The Mysterious Island Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Captain Grant's Children

Chapter 49 Captain Grant's Children (49)
"Sir, we still need to do some reconnaissance before we force our way in. Leave this task to me!" Meng Ge volunteered.

"John, I will go with you!" said Paganel.

Everyone accepts this suggestion.After that, John Menger and Paganel were fully armed, took enough dry food, and set off when they were ready.Not long after, the two disappeared among the tall reeds on the bank of the river.

During this day, the companions were anxiously waiting for the two to return.When the sun was setting, they could not be seen, and everyone was restless like ants on a hot pot.

About eleven o'clock in the evening Wilson came up to report that the two had returned.It was seen that Paganel and Mengel were so exhausted from running a total of ten miles that they almost fell to the ground.

"How? How? Is there a bridge there?" asked Sir Glenarvan hastily.

"Yes! But the bridge is made of rattan. It seems that the gangsters have already crossed the river from the bridge, but..."

"But what?..." Sir Glenarvan asked hastily, realizing that there was something in this.

"When these bastards have crossed the bridge, they set fire to it!" said Paganel.

Man-made attack
Now is not the time to be downcast.What everyone needs to do is to cross the Snowy River as soon as possible, and reach Dufoe Bay before these bandits arrive.

On January 1, the next day, Menger and Sir Glenarvan went to the river to observe the water situation and thought about the way to cross the river.After the heavy rain, the river has been rising sharply and has no tendency to fall back. Looking at the turbulent river surface, one knows that if the river is forcibly crossed, the boat will be destroyed and people will die.Sir Glenarvan folded his arms and looked worried.

"I can swim across the river and try the water," Menger suggested.

"John, that's not allowed," Sir Glenarvan quickly grabbed the brave captain's hand and stopped him. "We'd better wait a little longer!"

Then, the two returned to the campsite.It was another day of anxiety.During this period, Sir Glenarvan ran to the river countless times, but he still couldn't think of a good way to cross the river.

Lady Helen has been looking after Muradi in the bullock cart.Fortunately, the knife didn't hit the vital point, but there was too much bleeding.If you rest well, you will recover soon.After waking up, Muradi was worried that he would cause trouble to everyone, so he asked that if there was a way to cross the river, he should cross the river first, and then leave Wilson alone to take care of him.

However, the rushing river was still unable to cross.On January 1, the situation was still the same.Sir Glenarvan was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, and he was restless all day long.Both Mrs. Helen and the major were comforting him with kind words, but he still couldn't calm down.As soon as Jazz thought about it, that villain Ben Joyce had made a careful plan to seize the ship, and now the "Duncan" was falling into the gangster's net step by step, and the sailors on board were walking on the road of death. How can I calm down when my mood is tossing like a tossing river?

Like Sir Glenarvan, there was Captain Mengle.The way he came up with was to imitate the Australian aborigines and use large pieces of gum bark to make boats.

On January 1, the gum tree boat was completed, and Meng Geer and Wilson carried it to the river to try it out.But as soon as the boat reached the surface of the river, it was overturned and carried away in an unknown direction by the rapids; moreover, the rapids of the river almost killed both of them.

On January 1th and 19th, these two days were also spent in such an anxious mood.Sir Glenarvan and the major walked up the river.They all covered a distance of about five miles without finding any shoals to ford.What appeared in front of my eyes were only raging waves and swift torrents.

These brave men felt that there was no hope of saving the Duncan!Ben Joyce had been away for about five days, and I am afraid that the "Duncan" had sailed to the east coast by now, and had fallen into the clutches of those gangsters.

Then, on the 21st, things finally turned around.The flood on the river came quickly, but fortunately it receded quickly.Early in the morning, Paganel noticed that the river was receding, and immediately notified Sir Glenarvan.

"Oh! It's too late! What's the use now that the river has receded?" Sir Glenarvan sighed deeply.

"But we can't just sit here and do nothing!" said the major.

"It is estimated that we will be able to cross the river tomorrow." John Mengel said.

"Crossing the river, can you save the poor crew of the 'Duncan'?" said Sir Glenarvan sadly.

"Your Excellency, listen to me," John Mengel persuaded, "I know Tom Austin's character. Of course he will set off immediately after receiving your order. However, who can guarantee that' Can the Duncan run normally? Who can guarantee that the Duncan will be fully repaired before Ben Joyce arrives in Melbourne? It may happen that the ship is not repaired for a while, so it cannot sail temporarily, which will also delay For several days!"

"John, what you said makes sense!" Sir Glenarvan felt that it made sense when he heard this, he immediately cheered up and said happily, "Now, let's hurry to Dufoe Bay! We are here It's also only 35 miles from Delguite."

"That would be great!" Paganel said. "When we get to Dufoe Bay, we can find convenient transportation, and maybe we can prevent this conspiracy from happening."

"Okay! Now let's get ready to go!" Sir Glenarvan ordered.

Menger and Wilson immediately set about building a large raft.They first cut down a few big gum trees and built a big and strong raft out of them.It was not an easy job, and the raft was not fully built until the next day.

