Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Across the Atlantic

The voyage continued under fairly favorable conditions.Far from deteriorating, Mr. Horatio Pattenson's health is gradually improving.Besides, it didn't help that he didn't want to squeeze a lemon in his hand.The liquid collodion that Wajia made for him must have an effect.Leader Pattenson's heartbeat was normal again, and the beating rhythm was like the clock in the General Affairs Office of Antilles Middle School. From time to time, gusts of wind blew, causing the Spirit to shake violently.The ship withstood the storm with ease.Plus, under the command of Harry Markle, the crew wowed the young passengers with a level of sophistication, especially Tony Reynolds and Magnu Anders.The young passengers did not stand idly by, they helped lower the sail, turned the yard, and furled the sail, and they were still very busy.It is more handy to operate the ship with the top mast and two sails.If Mr. Pattenson knew that John Carpenter took care of these young deckhands like a father...then needless to say why, he would feel relieved not to have to follow them all the time and tell them to be careful.

The change in weather didn't even lead to a storm.The wind kept blowing from the east, and the Spirit sailed well. In addition to the entertainment brought by crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the students also carried out their favorite fishing activities. They were not only in high spirits, but also achieved good results.The concentration with which they set out their long lines was a bit like a connoisseur of fishing skills, catching all kinds of sea fish every time they reeled in. The greatest interest and enthusiasm for fishing were the phlegmatic Albertus Lewin and the patient Huber Perkins.Because they caught deep-sea fish, the three meals a day had a gratifying change, and the crew also ate skipjack, sea bream, sturgeon, cod, and tuna.

Mr. Pattenson must have had a keen interest in seeing how to catch these fish, but his main purpose of leaving the cabin was to breathe the fresh air outside.He was more interested in watching the porpoises and dolphins play out of the water and back into the water on the side of the Spirit, and he was more interested in hearing the laughter of the students watching these "ocean clowns" perform somersaults and jumps! "Those two can be caught when they fly! . . . " said one student. "These are going to hit the bow! . . . " shouted another. Sometimes in gangs of fifteen, sometimes in gangs of twenty, these gentle and nimble creatures appeared sometimes before the ship, and sometimes met in the wake of the ship.They ran faster than him, and they were on one side in a flash, and they appeared on the other side in a blink of an eye through the keel.Jumping three or four feet high, then falling into the water, drawing beautiful water lines on the water surface, they dive into the depths of the clear and clear water, and their traces can be faintly seen with the naked eye.

Several times, at the request of the young passengers, John Carpenter and Coty tried unsuccessfully to catch a porpoise with a harpoon.These fish are so flexible that they are generally impossible to catch. The situation is different for the giant dogfish, which frequent these waters in the Pacific Ocean.They are very greedy, no matter what, hats, bottles, wooden blocks, as long as they fall on the sea, they will grab them.The stomach function of giant dog sharks is very good. They can eat anything, even keep the things they can't digest, and refuse to throw them away. On July 7th, a shark with a length of four meters was caught.At that time, it swallowed the bait and struggled so badly that the crew had a lot of effort to get it on the deck.Louis Clodijon and his classmates were there at the time, and they couldn't help but feel horrified at the sight of this behemoth.The shark's tail swing was terrifying, and John Carpenter warned them not to get too close to the shark to avoid accidents.

Immediately the shark was hacked several times with an axe, his stomach was slashed, and he was still jumping wildly, from one side of the boat to the other, trying to escape. It is a pity that Mr. Horatio Pattenson did not get to see the thrilling shark hunt, otherwise he would have seriously recorded the process in his travel journal, and may prove that the biologist Roquefort It makes sense for me to use a trick to evolve the Latin Mass of the Dead into the French shark. This is how the day is spent, and no one finds it monotonous.Every hour flocks of sea-birds—new entertainment—were criss-crossing and turning round the spars.Roger Hinsdal and Louis Clodiron were so unskilled and clumsy with the ship's carbines that they managed to kill a few of them.

