Chapter 17 Chapter One

After Maestro Antiphere left, the house on Gaofang Street looked very bleak and desolate!The mother and daughter live like years.The bedrooms are empty, and the whole house seems empty.At least that's how it feels to love Nokat.Besides, Tregoman can't come if uncle is not at home! Today is April 29th.Two months had passed since the Stelsmann had sent three Saint-Maloians on an adventurous voyage.How is their trip going? ...Where are you at this moment? ... have you reached your destination? "Mom... Mom, they won't come back!" said the girl. "Where...my child...be confident...will come back!"

The old Brittany woman still replied in the same way, "In any case, they still can't do without us..." "Yes! Just when I'm going to marry Jewell!" Enoch said to himself. It is not difficult to imagine how extraordinary the response of Maester Antiffel's expedition was here.He often takes a leisurely walk on the street, along the Shillon River, or on the city wall with a pipe in his mouth.A little behind him, there was always an old man named Gilda Tregman.I saw him with an aquiline nose, slightly bent legs, wearing a short coat wrinkled at every corner, and his upright face looked gentle and kind!

Young Jewell was the pride of the town.People liked him as much as they loved Nocuta, or rather, most people loved him as a mother loves a son.However, when he was about to be appointed as the first mate of a beautiful three-masted ship of the Baif Company, he flew away! Where are the three of them now?No one knows.Who would have thought that the Stelsman had taken them to Port Said; only Enochat and Nanon knew that they would sail down the river into the Red Sea, perhaps to the northern end of the Indian Ocean. Antiphere is very scheming and has always kept secrets.He kept Boo Omar tight-lipped about the location of the mysterious island.And because the plan was talked about too much, and it was so conspicuous, the city was full of disturbances, and the streets were talked about.No matter in Saint-Malo, Saint-Servan and Dinard, the story of Governor Camilque is circulating everywhere: the letter received by Thomas Antifel, the arrival of the executor; The latitude and longitude of the small island, the treasure of hundreds of millions of francs, etc., etc.Some people even say, not hundreds of millions of francs, but tens of billions!Therefore, people can't wait to inquire about the news of the treasure discovery.It seems that the captain-turned-billionaire has returned with a load of diamonds and jewels.

Enokat has no such luxury.All she wanted was for her fiancé, her uncle and his party to return home safely, and even with empty pockets she would be content, thank God.Her endless worries will become infinite joys. In fact, the girl had also received a letter from Jewell.The first letter was from Suez, in which she described in detail what they had seen on their journey, her uncle's state of mind: increasingly neurotic.The letter also mentioned Bo Omar and his trainees, saying that they all attended their appointments on time and received the reception they deserved.The second letter was sent from Muscat, telling them what happened at sea when they crossed the Indian Ocean to the Islamic kingdom, and told them to return to Suqal.With regard to Maester Antifel, Jouel said that he was in a state of ecstasy almost insane.

She greedily read Jewelle's letters.What is involved in the letter is not only the travel experience, but also her uncle's mental state. This is the sadness of the fiancé's girl after telling her goodbye.Just the day before the wedding, he left her, and now, it's really different!He longs to see the girl, and even if his uncle returns home with millions of treasures, he cannot tell him to break up the mandarin ducks.Enochat and Nanon read the letter over and over, but could not reply, and offered a few words of comfort.They made various comments on what they had seen and experienced, and counted with their fingers how long their relatives who had left their homes would be drifting in the ends of the earth.They mark the calendar day after day.Finally got another letter.So, they are immersed in fantasy again, maybe they have already completed half of the journey, or they may be on their way home?

The third letter was received on April 29, about two months after Juelle left home.Seeing that the postmark was from the Kingdom of Tunisia, Ainokat was so happy that his heart almost jumped out.what!Relatives have left Muscat and returned to European waters! ...they're heading for France...and when will they get to Marseilles? - Up to 3 days!By Western Express, it takes up to 26 hours to reach St. Malo! The mother and daughter saw off the kind postman, closed the door, and sat in a room on the first floor without being disturbed, so that the tide of their inner world could run wild. Enocat wiped his slightly moist eyes, tore open the envelope, took out the letter, and read it aloud, every sentence was cadenced and vivid, and the listener took every word into his heart.