At this time, the water of the Snowy River has dropped significantly, but the current is still turbulent.After observing the river, Meng Geer concluded that if he walked obliquely along the direction of the current, he could control the raft well and successfully reach the opposite bank.

At [-]:[-], everyone put all the food needed for the two-day journey onto the raft, and left the ox carts and tents where they were.Muradi's injury has been greatly improved, and he is recovering quickly, and his companions can easily carry him.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, Jazz and his party got on the raft tied to the river bank.Meng Geer deliberately arranged a long oar on the right side of the raft, and Wilson was in charge of driving it to prevent the raft from being rushed out of its original course by the turbulent water.On the stern of the raft, Meng Geer installed a thick and large scull, which can control the direction of the raft, and he himself is responsible for the operation.Lady Helene and Miss Grant sat in the middle, next to Muradi.Sir Glenarvan, the Major, Paganel, and Robert the Younger sat round the three, and surrounded them to protect them.

"Wilson, are you ready?" Meng Ge asked.

"Captain, everything is ready!" Wilson said, holding the long oar in his strong and broad hands.

"Be careful! Don't let the raft be swept away by the waves!"

After that, Meng Geer untied the rope that tied the big raft, and propped it to the center of the river in one breath.At the beginning, the raft drifted very well in the river; but after a while, when it encountered a turbulent eddy, it was impossible to control the direction of the raft. Spin around.In this regard, Meng Geer had no choice but to let the river flow at his mercy, watching the raft continue to drift down with the rotation of the current.

After drifting half a mile, the raft was in the middle of the river; the current was still strong, but fortunately there was no eddy, and the raft was much more stable in the river.

Then, Meng Geer and Wilson held on to the oars and oars again, so that the raft moved in an oblique direction and slowly drifted to the opposite bank of the river.However, 50 meters away from the river bank, Wilson's oar was broken, and the raft immediately lost control and was involuntarily washed by the rapids.Seeing this, Meng Geer grabbed the scull with all his strength, fearing that the scull would also be broken.Wilson, whose hands were covered in blood, hurried over to help.Finally, after half an hour, the raft finally reached the river bank.

Unfortunately, when the raft was forced too hard, it collided with the steep slope of the bank, and the rope was broken.Grabbing some saplings on the bank that bent toward the river, they pulled Moradi and the two ladies out of the river first; for all three were half-soaked in the river.After some hard work, everyone was finally out of danger.However, due to the drift of the raft, all the weapons and most of the dry food on it were washed away by the rapids of the river, and only the carbine carried by the major survived.

Now, Jazz and his party have crossed the river, but they have nothing left.What was to be done in this wild country thirty-five miles from Delegitte!

Everyone negotiated and decided that there is still no delay, and we must leave immediately.Muradi didn't want to hurt his companions, so he insisted that he should stay alone first, and then send someone back to pick him up after everyone went to Delegit first.Sir Glenarvan naturally disagreed with this proposition.Because everyone knows that it takes at least three days to get to Delegit from here; it takes five days at the fastest to reach the coast; in other words, it takes at least January 1 to get there.But probably on January 26, the "Duncan" has left Melbourne.So everyone feels that it is late anyway, and it doesn't matter if it is late.Sir Glenarvan then said to Mulady:
"My dear friend, no, absolutely no! I won't lose anyone easily. Now let's make a soft bag, and everyone will take turns to carry you away!"

After a while, a large soft bag made of eucalyptus branches was ready, just enough to hold Muradi.Sir Glenarvan was the first to carry him; he carried one end of the bag, Wilson the other.And so they set off on their way.

Every 10 minutes, another group of people continued to lift.The road was very difficult, and in the sweltering heat, it was difficult to carry such a heavy person, but no one in the team complained.

After the Jazz and his party had traveled five miles, it was getting dark; everyone could only rest under a clump of gum trees, and eat a little food snatched from the raft for dinner.

But it never occurred to me that it rained sparingly at night, which really made people miserable.Fortunately, when it finally dawned, Jazz and his party started on the road again.

Along the way, there was a desolate scene, with no birds or beasts to be seen, and the carbine carried by the major was useless at this time.Fortunately, little Robert saw a bird's nest, and found more than a dozen large birds' eggs in it; Aubinette cooked these birds' eggs with charcoal ashes, and then found some purslane from the depression, so it was barely enough. Lunch on the 22nd.

Ahead is a piece of sandy land, covered with thistle grass, the road is even more difficult to walk.The traveler's clothes were all scratched, and there were bloodstains on his feet.Fortunately, the two ladies were strong and brave, and they followed the crowd forward without fear.

At dusk, Jazz and his party walked at the foot of Bubula Mountain, where they camped on the banks of the Ronggara River.McNabbs got himself a big rat, and they all made supper, and roasted it till there wasn't a bone left.

On the 23rd, everyone was exhausted, but they still insisted on continuing their journey.After successfully bypassing the foot of the mountain, what appeared in front of us was a long pasture.These grasses grow like whalebone, intertwined and intertwined, as sharp as arrow bushes.It seems that to pass here, you must burn the grass with fire and chop it down with a knife and axe, so that you can move forward smoothly.

