CHAPTER XXVII
A FEW LESSONS IN NAVIGATION
Captain Ringgold was a powerful man, fully six feet high, and weighing one hundred and eighty pounds, while his assailant, though nearly as tall, was slender in form, and not a strong man. Doubtless he was brave, for he held high rank in the army of Morocco, though he was usually absent on furlough. It was very rash and injudicious for him to attack the commander. He had "caught a Tartar," and he had found it out.
The magistrate did not seem to be impressed by the title or the elegant costume of the Pacha, perhaps because the latter was dabbled with mud, and his handsome face was liberally spattered with the same unsightly element. The commander was lofty in his manner on such an occasion, and full of dignity; and he did make a decided impression on the court and the spectators. He said but little. He had been attacked without any provocation whatever, and he had defended himself.
The Pacha had been educated at the military school of St. Cyr, and he imbibed his duelling propensity in Paris. He pleaded that he had been insulted the night before by the captain of the Guardian-Mother, who had refused to give him satisfaction, and he had treated him as any gentleman should a poltroon.
"But it does not appear that he was a poltroon when you attacked him, for he overturned you and your four servants all in a heap," interposed the Court with a smile.
The Pacha winced at this remark. The magistrate desired to know in what manner the commander had insulted him, and the whole truth came out. Captain Ringgold calmly stated his objections to the character of the Moor, and there was an attempt at applause, in which some British officers took part; but it was promptly checked. He stated on oath that the reputation of the Pacha was so bad in Funchal—
"And in Gib," some persons interpolated.
"—that I could not permit the ladies in my charge to associate with him," added the witness, who repeated all his remarks that had been offensive to the Pacha.
The Moorish consul promptly paid the fine of his fellow-subject, and they left the court-room together.
"The fellow is a dirty blackguard!" said a military officer to the captain. "He has insulted ladies here; and I am very grateful to you, for one, for chastising him as he deserved."
"I thank you, sir," replied the commander. "I did no more than my duty to those under my charge."
He took the arm of Uncle Moses, and they walked down the street. They had gone but a few steps before they discovered that they were followed by half a dozen officers; but they reached the barge without any further molestation, where they found the ladies already seated in the stern-sheets.
"We have kept you in sight, Captain Ringgold; and if the dirty brute had given you any further trouble, we were ready to throw him overboard," said one of the officers.
"I thank you, gentlemen; I feel able to defend myself; but I appreciate your kindness and sympathy as much as though you had manifested it in the way you have suggested," answered the captain, as he took the hand of the speaker.
While they were waiting for Dr. Hawkes and Professor Giroud, the party were presented to the four ladies in the barge, each giving his name and rank. They were all struck with the beauty of Miss Blanche; and as they retired from the boat, the captain told them that for her sake he had run away from the Fatimé three times. They declared that Gib would soon become too hot for His Highness.
The missing members arrived, and the boat shoved off, the military gentlemen raising their caps, and bowing very politely, while they cried "Bon Voyage!"
It was noon when they reached the deck of the ship, for the affair with the Pacha had delayed them a full hour. The steam was up and the steamer immediately tripped her anchor, for it had been "hove short" before, and she began her voyage. In a few minutes she had rounded Europa Point, and the course east by south had been given to the quartermaster at the wheel. The Viking had sailed for Malaga the day before.
"Where do you suppose the Maud is just now, Captain Ringgold?" asked Mrs. Belgrave, the party being seated on the officers' promenade.
"She is just fifteen miles north-west of Alboran Light," replied the commander with a smile.
"I am just as wise now as I was before, and no more so!" added the lady. "I have not the least idea where Alboran is."
"I did not suppose you had. It is a little island half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, belonging to Spain, inhabited only by a few fishermen, for there is not room for a great many of them. It is about half-way between Europe and Africa, and one hundred and thirty nautical miles from Europa Point, according to Captain Scott's figures."
"Why do you saynauticalmiles, Captain?" asked Mrs. Belgrave, who had given no attention whatever to navigation.
"Because I mean nautical miles," laughed the commander, who was always delighted when he could get into a close conversation with this lady.
"Isn't it just the same as a mile in Von Blonk Park?"
"Not at all; the sailors call their miles knots."
"I have heard you talk about sixteen knots an hour"—
"I can't talk as fast as that, for sixteen knots an hour is about the best speed of the Guardian-Mother," interposed the captain.
"You know what I mean!" pouted the lady. "But I supposed it meant sixteen miles an hour, just as it is sixteen knots from the Park to New York."
"Which it is not; it is only sixteen statute miles, or miles established by statute, or law."
