Alexander Belyaev island of lost ships. Alexander Belyaev - the island of lost ships
The large transatlantic liner Benjamin Franklin sailed from Genoa to New York City. Detective Jim Simpkins is on board the liner, accompanying Reginald Gatlin, who is suspected of murder, to America. The ship is wrecked in the ocean. Sipkins and Gatling remain on the ship before they can evacuate, along with the billionaire's daughter, Miss Viviana Kingman. The current of the destroyed liner nails an unfamiliar island, which is located in the Sargasso Sea. This island was formed from the remaining parts of the ships, which were nailed by waves for many years.
The inhabitants of the island make up a dozen people who were also brought here by waves after a shipwreck. The main one on this island is Fergus Slayton. The personality of this hero is not as simple as it seems initially. Slayton immediately welcomes newcomers to the island, but soon insists on marrying Viviana. The heroine, in turn, resists such pressure. Seeing all this, the persistent fiancé announces a kind of "groom selection" competition for Viviana. Fearing that the bride will choose one of those with whom she ended up on the island, Fergus orders them to be kept under lock and key. The beginning of the ceremony, all the men living on the island appear before the heroine, but she did not choose anyone. After that, Fergus announced that the girl would be his wife. Only the one who defeats the "groom" in a duel could refute this. Meanwhile, the detective and Gatling are helped out from prison by a resident of the island named Turnip. Gatling was then able to defeat Fergus in a duel.
To avoid revenge, our heroes and several other inhabitants of the island decide to repair the eyeliner and escape. On the night of the escape, they are chased. Despite all the difficulties, the heroes manage to sail away, and then they are picked up by a steamer.
Upon arrival in the United States, Reginald and Viviana become spouses and are going to explore the Sargasso Sea and stop by the Island of the Lost Ships along the way.
This story is about people and their inner secrets. He teaches not to judge a person by the first impression, to fight for his life and love.
Picture or drawing Island of lost ships
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Very briefly Shipwrecked people accidentally find themselves on a populated island made up of wrecked ships, where extraordinary adventures await them.
The large transatlantic liner Benjamin Franklin leaves Genoa for New York. Detective Jim Simpkins is on board, escorting Reginald Gatling, suspected of murder, to America. The ship is wrecked on the open ocean. Simpkins and Gatling do not have time to evacuate and remain on it along with the billionaire's daughter, Miss Viviana Kingman, who they saved. The ocean current nails the damaged liner to an unknown island in the Sargasso Sea, formed from the remains of ships of all kinds brought here over the centuries.
The island is inhabited by several dozen people who came here after shipwrecks. The island is run by Fergus Slayton - a very dark person. At first, Slayton politely accepts the newcomers, but soon insistently invites Viviana to become his wife, which causes her resistance. To avoid scandal, Fergus announces that an equal "groom choice" will be arranged for Viviana. Fearing that Viviana will choose Gatling, Slayton orders his subordinates to put Simpkins and Gatling under lock and key. The ceremony begins. All the men of the island pass in front of Viviana, she rejects them. Slayton announces that Viviana will be his wife, and let those who disagree try to measure their strength with him. Meanwhile, Gatling sympathetic islander Turnip helps him and Simpkins get out of the cell. Gatling runs to the ceremony site and defeats Slayton in a duel.
To avoid Slayton's vengeance, Gatling, with a few inhabitants, decides to repair the German submarine and escape the island. On the night when everything is ready, they are noticed by Slayton's subordinates, and the conspirators decide to flee immediately. They are being chased. Gatling is wounded, but Slayton is also hit by a bullet. Everyone manages to get into the submarine and sail away. Soon they are picked up by a steamer.
On the steamboat, Simpkins learns from a newspaper that the crime that Gatling was accused of has been solved and the real culprit has been punished. After arriving in the United States, Reginald and Viviana become husband and wife. They are interested in the Sargasso Sea, and they intend to explore it and visit the Island of the Lost Ships along the way. Simpkins joins them to find documents on the island "explaining the mystery of Slayton's fate". After a difficult voyage on the ship "Calling", travelers sail to the island.
When Gatling fled with the company, Slayton was wounded, and his rival Flores became governor. The dying Slayton is forgotten. Flores orders bridges to be laid to a small "New Island" from the remains of ships in order to solve the problem with housing and food. The islanders meet Slayton, who survived, as well as a feral stranger on the "New Island". Slayton is placed under arrest. At night, Flores wants to kill him, but Slayton manages to free himself from the cell, drive Flores there and seize power again.
At this time, the "Caller" approaches the island. The assistant to the governor of Bokko Island is on the ship and tells travelers about the current situation. They threaten to bombard the island with guns if they are not allowed to land. Bokko promises to help and successfully persuades the islanders to overthrow Slayton. Slayton runs away. Flores is released.
