Titanic

Chapter 7

Falling into fear and despair, Jack and his friend agreed to escape from the "Titanic" together. The friend successfully landed, but Jack was stopped by Ruth at the last moment, and his hatred for Ruth could not be increased.

Just as Ruth approached the original manuscript of the Rubaiyat step by step for the camp, Jack returned to the crew cabin after his duty and fell down on his bed, not wanting to move at all.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Fleet, who was about to go to the crow's nest on duty, asked.

Jack shook his head, but said nothing.

"What's wrong with you, Jack? Are you sick? Look listless!" Fleet asked with concern.

Jack waved impatiently and buried his head in the pillow.Fleet shook his head, sighed, and walked out of the crew cabin, muttering in his mouth as he walked: "Jack Dawson, what a strange guy, I don't know who got him on this ship."

Jack's heart is very contradictory, and a strong premonition forces him to make a choice, whether to stay on the ship or escape.He doesn't want to be a deserter, but he doesn't want to make fun of his own life, but is this premonition real, or is he just asking for trouble?Everyone hopes to stay in a familiar environment, and Jack Dawson, an adventurer traveling alone in the world, is unwilling to leave the warm and comfortable "Titanic" and plunge into an unknown world.

The cabin door was pushed open.Fireman Coffey enters.

Coffey: "Jack, what's wrong with you guy? I met Fleet outside, and he said you're acting weird, maybe you're sick."

Jack forced himself to sit up, and replied weakly: "It's okay, maybe I'm too tired, don't worry."

Coffey sat down next to Jack, and the bed suddenly sank. "Don't hold back anything in your heart, tell me, maybe I can help you solve it! We are friends, remember?"

After Coffey said this, Jack had no reason to keep silent, and he couldn't live up to the kindness of a good friend.He thought about it, and decided to tell Kofi what he thought - if someone else heard his weird idea, he might take it as a laughing stock, but Kofi wouldn't.In the eyes of others, Coffey is a brutal and violent guy, but he is very loyal to his friends.

"Okay! Don't laugh at me after listening." Jack looked at Coffey warily.

"Hahaha!" Coffey couldn't help laughing, "Jack, Jack, you conceited guy, what's going on today? Fleet is right, you are indeed abnormal, it's strange."

Titanic Jack: "Do you still want to hear it?"

Coffey: "Okay, okay, talk! I'm listening."

Jack told Coffey about the general content of "In vain" and his premonition, including his out-of-body experience on the crow's nest.The smile gradually disappeared from Kofi's face, replaced by a solemn expression.After speaking, Jack looked into Coffey's eyes, wanting to hear what his friend thought.He has always attached great importance to Kofi's opinions. This guy is very thoughtful, and he can often grasp the key points and hit the nail on the head.

Coffey cleared his throat and said, "Honestly, I don't think it's quite right, either. Captain Smith is, you know, a very respectable old captain. He's been with the White Star Line for over 30 years. The Boer War was the British The first Boer War from 1880 to 1881 and the second Boer War from 1899 to 1902. Captain Smith participated in the Second Boer War. At that time, he successfully completed the transportation task as a captain and was awarded a medal. People called him "Captain of Safety". Therefore, the maiden voyage of the White Star Company ship after the war was all done by him. Come take the helm."

Jack listened patiently to Coffey's introduction of Captain Smith's glorious history, waiting for him to reveal the answer.This is Coffey's habit of speaking. He always prepares the groundwork to whet people's appetites, and then reveals the answer to create dramatic effects.

"Last year, the maiden voyage of the sister ship 'Olympic' of the 'Titanic' was also undertaken by Captain Smith, and it was a complete success. I was on the ship at that time, and I admired this legendary captain. However, In September last year, the HMS Olympic sailed from Southampton to New York and collided with the cruiser HMS Hawke of the Royal Navy during the voyage. Recalling the scene at that time, it is really thrilling.”