It is worth noting that Harry Markle ordered first, and his accomplices had no contact with the passengers on the Spirit, only the bosun, Coty, and Waja, the waiter in the sailor's restaurant, were not bound by this order.Harry Markle himself has always been a cold-faced person who has been quiet since day one and still is. Sailboats and steamships often appeared in the vision of the Spirit, but because they were too far away, the roar of the machinery could not be heard.In fact, Harry Markle was trying to avoid the ships in sight, which the students presumably didn't notice.When the oncoming ship approached, Harry Markle played tricks, either sailing with the wind or tacking it a degree or two, trying to avoid it.

Just before three o'clock in the afternoon on July 18, a high-speed steamer overtook the Spirit.The steamer was heading southwest, that is to say, on the same course as the Ingenuity. This is the Portland, an American steamship, which sailed from San Diego to Europe, and is now returning from Europe, returning to California via the Strait of Magellan. When the two ships were only a chain away from each other, the two captains exchanged a few words as usual: "Is everything all right on board? . . . " "Everything is fine." "Is there anything new after setting sail?..."

"Nothing new." "Where are you going?..." "Antilles . . . where are you going?" "San Diego." "Okay, good luck!" "Bon Voyage!" The Portland had slowed down a little earlier, but now it was speeding up again.The black smoke from the chimneys, which had been visible for a long time, was now completely lost on the horizon. Fifteen days into the voyage, all Tony Raynor and Magnu Anders worried about was the first landmass the lookout would point out on the nautical chart. According to the estimated distance traveled, this piece of land may be Bermuda.

Bermuda is located at 64 degrees west longitude and 31 degrees north latitude, and belongs to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom.The Bermuda Islands are located on the necessary waterway for ships traveling from Europe to the Gulf of Mexico. There are no less than 400 large and small islands, the main ones are Bermuda Islands, St. George Islands, Cooper Islands, and Somerset Islands.These archipelagos provide numerous anchorages for passing ships, where ships can find or repair or resupply everything they need.Frequently battered by Atlantic hurricanes is a prominent feature of this body of water.

During the daytime on July 19th, the lookout on the Spirit began to scan the sea level from the west, and found that after sailing for more than 60 nautical miles, they would reach the Bermuda Islands.People who do not often look at the sea can easily mistake the Bermuda Islands for a cloud cluster where the water and the sky meet. But Bermuda was already visible that morning.John Carpenter first had the most impatient of the students, Tony Leno and Magnu Anders, watch. "There . . . look there . . . " said John Carpenter, "look forward to starboard . . . " "Do you see the top of the mountain?..." Magnu Anders asked.