"Dear Enochat, Kiss you, at this moment, we are at the ends of the earth, each of us is on our own side, when will the long journey be over!I have written to you twice and must have received them.This is the third letter, and it is also an extremely important one. It tells you that something unexpected happened to the treasure issue, and Uncle fell into extreme distress because of this..." Anokat smiled slightly from her heart, she raised her hand and said, "Mom, they got nothing, I don't have to worry about marrying a prince anymore..." "Go on, my boy," said Nanon.

She picked up where she left off and continued reading. "...Moreover, I am very sad to tell you that in order to continue our investigation, we have no choice but to go to farther and farther places..." The letter paper trembled in her hand. "Continue to investigate, go further afield," she repeated to herself, "they won't come back, mother..." "Be brave, my boy, read on!" said Nanon. Enoch continued to read, her beautiful eyes filled with tears.Joel briefly talked about what had happened on the small island in the Gulf of Oman, saying that there was no treasure there, only a piece of paper with a new longitude written on it.Next, Jewell wrote:

"Dear Enochat, you can imagine how disappointed my uncle was, how annoyed I was, and it had nothing to do with the fortune, but the return to Saint-Malo, and the moment when I came back to you, it was bound to be Delay! My heart is breaking..." She felt that her heart was also beating rapidly, and she fully understood Jewelle's tormented and painful mood. "Poor Jewel!" she whispered. "My poor girl! Read on, child," murmured the mother also. Enoch continued to read, his voice changed a little due to excitement. "As a matter of fact, Governor Camilque asked us to pass on the damned longitude to a banker named Zambugo, who lives in Tunis. He already has the second latitude. Although, the treasure is buried on another small island. Perhaps, that gentleman, like our grandfather, has been kind to Kamilk in the past. In this way, the governor will think of thanking him for his kindness! The inheritance can only be shared by two heirs. Obviously, every One gets only half of it. You'll know that now! Who's going to get mad at that!—that is, fifty million francs instead of hundreds of millions. . . . Wish the richest man in Egypt kept only ten thousand Francs, let uncle get very little, then, it will not stop our marriage."

"Lover, do you still need money when you are in love?" "No need, it will get in the way!" The old woman replied sincerely, "Read on, my child!" Enoch obediently continued to read. "Uncle read the content on the paper and was so astonished that he almost read out the new longitude and the address of that person. Fortunately, he stopped in time." Dear Enoch, our friend Tregman, we have often spoken of you.He made a grimace, which meant that it was time to find the second island. "Poor Joel," he said to me, "the richest man in Egypt, or some kind of governor, is making fun of us. Is he going to throw us all to the ends of the earth?"

