Captain Grant's Children

Chapter 22 Fort Independence

Mount Tandil, at an altitude of 1000 feet, was formed in a very early geological period and belongs to the gneiss area.

The county that bears the same name as the mountain covers almost the entire southern part of the province of Buenos Aires, and its capital is the village of Natandil.

The main residents in this village are descendants of French and Italians, because the earliest colonists in this area were French.

In 1828, the Frenchman Balshape built Fort Independence on the hillside above the village to better resist Indian attacks.

The trade in Tandil Village is quite developed.It only takes 12 days for the bullock cart to run through Buenos Aires.Livestock, bacon, and Indian handicrafts—weaving, cotton, and more.Tandil village also has a church and a school.Paganel introduced here and said that he should be able to get some information from here, because there are troops stationed here all the year round.

Glenarvan and his party settled down in a rather elegant hotel.After settling down, Paganel, Major, Robert and Glenarvan walked towards the Independence Fort under the guidance of Tarcaf.

There was an Argentine sentinel standing guard at the gate of Fort Independence, but he sat there very loosely.So they walked in without a word.There happened to be a few soldiers practicing on the playground inside. The oldest was only 20 years old, and the youngest was not even 7 years old.They are all black, as if they were carved out of the same mold.

When I asked later, it turned out that they were brothers of 12 people!This is not surprising, since the average Argentine family has at least 9 children.

The 12 practicing brothers all wore uniform striped shirts and kilts, and carried very grown-up knives and guns on their shoulders.

They shouted French-style passwords in unison, and walked with the steps of French soldiers, every move was very authentic.

"It's so weird!"

Paganel was sensitive to everything that was happening in his own country.However, Glenarvan didn't give him extra time for him to research, but just urged him to find the boss here.

Soon an Argentine child soldier ran inside, and a commander came out after a while.

It seems that this is a white-haired soldier in his 50s, with a mustache, high cheekbones, and piercing eyes, very soldierly.

This commander with a pipe in his mouth reminded Paganel of the image of junior officers in the French army.

Tarcaf introduced them to each other.The commander's eyes did not seem to take much interest in other people, but his eyes were fixed on Paganel, which embarrassed our geographer.

At this moment, the commander suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Paganel's hand, and asked eagerly:

"French?" "Yes, French!" Paganel replied.

"What a delight! Welcome! Welcome! I'm French too!"

He shook Paganel's arm vigorously. "A friend of yours?" the major asked Paganel.

"That's right, our friends are all over the world!" Paganel said proudly.It was with great difficulty that he pulled his hand out of the commander's vice-like grip.Glenarvan wanted to ask about Captain Grant at once, but the admiral kept talking about his own experience and couldn't get in.He told everyone that he has been away from France for many years, and his mother tongue seems a bit rusty, especially the grammar rules are almost all forgotten.So now speaking French is about the same as the blacks in the colonies.

He has not left here since the establishment of Fort Independence in 1828, and now he is authorized by the Argentine government to exercise jurisdiction over Fort Independence.

He joined the Argentine nationality a year after he arrived here, of course he served in the Argentine army, and married an Indian as his wife. Now he has a pair of 6-month-old twin sons-he expects his own sons will be in the future. Be a good soldier.

He also told everyone that Bei Bei, who was less than 7 years old outside the door, was also his son.

"See? He's a good soldier! Bei Bei is only 7 years old and can shoot a gun!" Hearing his father's praise, Bei Bei immediately put his feet together, stood at attention and raised his gun, which looked very cute. "He has a future! To be a colonel, to be a division commander!" The commander was still saying happily.This once again confirmed Goethe's words: "Everything that makes people happy is nothing but dreams." The commander rambled on for a full quarter of an hour, and no one could intervene.

This astonished Tarcaf; a man could speak so eloquently!
After speaking, he immediately invited everyone to meet his wife in the house where he lived.

After all the ceremonies were over, the commander asked, as if thinking of something, what wind brought everyone here?

This was a good opportunity to talk about something serious, so Paganel quickly talked about their experiences in French, and then asked why there are no people on the entire plain now?
"Oh yes... there's no one...and there's not one..." the Commander shrugged. "There's no one...and we have nothing to do!"

"why?"

"War!"

"War?" "War. Fight yourself..." "Fight yourself?"

