Chapter 9 Chapter nine

While the people of Saint-Malo were dancing their pas de deux madly, Enocut and Joelle were going to the town hall and then to the church.In the municipal government, the "Old Moon" in charge of marriage registration showed them the marriage certificate posted on the bulletin board.In the church, the bishop's assistant promised to sing the mass, pray, play the big organ, blow the trumpet, insert marriage auspicious grass and other marriage procedures. The cousins ​​were married and married, a match made in heaven.They were anxiously looking forward to the day of April 5th. Jeweler made no secret of it, but Enoch more reservedly.How hard-earned this date is!So, they are stepping up their preparations, preparing dowry, decorations, furniture and so on.The kind old Tregoman took part in the decoration of the new house, and every day he always brought some small things, which he used to collect on the banks of the Rance River. For example, there is a statuette of the Virgin that he once decorated in the "A Meili" captain's cabin, and now use it as a gift to a couple.Doesn't this just show the intimate and intimate relationship between this old man and the bride and groom?The venerable and beloved barge captain had more than once said to them both:

"For your happy event, I will do my best to let the mayor and the bishop handle it as soon as possible." "Why? My dear Gilda? . . . " asked the girl, somewhat disturbed. "That friend of mine is a man with a strange temper. It will be difficult for him to step on the magic horse and rush to the road to the kingdom of money." Jewell thought so too.Although my uncle is a good man, he plays the piano a little bit carelessly. As long as he doesn't say the sacred word "agree" in front of the mayor, everything will be settled. What's more, sailors have always raced against the clock to start a family and start a career, and time waits for no one!Either fight a bachelor like the barge captain, or seize the opportunity to make a quick decision.It seemed that Geulele was going to be the first mate on the three-masted ship of Baif Company.Then, for several months, or even years, you will be traveling across the sea, thousands of miles away from your wife, and this will have to be blessed by God, because God does not allow sailors and their families to bargain.As a sailor's daughter, Enokat knows that a long voyage will take her sweetheart to a distant place.Yes, there is no need to delay the wedding day, because their future life will be like a Cowherd and a Weaver Girl looking at the Milky Way...

When the young captain and his fiancée returned home after shopping, they were surprised to see two foreigners angrily walking out of the house on Gaofang Street.What are these two people doing here?Jewell felt a little nervous. ... When Enochat and he heard the ding ding dong dong upstairs, someone singing a self-made ditty, and the repeated refrain had drifted to the other side of the city wall, they believed in their own judgment even more. Uncle is crazy!Is not it?He wanted to blow his head out of longitude, or he was driven crazy by the pursuit of honor, or he was obsessed with money.

"What happened, Auntie?" Jewell asked. "Uncle is dancing." "However, how could he shake the house alone." "No! And Tregoman." "Why, Tregoman is dancing too?" "Isn't it just to make uncle happy!" Ainokat said. The three of them went upstairs quickly, and saw the madness of Antiphere, don't really suffer from schizophrenia, only to see that he was still shouting at the top of his lungs: I have it, I have the longitude ! Look at the fat old man again, his face is red and his ears are red, and his round head is steaming, but he must not have suffered a stroke. He sang with a rhythm: "Yes, yes, he has longitude!"

A flash came to Jeweler's mind. Could the two foreigners I saw just now be the God of Plague—the governor's messenger? They really came. The young man's face turned pale in an instant, and he immediately stopped the frantically jumping Master Antipher: "Uncle, do you have your longitude?" he called. "Yes, nephew!" "He has longitude!..." old man Gilda muttered in a low voice. He was sitting on a chair, and the pressure was so great that the chair was almost falling apart.After a while, Saint-Malo was able to catch his breath.The two young people finally knew what had happened since yesterday!Boo Omar and his assistants have been here, and they have tried to defraud the governor of the letter; the contents of the will, the exact longitude of the isle where the treasure is buried...

"Oh, Uncle, now that they know where Jinshan is, they will attack us before we do!" "Nephew, don't worry, they won't be ahead for a minute," he shrugged. "I'm not a fool, can I give them the key to the safe?..." Gilda Tregoman made a negative gesture. "...a safe with billions of dollars of wealth locked!" The word "billion" clogged Marlowe's mouth and almost made him breathless. In any case, he had expected the announcement to be greeted with enthusiastic applause, but he was wrong.how!Raindrops of gold, diamonds, and jewels fell on the roofs of Gaofang Street like a storm. This is a good thing that even the God of Wealth is jealous of. Why don't you quickly reach out to catch it, or let them all fall into the house without leaking? Can't do it?

