Крижаний сфінкс
Chapter XVIII. A Revelation
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“Well,well,wehavenotyetcometothat,Ihope,andIcountonyou,Hurliguerly,topreventanyagainstDirkPeters.Reasonwithyourmen.MakethemunderstandthatwehavetimetoreturntotheFalklandsbeforetheendofthefineseason.Theirreproachesmustnotbeallowedtoprovidethecaptainwithanexcuseforturningbackbeforetheobjectisattained.”
“Countonme,Mr.Jeorling,towellserveyoutothebestofmyability.”
“Youwillnotrepentofdoingso,Hurliguerly.Nothingiseasierthantoaddaround0tothefourhundreddollarswhicheachmanistohave,ifthatmanbesomethingmorethanasailor—evenwerehisfunctionssimplythoseofboatswainonboardtheHalbrane.”
Nothingimportantoccurredonthe13thand14th,butafreshfallinthetemperaturetookplace.CaptainLenGuycalledmyattentiontothis,pointingouttheflocksofbirdscontinuouslyflyingnorth.
WhilehewasspeakingtomeIfeltthathislasthopeswerefading.Andwhocouldwonder?Ofthelandindicatedbythehalf-breednothingwasseen,andwewerealreadymorethanonehundredandeightymilesfromTsalalIsland.Ateverypointofthecompasswasthesea,nothingbutthevastseawithitsdeserthorizonwhichthesun’sdiskhadbeennearingsincethe21standwouldtouchonthe21stMarch,priortodisappearingduringthesixmonthsoftheaustralnight.