"Is it the ends of the earth? ... At the moment I write to you, we don't know yet!" "Actually, the clues mentioned on the paper are held by the uncle himself, because he has been extremely suspicious of the notary since he tried to steal the secret in Saint-Malo. To be honest, I feel that the trainee Najim As suspicious as his teacher. Me and Mr. Tregman both hate this Najim very much, look at his face--a fierce face, a pair of sinister eyes, I tell you, our guy who lives in Bayeux Street Kalosh, the notary on the website, is not doing business. I'm sure if Bo Omar and he knew Zambugo's address, they would have beat us... But, uncle didn't say anything, not even us Tell. They had no idea we were going to Tunisia. When we left Muscat, we all wondered where the freewheeling Governor was going to send us?!" Anokat paused for a moment. "I don't like this sleight of hand!" said Nanon. Then, Jeweler recounted all kinds of encounters on the way home.How to leave the island, the translator Selick saw how disappointed the foreigners were with empty hands, he was no longer suspicious, thinking that this was just a very ordinary trip.Finally, I talked about the difficult journey back to the caravan inn, returned to Muscat, and had to wait for two days to board the cruise to Mumbai and so on. "I haven't written to you from Muscat because I've been thinking, to surprise you, to tell you when I find out something new... But, there's nothing new. We'll go to the port of Suez, and from there To the city of Tunis, that's all I know." Anokat stopped and looked at Nanon.Nanon shook his head, and said to himself, "I hope they don't drift any more. It's really worrying to be with people who don't keep faith!" The good old lady refers to those Orientals, as they were often talked about during the Crusades.In the eyes of this dignified and pious Breton woman, the millions of francs obtained in this way are simply ill-gotten gains... But how dare she say such thoughts to Antipher Master! Jewell described the journey from Muscat to Suez and the situation of crossing the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, and said that Bo Omar had been ill all the time, much worse than imagined... "Excellent!" said Nanon. The letter also said that during the whole journey, Pierre Servan Marlowe did not say a word! "My dear Enochat, as soon as my uncle's hopes come to naught, I do not wish to see it, but it is very likely: he will go mad! Who would have thought that a man of good character and no extravagance would He has come to such a fate! He expects to become a millionaire immediately—yes, how many people can resist this temptation? Of course, the only ones who are not tempted are you and me... the two of us, because the two of us Life has become one." "From Suez, we went back to Port Said. There, we had to wait for the merchant ship 'Stelsman' to sail to Tunis. That banker Zambugo lived there, and his uncle had to take the The cursed letter was forwarded to him... One has the longitude, the other has the latitude, which together will determine the location of the new island. Where will it be found? As I see it, the problem is serious .Because whether I can return to France, and to you, depends on this..." The letter dropped from her hand and the mother picked it up.He couldn't read anymore, and she saw her relatives seemed to be drifting thousands of miles away, and she saw the terrible scene of their being in danger.Probably forever.She couldn't help crying: "Oh! Uncle, uncle, how can you torture someone who loves you so much!" "Forgive him, my daughter," said Nanon, "God bless him!" After a moment of silence, the two women prayed with the same wish.Then Anokat went on to read: "We left Port Said on April 16th and didn't stop anywhere until Tunisia. The first few days sailed along the coast of Egypt. What a look in Bob Omar's eyes when he loomed Alexandria... I Really thought he was going to disembark there and would rather give up his share of the fortune... But the intern stopped him. We didn't understand a word of what they said, but there was nothing Bo Omar could do after seeing the brutal way of stopping. I thought to myself, this Egyptian is acting suspiciously, look at that robber! I must be on my guard against him." "Out of Alexandria, heading for Cape Bon, we left Tripoli and Bay of Bess behind. At last the majestic Tunisian mountains appeared on the horizon, and now and then a few abandoned forts stood on top of them, and an Islamic mosque or two The Holy Sepulchre appeared between the green curtains. On the night of April 21, we sailed into the port of Tunis. On April 22, the ship moored in front of the Goulet quay." "My in-laws, Enochat, came to Tunisia. Although the distance between us has been shortened on the small island, it is still so far away! Who knows if bad luck will throw us farther away! To be honest, even if It is sad to be five miles apart! But you need not be disappointed, remembering that whatever the outcome of this expedition, it will not be too long." "I am writing this letter to you on board the ship, in order to post it as soon as we arrive in Goulet. You will receive it in a few days. Of course, I don't know yet and you are anxious to think about it." Knowing things. I think that when Zambugo knows that this is a huge inheritance and he is entitled to half of it, he is willing to cooperate. He will have to go with us to the next stage of the investigation .He may be like an uncle, a quick-tempered person..." "Also, I will know the location of the second island soon, because I am responsible for finding it on the map. It seems that you will receive the fourth letter shortly after the third letter." "As with this letter, the next one will be to your mother, and you, dear Enochat, with the kindness of Mr. Tregoman and myself. And of course, uncle, though he seems to have forgotten Saint-Malo, forget the old house and the relatives who live there! As for me, dear fiancee, I send you all my love from afar, waiting for your reply, please always believe in me!" Your faithful, gentle Julie Antiphere Goulet, Tunisia, April 22, 1862