As a matter of fact, the people in Gaofang Street were just coldly silent after Antiphere triumphantly announced the words worth a million dollars. "Ah! so!" he cried, looking at his sister, at his nephews, nieces, and his friends. "Why are you so quiet?" Despite the reminder, people still have that indifferent expression. "I declare to you that I am as rich as Cresu now. I come from Eldorado and I can use gold ballast. Even the rich man of the Islamic State of India can't match it. Why don't you put your arms around my neck and give it to me?" Where should I congratulate?..."

Still no answer, everyone lowered their eyes and turned their faces away. "You, Nanon? . . . " "Yes, brother!" replied the sister, "that's a lot more!" "Not only is it much more affluent, as long as you want, you can spend 300,000 francs a day, which is enough for a year. What about you! Enokat, do you think this is a lot of affluence?" "My God, Uncle, how necessary is it to be so rich? . . . " replied the girl. "Yes, I know, your overtones!...Wealth does not equal happiness! Right? Mr. Ocean Captain!" the uncle asked directly to his nephew.

"I think the Egyptian can pass on the title of governor to you. Or, he has so much money but no title..." Joule replied. "Hey! Hey! . . . Governor Antifel!" said the barge captain, smiling. "Tell me," Antiphere called out in a commanding tone, "tell me about the owner of the ship 'Lovely Amelie', and you want to have a little fun, too?" "My good friend! I..." pleaded Captain Gilda Barge. "God has eyes, since you have become a millionaire, I must congratulate you billions of times!" Why is the whole family so indifferent to the happiness of the head of the family?He may have completely forgotten one important event, that is the marriage of his nephew and niece.Everyone was worried that he would change his mind, for fear that the marriage of the two young people would be blown up, or at least delayed.In fact, this was the reason for the anxiety of the whole family and old Gilda.

Tregoman wanted to persuade his friend... It would be better to hold the wedding according to the original plan, at least everyone can discuss it. Through discussion, this terrible person can be made more rational and will not insist on going his own way. "Hey, friend," he said bravely, "assuming you have those tens of millions..." "Suppose, Captain Barge? . . . Why suppose?" "Okay! Even if you have tens of millions, an old man like you is used to living a frugal life, so what's the use of asking for so much money?" "I like to have it." Antiphere replied coldly.