"It's the Paraguayans fighting with the Buenos Aires!" "So what?"

"When the war started, the Indians all went north. Indians—robbers!"

"What about the chiefs?"

"The chief is with them." "Then, Catliol..." "There is no Quatlior." "What about Kafgula?" "There is none." "Then Yangshte Lutz..." "No more."

Takaf nodded after listening to the question and answer.This is really a war within Argentina.Together with the civil war, it caused the intervention of Brazil, which caused considerable losses to both sides of the civil war.In such a war-torn period, it was a good opportunity for the Indians to rob and plunder.So all the Indians here went to "participate" in the Civil War!This completely disrupted Glenarvan's original plan.The chief who captured Captain Grant most likely took Captain Grant to the north.How to find them?How can I find them?And where to find them?

If you go to the north to look for it, the danger is really too great, and you have to plan countermeasures in advance for various situations... Glenarvan is already in deep thought at this moment, and he forgot to ask a more important question .

Fortunately, the major did not forget, he asked:
"Then have you ever heard that a European was taken prisoner by an Indian chief on the Pampas?"

The commander thought for a while and said, "Yes."

"What?" Glenarvan uttered a cry of surprise.

When everyone heard him say such a sentence, they suddenly gathered around and looked at the commander eagerly.

"Go on, please!" "That's like years ago... yes... European captives, but I haven't seen..." "Years ago?" said Glenarvan, "no, no, But the date of the shipwreck was June 1862, and the Britannia . . . not two years ago!"

"No, not more than two years, sir!" "Impossible." Glenarvan insisted on his own ideas.

"It's been more than two years. Beibei was just born at that time...the two of them..."

"No, three people!" Glenarvan yelled again when he heard this. "It's two people," said the commander indisputably.

"Two. Two Englishmen?" Glenarvan pressed again.

"No... Who said they were British? It's obviously a Frenchman and an Italian."

"The Italian was killed, wasn't he?" cried Paganel, too. "Yes, but the Frenchman was saved."

"saved!"

exclaimed little Robert excitedly. "Yes, he escaped from the Indians." Paganel patted himself on the head vigorously, and said very dejectedly: "Understood, understood, everything is understood!"

"What do you understand?" Glenarvan asked anxiously, unable to hold back anymore. "My dear friends, what a disaster we are!" Paganel said, clasping Robert's hand excitedly. "It was not Captain Grant who was captured, but my countrymen! His The partner did let the native get killed!"

"After several twists and turns, my compatriots finally escaped from that clutch and finally returned to France!"

"We found the wrong one!" Everyone fell into silence for a while.

The error is obvious, and the known details are wildly inconsistent with the capture or even the escape and the killing of his companions.Glenarvan looked at Tarcalf in disappointment, without saying a word.Then Tarcaf asked the commander again: "Have you heard of the capture of three British people?" What happened, of course I wouldn't know..."

Glenarvan understood now that there was no need to talk any further.So everyone bid farewell to the commander, got up and shook hands.Glenarvan was very sad at that time, and little Robert's tears immediately fell.But Glenarvan didn't know how to comfort him.Paganel, too, kept talking to himself.And the Major's mouth was just tightly shut.

Tarcafe was mortified that his Indian self-confidence had been severely shattered.

Everyone went back to the hotel together.Dinner was also quite boring.All souls were seized by the flame of dashed hope.All the bravery and strength and even the risky sacrifices at the cost of life have not received any results!It was simply too cruel.

If we go on to Ka, is it possible to find any clues between Mount Tandil and the Atlantic Ocean?Impossible.Because if Captain Grant had been captured within this area, then he, as the commander of Fort Independence, would not have known about it.Are there no more clues to be found on the American continent?Is there any hope left?

Right now, there is really no other way to think about, the only thing to do first is to rush to the shore of the Atlantic Ocean to join the Duncan.

At this moment Paganel asked to read the letter in the bottle again.

"The letter also made it very clear. There is no doubt about the location of the shipwreck and the location of the capture!"

Glenarvan said. "No, not necessarily. Paganel said, beating the table with his hard fist."

"Since Captain Grant will not be in the Pampas, it proves that he is not on the American continent!"

"Where is that? I think this letter should tell us—and I'm sure it will!"

"I swear, if I can't find it, I won't be called Jacques Paganel again!"

(End of this chapter)