Coffey stared at the cabin wall, lost in memory. "At that time, we were sailing in the northeast waters of the Isle of Wight, and we met the 'Hawk'. Both ships were advancing at high speed, and soon they were close together and parallel. At this time, the 'Olympic' was like a magnet. , attracted the 'Hawk' over, and turned left. It may be that the 'Olympic' is too large, causing a large amount of water backfill during the voyage, which has attracted the 'Hawk'. You know,' The Olympic weighed 45000 tons, while the Hawke weighed only 7350 tons, which was 1/6 of the former. As a result, the bow of the Hawke poked into the stern of the Olympic, and both ships The damage was extensive. The 'Olympic' had to return more than 1000 of its passengers to shore."

Coffey swallowed, and said his final conclusion. "At that time, I had a feeling that Captain Smith's good luck was coming to an end. It is impossible for a person to go smoothly on the sea forever, and there will always be times of bad luck. You know, God is fair and will not take special care of anyone. If A person's luck has been good or bad, so he doesn't have to worry about bad luck befalling him; if a person's luck has been relatively good, so good that people are enviable, when this good luck is about to end, he will Be on the lookout, catastrophe may be on the way, and he'll have to pay for the good fortune he's enjoyed so far. So, I guess our lucky captain might be in big trouble. What do you think?"

"My hunch can confirm your opinion." Jack suddenly remembered something, "Right! Didn't the 'Titanic' almost collide with the 'New York' when it set sail in Southampton Harbor? Later, it was because of it The tugboat pushed the 'New York' back, and it sailed smoothly."

Both fell into silence.In this uncomfortable silence, Jack made the final calculations.He tentatively asked: "How about, let's go!"

Coffey raised his head abruptly and looked directly at Jack, "Go? Where?"

Jack: "At noon today, the 'Titanic' will berth in Queenstown, Ireland. We will take the opportunity to disembark. I don't want to be unlucky with Captain Smith and this ship. We are still young, and the days are still long!" Jack said. made an ill-timed joke, but neither of them could laugh.

Coffey's two hands were twisted together, and he was very conflicted inside.Finally, he stomped his feet fiercely, "Okay! You can leave as soon as you say, I will go back to pack my things now, so hurry up and prepare! We will be docking soon."

﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡At noon on April 1912, 4, the "Titanic" docked in Queenstown, Ireland. Most of the boarders here were Irish immigrants who went to the New World to find hope.As the weather was fine and sunny, many passengers took the opportunity to disembark and go for a walk on the pier to purchase some local specialties and souvenirs.

Jack and Coffey changed into civilian clothes, took their suitcases, and prepared to disembark among the passengers.Ruth also came to the side of the ship, looking at the bustling pier below.Just a casual glance, Ruth spotted a familiar figure among the crowd waiting to disembark. "It's very similar to that annoying ghost!" Ruth murmured in her heart, and followed her up.

Jack lowered his hat, worried about being recognized by other crew members, and was about to step on the gangway.At this moment, a tentative greeting came from behind. "gentlemen……"

Jack looked back and found that it was his enemy, the young lady with a pungent personality.He turned around in a hurry, ready to go up the gangway.However, how could Ruth miss this good opportunity for revenge!From Jack's attire, it can be seen that he is probably going to leave the ship without permission to become a deserter. A smirk appeared on the corner of Ruth's mouth, she grabbed Jack's arm, and shouted——

"Look! Aren't you a crew member? Why are you dressed like this? Are you going to be a deserter? Otherwise, why do you look like a sneaky one?" Her string of questions, coupled with her voice, immediately aroused Noticing the attention of the surrounding passengers, everyone stared at Jack with strange eyes, whispering and discussing.

Coffey winked at Jack from the side, very anxious, and signaled him to get rid of this strange woman who came out of nowhere as soon as possible, and flee this ominous place as soon as possible.But Jack was so firmly held by Ruth that she couldn't shake it off, and it was hard to do anything to a young lady in front of so many people.There was no other way, so Jack had no choice but to signal for Kofi to leave first, and then he would find a way to escape.

Coffey shook his head and stepped onto the gangway by himself. "Jack, this guy just likes to mess with women. I don't know how he provoked this woman. He is in trouble now!" As he walked, he muttered in his heart.

