we going to plow the vast liquid fields with our sharp bows today?..." "I'm a little worried we're going to lose another day, Mr. Pattenson..." said Roger Hinsdal, pointing to the almost calm sea. "Then, when it gets dark, I can shout like Titus that I wasted the day..." "Perhaps," said Louis Clodiillon, "but Titus lamented because he failed to do good, and we lament because we did not get on the road!" At this point, Harry Markle and John Carpenter were talking on the forecastle when Coty interjected and whispered to them: "Be careful..." "What's the matter? . . . " asked the bosun. "You can see...but you can't show your face." Coty said, pointing to the coast below the cliff. On the top of the cliff there are about twenty people moving about.They walked up and down, looking now at the wilderness and now at the sea. "It's the police..." Coty said. "Yes..." Harry Markle said. "I don't know what they're looking for! . . . " continued the bosun. "Go back to the cabin," Harry Markle ordered. The queens gathered near the front deck and went down to the cabin after hearing the order. Harry Markle and two others did not go down and remained on deck.In order not to be discovered by the police, they approached the port railing while observing the police's actions. It is indeed a public security officer chasing fugitives.After unsuccessful searches at the docks and downtown, they began a search along the coast.They seem to pay special attention to the movements of the Smart. It seems unlikely that the police knew that the Harry Markle gang had taken refuge on the Spirit after it was stolen from Farma Cove.There were so many ships moored at the Roberkov exit that they couldn't check them one by one.It was probable that only the ships that had left Cockle Bay at night were checked, as the police presumably knew that one of these ships was the Clever. Now it's time to figure out if the police are going to go down to the beach, commandeer a fishing boat and put them on board for inspection. Harry Markle and his associates are understandably apprehensive and honestly awaiting the outcome of events. On the other hand, the attention of the passengers was attracted by the presence of the police.Passengers recognized them as police officers by their uniforms.To be sure, the police were not just taking a walk on the top of the cliff. They were searching the outskirts of Cork and Queenstown, monitoring the movement of the coast, perhaps trying to prevent a suspicious boat from approaching the shore, and checking for signs of danger. No smuggled goods. "It's not wrong...it's the police..." said Axel Wickburn. "And with a revolver!" said Huber Perkins with certainty, having looked them over through his binoculars. In fact, the distance between the Clever and the cliff is only about 400 meters at most.Therefore, if the movement on the shore can be clearly seen from the ship, then the movement on the ship can also be clearly seen from the shore. It was, of course, the atmosphere that caused Harry Markle to turn pale with consternation.Had the Ingenuity stopped a quarter of a mile out at sea, that mentality would have evaporated long ago.If the sheriff had his binoculars handy, he would have recognized them without any difficulty, and everyone knew where that would lead.The Spirit could not move, or the rising tide would have pushed it ashore.Even if they had jumped into the dinghy they had on board, fled somewhere and landed, Harry Markle and his cohorts would have been caught.Therefore they did not show their faces, some hid in the cabin, some hid behind the bulwarks, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the young passengers. How could the young passengers suspect that they had fallen into the clutches of an escapee from Queenstown Prison? ... Therefore, Tony Leno joked that it was not a search activity by the police. "The superiors sent the police to see if the Spirit can set sail, so that we can tell our family the date of departure..." "Are you joking? . . . " said John Howard curtly, for he had made a serious observation. "No, John, absolutely not! . . . Let's ask Captain Paxson." They immediately descended to the deck, and turned to the foredeck. Harry Markle, John Carpenter, and Coty felt a little uneasy when they saw them coming.What is the reason for ordering them to stay on the back deck?Why not answer their questions? ... Louis Clotillon asked: "Did you see that party on the cliff, Captain Paxson?" "I see..." said Harry Markle, "but I don't know what they're doing here..." "Did they observe the Spirit? . . . " Albertus Lewin asked another question. "No observation of the Spirit, no observation of other ships..." replied John Carpenter. "Are they the police? . . . " asked Roger Hinsdal, puzzled. "I think so," Harry Markle said. "Maybe they are looking for bad guys? . . . " Louis Clodiillon went on. "What villain? . . . " asked the bosun in response to Louis Clodiillon. "It is possible." Louis Clodiron went on, "The pirates on the Helifa were captured in the Pacific Ocean and brought back to England. They were imprisoned in Queenstown Prison and have not yet been tried. They escaped from the prison. You did not listen. Said there was such a thing?" "We didn't know of it." John Carpenter said in the most natural and coldest tone. "But," said Huber Perkins, "we heard about it when we got off the ship the day before yesterday..." "It is possible. But we did not leave the ship for a moment the day before yesterday and yesterday, and we do not know the news." "Forget it." Louis Clodiron asked, "The crew of the Helifa were brought back to Europe, you must have heard that, right?" "Actually..." John Carpenter deliberately said, not wanting to be seen as an ignorant, "we really don't know about those guys escaping from Queenstown Jail..." "The escape has taken place," said Roger Hinsdale in a tone of affirmation. "The day before the trial of these rascals..." "Then they will be sentenced!..." Tony Renault said loudly, "I hope the police can find out their whereabouts..." "No problem," interjected Louis Clodiron, "their heinous crimes will not go unpunished..." "You're right." Harry Markle replied without saying anything. Besides, the fear — the fear that Harry Markle and his associates rightly felt — passed quickly.After the police remained on the top of the cliff for a quarter of an hour, they continued to walk southwest along the ridge along the coast, and they were out of sight for a while.Coty immediately relaxed, and said softly: "It's all right now... I can breathe a sigh of relief!" "Okay," said John Carpenter, "if the police come, the wind will stay out of the way! . . . If it doesn't blow before dark, we'll have to get out of this damn place at night anyway. . . . " "Aren't we leaving, Harry?..." Coty asked Harry. "Our dinghy tows the Spirit... Passengers will offer to paddle to help us..." "Well," remarked the bosun, "the ebb tide will carry us three or four leagues from land, and we shall be in much less danger than here..." "And," Coty reasoned, "we can do what we haven't done..."