"Why don't you buy Saint-Malo! I think..." "Not only St. Marguerite, St. Servain, Dinard, but as long as I want, even that ridiculous creek that only has water at high tide-the Rance River, I will buy it." He knew that belittling the Rance would hurt the heart of the old man who had sailed the beautiful river for twenty years. "Okay!" retorted Tregoman, biting his lip, "but, how much more can you eat? How much more can you drink? ... Unless you can go buy another bottle ..." "Man, I'll buy whatever I need. Even if there's an opposition in my family, even if there's an opposition in my family..." This was apparently addressed to the two fiancée couples. "100 million, I'll eat it, throw it away, burn it into smoke, turn it into ashes, then Jeweler and Enochat won't get half of each..." "I should say it's all for them both, my friend..." "why?" "Because they're getting married..." Now the dry firewood is on fire. "Hey, Captain Barge!" he yelled like a bell. "Climb the biggest mast and see if I can keep up?" Be obedient and listen to the sound, this is obviously a way to send his neighbors away.Because he, a big man, can't get up to the top of the mast without relying on the pattern plate. Neither Nanon nor Joule nor his fiancée dared intervene in the conversation.The young captain's face turned pale with anger, but he still tried his best to restrain the anger that was on the verge of breaking out. At this moment, the kind barge captain resolutely went to his friend: "But, you have promised..." "Promise what..." "They got married..." "Yes... that was when there was no longitude, and now the longitude has brought..." "You have to think about their well-being..." "That's right! Old fellow, that's right... So, Enoch is going to marry a prince..." "if so……" "Jeule is going to marry a princess..." "Then you can't even think about getting married!" retorted Tregoman, running out of words. "Use 50 million as a dowry, and you will find it!" "Then please find it!..." "I'll look for it... I can find it...it's in the Gotham Almanac! . . . " He referred to Gotha as Gotun, a stubborn, stubborn old guy who wanted to combine the blood of the Antifel family with the blood of the king. Besides, he didn't want to talk any further, and he wouldn't budge on the matter of marriage.He also made it clear that he would stay alone in the room and not see anyone before dinner. Gilda Tregoman thought it best not to disobey him.So we all went back downstairs to the living room. People seemed to be in despair, and the girl's beautiful eye sockets were filled with tears.Tregoman couldn't help it. "I don't like you crying, no matter how sad it is, you can't cry your child!" He said distressedly. "But, good friend," said the girl, "everything is over! . . . Uncle, he's stubborn! That huge inheritance has made him dizzy..." "Yes!" Nanon echoed, "My brother just needs to make up his mind..." Jewele said nothing, walked up and down in the living room, crossed his arms for a while, put them down again for a while, clenched his fists tightly, and opened them again.Suddenly, he shouted: "Anyway, he's not my father! . . . I don't need his approval to marry, . . . I'm an adult . . . " "However, Enokat is not yet of age, he is the guardian, he has the right to object..." the captain of the barge reminded. "Yes! Our family has to listen to him!" Nanon said with his head bowed. "That's why I said it's best not to confront him. His weird temper is not hard to get through. As long as everyone pretends to be at his mercy, maybe..." "You are right, Mr. Tregoman," said Enochat. "At least, I hope that the soft ones may have a higher success rate than the hard ones..." "Now, he hasn't got tens of millions yet?" said the captain of the barge. "No!" insisted Jewell, "despite the latitude and longitude, I'm afraid it will take a long time to get the treasure!" "A long time!" the girl murmured. "Ah! My dear Enochat, it's going to be delayed again! . . . Humph! damned uncle! . . . " "These damned messengers - damned beasts!" Nanon also cursed. "I should have beaten 'em with a broom..." "They will definitely work together," Jewell explained, "That Bo Omar has a mission, and he won't let him delay!" "So, uncle is leaving soon?" the girl asked. "Maybe," replied Gilda, "at least he's going to check out the location of the island!" "I must go with him!" said the lad. "You! my Jewell?" cried the girl. "Yes...it has to be so...I'm with him, maybe he can do less stupid things...bring him back sooner...if he doesn't come back..." "Quite right, boy," said the barge captain approvingly. "God knows where he will go and what dangers he will encounter in order to find that fortune?" Anokat looked sad, but she knew in her heart: It was a good idea for Jewel to make such a decision, maybe the journey would be shortened? The young captain tried his best to comfort her: he would write frequently,...tell her everything that happened...with her aunt by her side, Tregoman would not leave her alone...the old man would teach her to be patient... "Believe it! My child," said the captain of the barge very excitedly, "I will try my best to share your worries and make you happy... You don't know the performance of the 'Lovely Amelie'!" The girl didn't understand, but the old man never dared to speak out because he was afraid that his neighbor would get angry. "Well! I'll tell you... it's very interesting! . . . Time flies, and soon you'll see your uncle come back rich and rich... Maybe empty-handed... Our good son-in-law will jump to St. Malo church ...I will never let them delay, as long as you are happy, I can make a dress for your wedding as soon as possible, and every morning, I wear it..." "Hello... Captain Barge?" The familiar voice startled everyone. "He's calling me," Gilda said. "What does he want