Jack was cornered by Ruth, and he became fierce, with fierce eyes, and stabbed Ruth like a dagger.He took a small step forward, approaching Ruth.Ruth was taken aback by Jack's terrifying appearance, and instinctively took a step back. "Get off your hands!" Jack threatened.

Ruth steadied herself and gave Jack a smile that confused Jack.Before he could react, a sharp pain came from his toes, and Jack let out a scream.While he wasn't paying attention, Ruth stomped on Jack's toes, the expression on her face was gnashing her teeth, exerting all her strength.

Seeing Jack's painful appearance, Ruth felt very satisfied, let out a burst of clear laughter like silver bells, left Jack, and ran away alone under everyone's surprised eyes.Jack straightened up with difficulty, and was about to catch up, when he suddenly found the first mate Wilder and a pair of Murdoch walking towards him.Murdoch accepted Mr. Andrews's suggestion and was talking with Wilder on the deck when he suddenly found a circle of people around the gangway, as if something had happened.So, two people came over, trying to figure out what was going on.

Jack saw that something was wrong. If the crew were caught as deserters, they would be severely punished.He turned around and ran towards the gangway, but there were people around him, making it difficult for him to move forward. At this time, the crew members guarding the gangway mouth also noticed that the situation was abnormal and were looking over here.Jack couldn't run away, so he squeezed his way through the crowd and slipped along the side of the boat to his cabin.He sneaked a peek at the pier, and saw Coffey watching over the pier, anxiously waiting for him to disembark.Sighing, Jack lowered his hat, quickened his pace and slipped away.

The boat moved again, and in the crew cabin, Jack sat on the bunk, his head in his hands. "Perhaps it is destined to have this catastrophe. You can't avoid it, accept your fate!" Suddenly, Jack raised his face, and the flames of revenge were burning in his eyes full of despair, "This bitch, I must Make her pay the price. I see where you can go, jump into the sea if you have the ability, then I will catch up and drown you in the sea!" , Jack didn't want to pay attention to it at first, but the people outside seemed to be very anxious, they kept knocking, and it became more and more urgent, and the door was knocked "dong dong".Jack couldn't bear it anymore, so he stood up and walked over to open the hatch.Standing outside the door was another fireman, Barrett, who was looking at Jack with strange, puzzled eyes.

"What's the matter?" Jack asked sullenly, impatiently.With his current mood, he really couldn't put on a smiling face to greet people.

Barrett felt uncomfortable, but he still said patiently, "Jack, do you know where Coffey is? It's time for him to be on duty, but he's nowhere to be seen. I've searched everywhere, but I still can't find him. You are his good friend, you should know where he went, right?"

Jack was startled. Although Kofi ran away, he left the trouble to himself, so he had to find a way to cover it up.Thinking of this, Jack made a surprised expression on purpose, "How do I know where he went? It's ridiculous!"

Barrett was irritated, and he also asked in a bad mood: "Someone said that Kofi came to see you this morning, didn't he say anything to you? Everyone knows that you are good friends who talk about everything, If he wants to do something, he won't even hide it from you, will he?"

Jack roared, "What the hell do you mean? Do you suspect that I'm lying? Let me tell you again, I don't know where Coffey is, so don't bother me in the future, or I'll be rude to you Already!"

The burly Barrett squinted at Jack with a look of contempt that stimulated nerves.Jack, who was already in a bad mood, was finally annoyed by this look, and his depressed emotions erupted like a volcano.He jumped up and smashed a hammer-like fist into Barrett's face.Caught off guard, Barrett uttered a scream and fell to the ground.Still refusing to let him go, Jack pounced on him, riding on Barrett's body, and rained his fists on his head.Barrett covered his head to avoid Jack's frenzied attack, shouting "Help!"

Alarmed, the rest of the crew came running and dragged Jack away from Barrett.Barrett wanted to take revenge, but was stopped by the crew.Someone went to report to the officials, and happened to meet the first mate Wilde and the first mate Murdoch on the deck, and the conversation between the two was not over yet.After listening to the crew's report, they rushed over.

The first mate Wilde asked sternly: "What's going on? Why are you fighting?"

Barrett was the first to tell what happened.Wilder stared at Jack and asked, "Is this the case?"