Simpkins finds documents, according to which he finds out that the feral inhabitant of the New Island is Slayton's younger brother, the talented pianist Edward Gortvan (Slayton's name was actually Abraham Gortvan). In order to take possession of Edward's huge fortune, Abraham placed him in a psychiatric clinic, bribing some of the officials of Montreal, where he then lived. Fearing that with the arrival of new people in the administration of the city, his scam would be revealed, Abraham decided to take Edward to the Canary Islands. On the way, they were overtaken by a strong storm, the ship sank, and they got to New Island on a boat. The night after his arrival, Abraham moved to the Big Island, leaving Edward to fend for himself. Edward has become very wild, but in the company of people, glimpses of reason gradually begin to appear in him.
While the expedition is exploring the island and its underwater world, Simpkins finds out that Slayton is hiding on a sailboat with Hao-Zhen, a Chinese addicted to smoking opium. During the siege of a sailboat, a Chinese blows up one of the ships. The oil from his tanks catches fire, and a fire begins to spread across the Island. The inhabitants of the island and members of the expedition sail away on the "Caller".
I. ON DECK
The large transatlantic steamer "Benjamin Franklin" stood in the harbor of Genoa, ready to sail. There was the usual bustle on the shore, the cries of a multilingual, motley crowd were heard, and on the ship there was already a moment of that tense, nervous silence that involuntarily seizes people before a long journey. Only on the deck of the third class, passengers fussily "shared the crampedness", seating themselves and packing their belongings. The first-class audience, from the height of their deck, silently watched this human anthill.
Shaking the air, the steamer roared for the last time. The sailors hastily began to raise the ladder.
At that moment, two people quickly climbed the ladder. The one following behind made a sign to the sailors with his hand, and they lowered the ladder.
Late passengers entered the deck. A well-dressed, slender and broad-shouldered young man, with his hands in the pockets of his wide coat, quickly walked towards the cabins. His clean-shaven face was perfectly calm. However, an observant person might have noticed by the stranger's knitted eyebrows and a slight ironic smile that this calmness is feigned. Behind him, not lagging behind a single step, was a plump middle-aged man. His bowler hat was shifted to the back of his head. His sweaty, rumpled face expressed at the same time fatigue, pleasure and intense attention, like a cat that drags a mouse in its teeth. He never took his eyes off his companion for a second.
On the deck of the ship, not far from the ladder, stood a young girl in a white dress. For a moment, her eyes met those of a late passenger in front of her.
As this strange couple passed, the girl in the white dress, Miss Kingman, heard the sailor who was clearing the ladder say to his comrade, nodding in the direction of the retired passengers:
- Did you see it? An old acquaintance of Jim Simpkins, a New York detective, caught some thug.
- Simpkins? replied another sailor. “This one doesn’t hunt small game.
Yes, look how you are dressed. Some specialist in bank vaults, if not worse.
Miss Kingman became terrified. On the same boat with her, a criminal, perhaps a murderer, will travel all the way to New York. Until now, she had seen only in the newspapers the portraits of these mysterious and terrible people.
Miss Kingman hurried up to the upper deck. Here, among the people of her circle, in this place, inaccessible to ordinary mortals, she felt relatively safe. Leaning back in a comfortable wicker chair, Miss Kingman fell into inactive contemplation - the best gift of sea travel for nerves tired of the bustle of the city. The awning covered her head from the hot rays of the sun. The leaves of the palm trees, which stood in wide tubs between the chairs, swayed softly above her. From somewhere to the side came the aromatic smell of expensive tobacco.
- Criminal. Who would have thought? whispered Miss Kingman, still remembering the meeting at the gangplank. And, to finally get rid of the unpleasant impression, she took out a small elegant cigarette case made of ivory, Japanese work, with flowers carved on the lid, and lit an Egyptian cigarette. A blue plume of smoke drifted up to the palm fronds.
The steamer departed, carefully getting out of the harbor. It seemed as if the ship was standing still, and the surrounding scenery was moving with the help of a rotating stage. Here all Genoa turned to the side of the steamer, as if wishing to appear to be departing for the last time. White houses ran down from the mountains and crowded along the coastal strip, like a herd of sheep at a watering hole. And above them rose yellow-brown peaks, flecked with green orchards and pines. But then someone turned the scenery. The corner of the bay opened up - a blue mirror surface with crystal clear water. The white yachts seemed to be immersed in a piece of blue sky that had fallen to the ground - all the lines of the ship were so clearly visible through the transparent water. Endless schools of fish darted between the yellowish stones and short algae on the white sandy bottom. Gradually, the water became more and more blue, until it hid the bottom ...
“How did you like your cabin, miss?”
Miss Kingman looked back. In front of her stood the captain, who included in the scope of his duties to provide kind attention to the most "dear" passengers.
- Thank you, mister...
“Mr Brown, great. Are we going to Marseille?
New York is the first stop. However, we may be delayed for a few hours in Gibraltar. Would you like to visit Marseille?
“Oh, no,” said Miss Kingman hastily and even with fear. “I'm sick of Europe to death. - And after a pause, she asked: - Tell me, captain, do we have a criminal on the ship?
- What criminal?
Some arrested person...