"Then will you please to tell me what a knot is?"
"It is a geographical mile. Of course you are aware that a great circle, like the equator, a meridian, or any other that goes around the biggest part of the earth, contains three hundred and sixty degrees."
"I learned all about it when I went to the academy, but I don't remember a great deal of it."
"I have repeated all that it is necessary for you to know now," added the commander, as he took an orange from his pocket, and proceeded to show the difference between a great circle and any other. "You learned that all circles, whether great or small, even if no bigger than a nickel, contain three hundred and sixty degrees; and that every degree is divided into sixty parts called miles—geographical miles. These miles are the navigator's knots."
"Except the knots, the rest all comes back to me," said the lady. "But I don't understand the difference between a knot and a statute mile, as you call it."
"I can't say that I know much of anything about it," added Dr. Hawkes.
"A degree contains sixty-nine and a quarter miles, though the fraction varies with different authorities. Now, if you will divide 69.25 statute miles by 60," continued the captain, performing the operation on the back of an envelope, "the result will be 1.154 statute miles to a knot. The sixteen knots of this ship would therefore be nearly eighteen statute miles an hour."
"I think I understand it now, Captain Ringgold," said Mrs. Belgrave; and the others said the same.
"If we go as fast as that, we shall soon overtake the Maud," suggested Mrs. Woolridge.
"Not to-day, madam," replied the commander.
"When shall we catch up with her?"
"I told Captain Scott not to try to make more than ten knots an hour, which is very good sailing for a steamer of her size. She left at midnight, and is therefore twelve hours, or one hundred and twenty miles ahead of us."
"Knots or statute miles?" asked Mrs. Belgrave.
"Knots always at sea. We rarely make any use of statute miles. I have directed Mr. Shafter to make his best speed, so that we sail six knots faster than the Maud. Gaining six knots an hour, it will take us twenty hours to overhaul the Maud," said the captain. "I shall expect to see her about eight o'clock to-morrow morning, when we shall be off Magrowa Point."
Captain Ringgold invited all the party to his cabin, where the chart of the Mediterranean Sea was spread out on the table. He pointed out Alboran Light to them, with a ring thirty miles in diameter drawn around it. On the northern edge of this circle was a cross, which was connected with Europa Point by a red line.
"What is the ring for?" asked Dr. Hawkes.
"It indicates the distance from all points at which the light can be seen," replied the commander.
"I suppose that red line shows the course we are sailing," added Uncle Moses. "But why is your course alone marked on the chart?"
"I marked that myself with a red pencil; it was not printed on the paper, as you seem to suppose. Captain Scott made just such a line on his chart," the captain explained.
"But it is not straight," the surgeon objected. "If you should keep on this course you would hit the African coast at Columbi Island," as he read the name from the chart.
"It was not intended to be straight," answered the commander. "I am following the course laid down by Captain Scott for the Maud, so that I shall be able to find him to-morrow morning. I should have gone farther to the north of Alboran, and I should not have seen it in consequence; but I thought he might need the light to assure him where he was."
"Here is another little red cross just north of Algiers, with a red line drawn from it to the one north of Alboran," said Dr. Hawkes, scrutinizing the chart very closely. "That, I conclude, is the course between the two crosses."
"Quite right, Doctor; you would easily become a navigator."
"I shall not make the struggle. But why is the point north of Algiers chosen rather than some other one?"
"I took Captain Scott's mark, which he selected, ten miles north of Algiers, because the course to it would carry him clear of the coast of Africa, and of all dangers of every kind from rocks or shoals. When we get to Captain Scott's point off Algiers, we shall make the course a quarter of a point more to the north, so as to pass Ras al Koran, where the navigation becomes more difficult on account of rocks and shoals."
"But how in the world do you know which way to steer in order to reach Captain Scott's red cross at the end of the red line?" inquired Mrs. Belgrave, who had been studying the chart with all her might, though it was about the same as trying to read the notice posted on a Chinaman's laundry.
"And what are all these rings on the chart for?" asked Mrs. Blossom, as she put her finger on one of the diagrams of the compass.
"You both ask about the same question," replied the commander, as he picked up his parallel rule, and began to work the same problem before described. "This is called a parallel rule," he added, working it back and forth. "The brass connecting pieces keep the two parts of the implement exactly parallel."
"What is the use of keeping the pieces parallel?"
"That is what I am going to show you."
He placed the rule so that one edge was on both of the red crosses. He then worked the rule to the nearest diagram, and took off the course east a quarter south. But the ladies would not be satisfied till they had done it for themselves, and the captain made other crosses till they could do it very well.