Episode Transcript
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Greetings This is a reading of the book The Airship Golden Hind
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Some of the language in this book has not aged well and is indeed no longer politicly correct Take caution when listening to this visual audio-book
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The Airship Golden Hind By
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Percy F Westerman
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CHAPTER 8 CAST ADRIFT
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Enrico Jaures, Spaniard on his father’s side and German on his mother’s, with a dash of almost every other Continental nation’s blood in his veins, lived or rather existed in a mean dwelling behind the King’s Bastion, on the west side of Gibraltar
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Indolent, thriftless, and easy-going on the one hand, crafty and quarrelsome on the other, he possessed all the bad points that characterise the criminal classes of the two countries where his parents first saw the light
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What he did for a living and how he earned money was a mystery even to his polyglot neighbours Yet, without being well off, he appeared to be always 'flush' with money
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Contrary to the general demeanour of the Rock Scorps, Enrico Jaures expressed no astonishment when the 'Golden Hind' appeared over the high ground beyond Algeciras
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He was expecting the airship, although he had to confess to himself that she had certainly arrived prematurely Evidently this was not according to plan
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He sat, smoked innumerable cigarettes, and thought as deeply as a half-breed Spaniard can
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Twice he got up, yawned, stretched himself and ambled back to the house to partake of a meal consisting principally of olives, garlic, and maize Then back he came to his post of vantage and sat gazing stolidly at the five hundred feet of inflated gasbag riding easily to her wire cable, while her crew, bringing the airship close to the surface, were busily engaged in pumping up petrol from a tank-lighter
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The shadows were lengthening considerably when a white-robed Moor approached the reclining Jaures--a dignified, olive-featured man, wearing a thick black beard and moustache
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'The Englishman has started,' observed the new-comer, speaking in Spanish with a decidedly guttural accent
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'That I know,' rejoined Enrico
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'But not so von Sinzig,' continued the other in a low tone, giving a furtive glance over his shoulder
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'Until he arrives at Massowah it is doubtful whether he will know that this English airship is on his heels Why is she here so soon
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' 'I know not,' replied Jaures
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'Two men landed from her They went in the direction of Buena Vista
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' The pseudo Moor shrugged his shoulders
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'Two thousand five hundred pesetas are awaiting you in the Banqua del Espiritu at Algeciras, friend Enrico,' he said in a low voice
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'Prevent that airship’s departure even for twelve hours and the money will be paid you '
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'How can I ' asked Jaures, showing more interest than he had hitherto displayed
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'I cannot place a bomb on board her, like I did on board the _Henri Artois_ at Barcelona '
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'S’sh Not so loud,' exclaimed the other warningly
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'How you earn the money is your affair '
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The supposed Moor passed on, leaving Enrico Jaures gazing thoughtfully at the British airship
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He sat and pondered until the refuelling operations were completed and the 'Golden Hind' allowed to rise a hundred feet above the sea With the setting of the sun a gentle breeze sprang up from the nor’east, causing the hitherto almost motionless airship to sway as she fretted at her cable
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He waited until darkness had settled upon the scene, then once more made his way into the house
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This time he did not eat, but fortified himself with a long drink out of an earthenware bottle
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Dr. . awing his knife, he carefully oiled the blade and replaced it in its sheath Then, having selected a marline-spike from a tool box, he slung the implement from his neck by means of a lanyard, hiding it under his coloured shirt
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These preparations completed, he walked slowly and unconcernedly to the Old Mole
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By this time the water-front was almost deserted
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A patrol marched stolidly down the street Enrico stepped into the shelter of a narrow courtyard until the khaki-clad party had disappeared
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but before he could resume he had to await the passing of a gaitered and belted naval picquet
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The coast cleared, he reached the Mole A tramp steamer and a few feluccas were moored alongside
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Farther out a tug was engaged in shepherding a couple of large lighters alongside an East-bound liner, while changing red, white, and green lights betokened the presence of swift-moving steamboats in the bay Standing out against the faint starlight he could discern the 'Golden Hind
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' Even as he looked a gleam of light shot through the windows of one of the compartments, and then another, both being almost instantly screened
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'Two thousand five hundred pesetas,' whispered Jaures to himself 'A good price for a little swim
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' Without troubling to remove any of his clothes, although he kicked off his canvas shoes, Enrico cautiously descended a flight of steps until his feet touched the water
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Listening to assure himself that no one was about, he glided in as noiselessly as an eel, and swam with slow, steady strokes under the counter of the tramp and close to her wall sides until he gained her bows
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Taking his bearings of the airship’s mooring-buoy, he resumed his easy progress cautiously lest feathers of phosphorescent spray should betray his presence
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A quarter of an hour’s swim brought him up to the mooring-buoy With considerable difficulty, for the large barrel-shaped buoy was coated with barnacles and slippery with seaweed, Enrico contrived to draw himself clear of the water
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Again he waited, listening to the sounds emanating from the airship a hundred or a hundred and fifty feet overhead
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The wire hawser, acting as a conductor, enabled him to hear with great distinctness, and possessing a good knowledge of English he was able to pick up scraps of conversation between the crew That helped him but little, for they were talking of matters as remote from the topic of the great race as the Poles
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Enrico Jaures next devoted his attention to the shackle that secured the thimble spliced in the end of the cable to the big ring bolt of the buoy
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He grunted with satisfaction when he discovered that the shackle was threaded and not secured by a forelock, but at the same time he found by the sense of touch that whoever had been responsible for the job had done his work well by securing the pin by means of a piece of flexible wire
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This latter Jaures managed to cast loose, then, with the aid of his marline-spike, he began to unfasten the shackle-pin, pausing occasionally as the strain on the wire rope increased
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At last the deed was accomplished
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The shackle-pin clattered upon the rounded surface of the buoy and rebounded into the water but almost simultaneously Enrico Jaures found himself being whisked aloft
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A snap-hook at the end of a wire had caught in his belt, and there he was, suspended ignominiously like a horse being slung on board a ship, already a hundred feet or more above the surface of the sea
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His first impulse was to cut loose his belt and drop, but a downward glance at the dark unfathomable void made him abruptly change his mind
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His sole thought was now that of self-preservation Fearful lest his leather belt should break and send him hurtling through space he clung desperately to the wire
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Fax below him the lights of Gibraltar seemed to be gliding past as the freed airship drifted towards the strait separating Europe from the African shore
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It was bitterly cold aloft
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The keenness of the rarefied air was intensified by the fact that his clothes were saturated with salt water A numbing pain crept down both arms
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His muscles seemed to be cracking under the strain, while his fingers closed round the wire until the nails sunk deep into his palms
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He shouted for help--his voice sounding more like the yelp of a jackal than that of a human being But no response came from the airship a hundred feet above him
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'Dios
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' he exclaimed in agony 'This is indeed the end
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'