On this day, the traveler had no food for breakfast, and everyone was hungry and thirsty in the sweltering heat, and in these circumstances half a mile was not covered in an hour.It seems that if you have not eaten or drank all the time, it is difficult to persist in this journey.

Fortunately, Jazz and his party have come to a place with bushes; these bushes look like coral in appearance, bearing pods one by one, and the fruit contains rich water, which everyone can drink to their heart's content.At the same time, Paganel saw in a dry ditch, a plant with leaves like clover; the leaves of this plant also had spores as large as lentils; Make into rough bread.So Obine picked up many of these lentil-sized spores and stored them in case he needed them.

On the 24th, the next day, Muradi's wounds were completely healed and scabbed over; he walked some distance without the assistance of his companions.Now, they were less than ten miles away from the city of Delegit.That night, the travelers camped at 149°E, on the border of New South Wales.

That night, it rained continuously for several hours, and everyone was drenched like a drowned rat.Fortunately, Meng Geer saw a broken shack left by a lumberjack by chance, and everyone walked in happily.Wilson also got some dead branches from nearby, but no matter what, the branches couldn't burn.After careful observation, it turns out that this is exactly what Paganel said before, the wood that cannot burn; since there is no fire, you cannot eat bread; everyone has no choice but to wear wet clothes and bury their heads in sleep.

Mrs. Helen and Miss Grant were physically exhausted, and it was difficult to continue, but fortunately, they had the courage to move forward with the support of the belief that "after a lot of hardships and hardships, the dawn will appear".Although the two ladies were too tired to walk, they were supported by their companions and kept walking forward.

On the second day, when the sky was just dawning, Jazz and his party embarked on a journey again.At eleven o'clock, the town of Delegit was in the distance, only fifty miles away from Dufoe Bay.

In this town, Jazz and his party quickly found a means of transportation.It only takes 24 hours for people to reach Dufu Bay smoothly, and hope is ignited in Sir Glenarvan's heart again.Because at this moment, he thought, maybe the "Duncan" would delay the sailing time due to some things; in this way, he could get there before it sailed out of Dufoe Bay.

At noon in the town, Jazz and his party had another delicious meal, and then they took a mail van, pulled by five horses, and left Delegit town as quickly as an arrow.The jazz asked the coachman to speed up and pay double the money; the coachman became more interested when he saw the generous reward, and drove the car as fast as an arrow from the string.Every ten miles of road, there is a post station, and the coachman stays at a post station for one or two minutes at most.

Just like that, the carriage flew like flying at a speed of six miles per hour.This is true in the afternoon and evening.

On the second day, when the sun rose from the east, the travelers could faintly hear the sound of the waves, which proved that this place was not far from the sea.Only by bypassing Dufoe Bay can we reach the place where Tom Austin came to pick up Jazz and his party-the coast on the 37° line.

Now, Jazz and his party saw the blue sea.Everyone turned their gazes to the sea, hoping to find the "Duncan" cruising on the sea just like they were on the coast of Argentina a month ago.

Then, no matter how you looked, you didn't see anything.What appeared in front of my eyes was only the horizon of the sea, not to mention the shadow of sails.

Everyone thought, maybe the wind and waves at sea were too strong, so the first officer, Tom Austin, sailed the boat to the inner port of Dufoe Bay?

"Let's go to Eden City!" Sir Glenarvan said after a long thought.

The mail van turned right at once, and raced on the road round the bay, heading for the town five miles away.

In front of a fixed signal that marks the port, the coachman stopped the car.The Jazz and his party saw several ships moored at the pier, but none of them were flying the flag of Malcolm House.

Glenarvan, Menger, and Paganel all got out of the mail van and ran towards the customs.They asked the staff at the customs, and asked to check the register of ships entering the port in the past few days.It is a pity that within a week, not a single ship reached Dufoe Bay.

"Could it be that the 'Duncan' hasn't set sail yet? Maybe we arrived here before the ship arrived?" Sir Glenarvan said with hope.

But Captain John Mengel shook his head vigorously; because he knew the character of the first mate Tom Austin, he would not delay ten days before setting out according to the order.

"I must get to the bottom of this matter!" continued Sir Glenarvan. "I would rather know a certain fact than remain in a daze!"

A quarter of an hour later Sir Glenarvan sent a telegram to the Marine Insurance Managers' Association in Melbourne.After that, everyone boarded the mail car together and rested in the Victoria Hotel.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Sir Glenarvan received a telegram personally delivered to his door, which read:

Lord Glenarvan of Edentown, Dufoe Bay
On the 18th of this month, the "Duncan" set sail, and its whereabouts are unknown.

melbourne marine insurance manager andrew

Sir Glenarvan was so disappointed that the telegram slipped from his hands.

Now the situation is extremely grim: Ben Joyce has taken control of the "Duncan".The original cruise ship turned into a pirate ship.

In this way, this hopeful trip to Australia ended in despair.Jazz not only couldn't find Captain Grant and his crew, but lost the lives of his own crew.

(End of this chapter)