you to do?" asked Nanon. "It's not like his tone when he's angry." Enokat reminded. "No!" replied Jewell, "the tone is probably impatience..." "Come here,... Tregoman." "Just come..." replied Gilda Trekman. The stairs creaked under the captain's footsteps. Upon hearing the sound, Maester Antiffel opened the door, dragged him into the room, and then dragged him to the table with the flat spherical map, and handed him a two-legged ruler: "Here!" he said. "Two-legged gauge?..." "Yes!" he replied gruffly. "That small island...a small island worth 100 million yuan...I want to find its location on the map..." "But it's not on the map!" Gilda replied happily rather than surprised. "Who told you that?" he retorted. "Why isn't that island on the map? Poor barge captain!" "So, there is?" "Yes! I'll let you know... But, I'm too nervous, my hands are shaking... Holding this thing, my fingers are burning, and I can't find it on the map..." He said, holding the two-legged rule in his hand. "You want me to come, friend..." "If you can do it..." "Ah!" exclaimed Tregoman. "Hmph! The old navigator of the Rance River must be able to do this! . . . Try it, hold it, along the longitude 54 degrees, . . . 55 degrees, because the island is at 54 degrees 57 minutes... " These figures made the good old man dizzy. "57 degrees 54 minutes?" he repeated with wide-eyed eyes. "No! Ben-pig!" Antifil shouted, "It's reversed. Well... let's begin!" Gilda Tregman measured from the western edge of the map with the two-legged ruler. "No!" his friend yelled. "Not to the west, east of the Paris meridian, you hear me? East! . . . stupid!" The abuse and reprimands made the old man Gilda at a loss. It is conceivable that how can he continue to work?The eyes seem to be covered with a layer of black shadow, the sweat on the forehead is rolling, and the feet between the fingers are trembling like a ringing electric bell. "Measure longitude 55 degrees 1" Angtifil shouted. "From above, . . . then, down to latitude 24 degrees." "Latitude, 24 degrees? . . . " Gilda Tregoman stuttered. "Yes,... this thing really makes me suffer! Yes... the direction where the longitude and latitude intersect is the location of the island..." "Location……" "Yes!... Are you down?" "I'm going down..." "Ah! Beggar!...he is still measuring up!" That's true, and the captain of the barge really didn't know where he was. It seemed that he was not as good as his friend.In fact, both of them were in a state of confusion, and their brain nerves were trembling like huge strings when they played the last movement of the sonata. Out of helplessness, Master Antiphere had no choice but to find another way. "Jeule!" he yelled, as loud as from a megaphone. The young captain came up almost immediately. "What do you want, uncle?" "Jeule... where is the island?" "At the intersection of longitude and latitude..." "Okay, let's look for it..." Then he said aloud: "Find it out for me!" Jeweler didn't ask for any explanation, his uncle's flustered look was enough to explain everything.He held the two-legged compass firmly in his right hand, and then put the tip of the compass at the starting point of 55 degrees north longitude on the map, and began to move down the line. "Tell me where you passed by!" the uncle ordered. "Yes, Uncle," replied Jewell. So he moved and started talking: "Arctic Ocean, Franz-Joseph Land Islands." "it is good". "The Barents Sea." "it is good!" "New Zambler." "What about down there?" "The Kara Sea?" "and then?" "North Asia of Russia." "Which cities did you pass?" "The first one is Ekaterin Burka." "and then?" "Aral Sea Lake." "down!" "The Kiva of Turkestan." "Reached?" "Quickly! Herat." "Reached?" "Here we go! Muscat; at the southeastern tip of the Arabian peninsula." "Muscat!" cried Maester Antiphere, bending over the map. The intersection of longitude 55° and latitude 24° is exactly in the Islamic territory of Muscat, in the Gulf of Oman, which separates the Arabian Peninsula from Persia. "Muscat!" Antiphale repeated. "Mascot?" Gilda repeated, mishearing. "It's not Muscat . . . it's Muscat, Barge Master!" cried his friend, shrugging his shoulders almost up to his ears. "So, Jewell, that's Muscat?" "Yes, uncle... about 100 kilometers from there." "Can you be more accurate?" "Yes, uncle." "Okay! Jewell, be more precise, haven't you been impatient since you saw me?" Is not it?Even if the boiler burns to this extent, it will explode. Jeweler used a two-legged compass to calculate the longitude and latitude, and finally found the location of the island, with an error of less than a few kilometers. "How is it?" Antiphere asked impatiently. "That's right, Uncle, the location is not on the land of Muscat, but to the east, in the Gulf of Oman..." he said. "great!" "Great...why?" Gilda asked. "Since it's a small island, of course it won't be on land, the former captain of the 'Lovely Amelie'!" The tone of his speech was indisputable, and he was quite proud, because the captain of the barge was not as expert as he was. "Tomorrow we will start to make preparations before departure." Antiphere added. "You're right!" Jewell replied, at this moment, he had decided not to disobey his uncle's wishes. "Need to see if there's a boat for Port Said tomorrow?" he said. "That would be great, we have to buy time..." "Who else can steal my island?" "Unless it's a very good pickpocket!" replied Gilda. "Jeule, you come with me," he said very seriously. "Yes, uncle." The young man replied obediently. "Captain Barge, you have to come with me too..." "Me?" cried Tregoman. "Yes, you!" These two words were given in a tone of command, and the good man bowed his head in assent. He had intended to amuse poor Enocat, after his friend Marlowe had gone, by telling him the story of the voyage of the "lovely Amelie" on the Rance!