"See, my young sir... the mountain tops go straight up into the clouds, and you'll be able to spot them in no time." Before sunset, there were indeed some clouds of various shapes in the sky towards the sunset.The next day, the Spirit was already looking far away from St. Davids Island, the easternmost island of Bermuda. Of course, you must fight tenaciously with the violent storm.A strong gust of wind, laced with lightning, came suddenly from the southeast and forced the Spirit into course.All day and night, the sea was rough and the waves were monstrous.The topsail on the Spirit had already been furled, and she was unable to move forward, so she had to retreat, and it was difficult to sail in the waves overwhelmingly pressing on it, and it was impossible to be safe. Harry Markle would probably have to show a sailor's prudence and sagacity if he wanted shelter from the wind at a dock in Bermuda, especially on St. George's Island.It is better to let the ship suffer some losses than to dock in the British colonies, because there may be people there who know Captain Paxson.Harry Markle pulled out all the stops and steered deftly to stay in the water.The Ingenuity suffered only minor damage, a few sails were torn by the wind, and a huge wave rushed up the deck, nearly sweeping away the boat tied to the starboard side. Mr. Pattenson's ability to withstand sixty hours of inclement weather is better than everyone hopes, and his little traveling companions John Howard, Niels Alber, and Albertus Lewin even if they have not eaten his food Bitter, that also suffered a hard temper.Louis Clodijon, Roger Hinsdal, Huber Perkins, and Axel Wickburn withstood the test, not only to appreciate the mighty power of nature during two days of stormy weather, but also to appreciate Arriving at the magnificent and frightening scene created by this kind of power. As for Tony Reynolds and Magnu Anders, they had the boldness of a seaman, the audacity that Pattenson didn't have and that he envied Horace the Navigator. During the storm, the Spirit was thrown out of the channel for more than a hundred nautical miles. If it sailed into waters dominated by east-west trade winds, even if there were no new accidents, the lost time might not be fully recovered.Harry Markle was unlucky, having not encountered a steady sea wind favorable to sailing since setting off from Queenstown.Between the Bermuda Islands and the North American continent, the weather was fickle, with occasional calms, the Spirit's speed could not reach a nautical mile, and occasional winds and tides, and the sailors had to sail with topsails and foremasts and lowersails furled. Passengers will surely be delayed a few days from now when they disembark at St. Thomas.Not only would the Spirit's late arrival unsettle the passengers, but it would also prove that their concerns about the fate of the Spirit were justified.The date of Captain Paxson's departure, and when the ship will leave Cockle Bay, Barbados must have received the telegram, but 20 days have passed, and there is still no reply from the other party. Harry Markle and his cohorts certainly don't care about passengers' concerns.What they were worried about was to quickly end this adventure travel through the Antilles, and then turn the bow and head for the Cape of Good Hope carefree. On the morning of July 20, the Spirit crossed the Tropic of Cancer near the Bahama Strait.The sea water of the Gulf of Mexico flows out from the Strait of Florida and flows into the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of the Bahamas. If the Ingenuity had to cross the equator during its voyage, Roger Hinsdal and his classmates could not fail to have a fun celebration of the crossing.If they pay bonus fees for a fun event, they're more than willing to run the event as traditionally required.However, the equator is 23 degrees further south, and there is little need to celebrate the 23 declination line. It goes without saying that Mr. Horatio Pattenson, if he is in good health, will be delighted to receive the congratulations of the returning informant and the carnival he leads.He will definitely receive, and he will be considerate, and he will not lose his status as the general secretary of the Antilles Middle School. Harry Markle would agree to pay the crew a double ration if nothing was organized and the students kept asking. According to the calculation results of that day, the current bearing of the Spirit is in the north of the Antilles, 250 nautical miles away from the nearest island of the Antilles.After the Spirit encountered the warm Gulf Stream at the entrance of the Bahama Strait, its speed may have been affected a little.The warm current of the Gulf of Mexico, which spreads over a wide area of ​​northern Europe, is like the rivers of Oceania, whose waters do not mix with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.In addition, the Spirit will be helped by the relatively stable trade winds in this sea area. Within three days, the lookout crew will definitely indicate the altitude of St. Thomas Island, the first anchorage in this sea area. Now, as the ship is gradually approaching the Antilles, while everyone is considering the antilles exploration tour that will last for several weeks, they are also worried that the Spirit may be in danger. The captain cannot express his seriousness to everyone. If you don't arrange it, you don't hear it. John Carpenter and Coty often talked about it privately.If you're unlucky, you'll be in real trouble.With seven thousand pounds at hand, it is undoubtedly worth taking the risk... But if you want to have it all, you end up losing it all...even at the cost of your life? ... What if the pirates issued by Hurley and the fugitives from Queenstown Prison were recognized and fell into the lawful net again? ... People always say it's never too late to rein in... Next night, just subdue the ship's unsuspecting and unarmed passengers and throw them into the open sea, and everything will be fine... Then the Spirit turned around The bow can be turned back. Yes, after hearing the reasons stated to him by his associates and the uneasiness expressed, Harry Markle only said this: "Please believe me!..." Relying on his courage and self-confidence, Harry Markle finally won the trust of his friends.In the words of the sailors, my fellows: "Okay... let's do it like this!..." On the morning of July 25, there were only about 60 nautical miles left to the southwest and west of the Antilles.Bolstered by a cool breeze, the Spirit will surely be able to see the high slopes of St. Thomas before sunset. So Tony Raynor and Magnu Anders spent the afternoon at the mainmast and the foremast rudder respectively, probably Tony Raynor calling first: "Land...I see land!"