Jack was silent and didn't speak.Murdoch wanted to help Jack out, and interjected, "You really don't know where Kofi is? Didn't you lie?"

Jack shook his head, "Why does he have to tell me where he is going? Even if we are friends, we may not be in collusion in everything! If you want to find him, you should go somewhere else, not with me. Time wasted here."

Wilder looked at Jack, thought for a while, and said to Barrett: "Go to Kofi first, and then deal with this matter after you find him. Don't worry, no one will be treated unfairly. If someone If he did something wrong, I will definitely punish him."

Barrett left unwillingly. Before leaving, he gave Jack a vicious look and told him with his eyes: "Today's business is not over yet, I will definitely settle the score with you!"

Wilder and Murdoch also left.Back on the deck, Wilder suddenly asked Murdoch, "Do you think Jack is telling the truth?"

Murdoch thought for a while and replied uncertainly: "I have a feeling that he is lying!"

Wilder froze for a moment, stared at Murdoch and asked, "Is there any basis?"

Murdoch motioned Wilder to sit in a deck chair and explained his suspicions in detail. "I don't know if you noticed a detail. When I asked Jack if he was lying, what did he say?"

Wilder recalled it for a while, guessing, "He said no, is that so?"

Murdoch shook his head and said, "He didn't say that, but avoided my question and gave an indirect answer, which probably meant that although Kofi and him were friends, he wouldn't tell him everything. .”

Wilder asked in confusion: "Is there any difference? Don't they all have the same meaning?"

Murdoch smiled smugly. He was proud of his meticulous observation and ability to read people's hearts. "No, there is a difference. You see, he didn't answer my question directly, that is, he didn't give a direct negative answer-'I didn't lie'. For a liar, a positive answer will cause more harm to himself. So they tend to answer sideways. For example, if you ask a person if he is lying and he says: 'I am an honest person'; 'I never lie', there is a problem."

Wilder nodded half-understanding.Murdoch still had more to say, and continued to introduce his experience. "Besides this sign of not being able to answer the question head-on, there are other clues to follow. Sometimes the person who is lying will repeat the question you ask bluntly. For example, you ask him: 'Are you in your position? Up?' He replied: 'I'm at my post'. Actually, if he didn't lie, simply said: 'Well, yes', it would be fine. Repeating your question tirelessly will speak for itself question."

Wilder's interest came, "Your observation is really meticulous! Go on, it's very interesting."

Murdoch: "Liars like to use passive terms when describing an event, for example, saying 'Jack beat Barrett' as 'Barrett was beaten by Jack'. Of course, I Assuming Jack didn't hit Barrett."

Wilder: "So, what's the point?"

Murdoch: "Probably to make lying easier, at least a little bit easier on conscience. You see, this kind of statement is not a direct lie in a way, but an indirect, roundabout statement, lying. People might feel better."

Wilder: "How do you know these things? It's incredible, I'm impressed."

Murdoch smiled shyly, "There are many lies around us. As long as you pay attention, you can summarize the common habits of liars. By the way, sometimes liars will use another to delay time. A repetition strategy is to repeat your question. For example, you ask him if he has completed the task, and he talks to himself, repeating your question-'Is the task completed? Of course, it has been completed.' Or Asking you back, 'Why are you asking that?' 'What do you mean?' It's a way of buying time and getting him ready to lie."

Wilder laughed, "It's really beneficial, then, the misunderstanding between us has been explained clearly, hasn't it?"

Murdoch froze for a moment, "Misunderstanding? Of course, there will be no more misunderstanding between us."

Wilder looked at Murdoch mischievously, "You didn't answer my question directly, and you repeated my question, delaying time, are you lying?"

Murdoch scratched his head and smiled awkwardly. "These are just clues to identify lies and cannot be generalized. Accurately judging whether a person is lying requires a combination of various information to make a correct conclusion. At least, we had a pleasant conversation, which is the first step in improving the relationship." step."

Wilde pursed his lips and frowned with a meaningful expression. "You're not lying, you just don't want to say 'no' outright, understandably, this kind of thing doesn't happen overnight, we're off to a good start and that's what matters."

The two looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

(End of this chapter)