“Maybe even a few of them. The usual thing. After all, this public has a habit of fleeing from European justice to America, and from American justice to Europe. But the detectives track them down and deliver these lost sheep to their homeland. There is nothing dangerous in their presence on the ship - you can be completely calm. They are brought in without shackles, only to ignore the public. But in the cabin they are immediately hand-shackled and chained to the bunks.
“But it's terrible,” said Miss Kingman.
The captain shrugged.
Neither the captain, nor even Miss Kingman herself, understood the vague feeling that this exclamation aroused. It is terrible that people, like wild animals, are chained. So thought the captain, though he thought it a sensible precaution.
It is terrible that this young man, so little like a criminal and no different from the people of her circle, will sit chained all the way in a stuffy cabin. That was the vague subconscious thought that excited Miss Kingman.
A. R. Belyaev told many stories: both sad and funny. For decades, his science fiction novels have been loved by readers. One of them is the "Island of Lost Ships". Summary of the book in this article.
Briefly about the novel
For the first time, the work was published as a "fantastic film story", in the preface the author indicated that this was a literary adaptation of an American film. The author called the chapters “pictures”, and the construction of the story was appropriate: the plot broke off at the sharpest points, events developed rapidly, and episodes changed quickly. Later, A. R. Belyaev introduced a lot of educational material into the story "The Island of Lost Ships", the summary of the film grew into a full-fledged adventure novel, which was published in 1927.
The book is read in one breath: the storylines are organically inscribed, the portraits of the characters are well written, there is some kind of intrigue throughout the novel. The author approached the creation of the work with a fair amount of fiction. By the will of the sea current, for hundreds of years, the victims accumulated in a certain place and formed an artificial island in the sargasso thickets. This is where the heroes of the novel end up - on the island of lost ships inhabited only by the victims of disasters. The summary of the work does not convey even a small fraction of the author's imagination, but, perhaps, will serve as an incentive to read the original.
The main characters of the work
Passengers on the Benjamin Franklin
- Viviana Kingman - daughter of a billionaire;
- Simpkins is a detective;
- Reginald Gatling is a supposed criminal.
Island residents:
- Fergus Slayton - governor;
- Flores - took over as governor after his disappearance;
- Turnip is a former owner of paper mills.
Before proceeding to describe the summary of Belyaev's Island of Lost Ships, it is necessary to clarify that the four parts of the novel are divided into twenty-six chapters. The story is told on behalf of the author.
From Genoa to New York
On one of the warm days, a transatlantic liner departs from Genoa to New York. On board is Detective Jim Simpkins, escorting the suspect in the murder of Reginald Gatling. The billionaire's daughter, Vavian Kingman, went up on the upper deck and, contemplating how the ship got out of the harbor, thought about how terrible it was that a criminal, perhaps a murderer, was traveling with them.
The giant liner tirelessly cuts the surface of the water, the passengers rest in the cabins. A terrible jolt made Simpkins jump to his feet and run out on deck. He sees how the passengers leave the ship in a panic and take their places in the boats. Hearing that the ship is sinking, the detective returns to the cabin for his ward. They do not have time to evacuate and remain on the ship with Miss Kingman, who they rescued.
Sargasso Sea
Due to a broken propeller, the ship is immobilized, but does not sink. Monotonous days passed in the hope that the victims would be picked up by a passing ship. Miss Kingman keeps order, washing clothes and busying herself in the kitchen. In the evenings they gather in the salon. Reginald and Vaviana found a common language and spend time talking. In one of their conversations, Simpkins interrupts them and talks about the crime committed by Gatling. The girl reacted to this surprisingly calmly.
Sargassum algae cover the surface of the water with a continuous carpet and do not allow the ship to budge. Gatling explains that it is rare for a ship to make it out of here. They have a large supply of food and may last for several years.
Cemetery of lost ships
It seemed that the ship was motionless, but a barely noticeable current inexorably draws the ship to the middle of the Sargasso Sea. Along the way, more and more shipwrecks began to come across. On one of them, a skeleton was tied to the mast. Gatling finds a sealed bottle containing the captain's farewell letter. In the summary of the "Islands of Lost Ships" it is not possible to state the text of the letter in full. Therefore, very briefly: the captain reported that the entire crew was killed, and asked to transfer part of the gold from the captain's cabin to his wife.
Soon Simpkins saw the island. It turned out to be a huge cemetery of ships, knocked together. Many of them had white skeletons. The companions were silent. What they see frightens them, especially Miss Kingman. Reginald and Jim decided to explore the island, hoping to find something suitable for sailing. Walking among half-rotten ships and skeletons terrifies them. Gatling saves Simpkins from death and sees smoke coming from the chimney on their ship. It was a sign. So something happened to Miss Kingman, who stayed there.
inhabited island
Viviana was preparing breakfast when people suddenly appeared - Flores and Turnip. They ask her to come to Fergus Slayton - the governor of the island. Simpkins approached with Gatling, they understand that it is useless to resist, since there are still people on the island. Together they go to Slayton. They learn that the island's population consists of several dozen men and two women.
Rude and unceremonious Fergus Sleipton immediately decided to marry Miss Kingman. The girl, of course, refused. And Slayton, having put Jim and Reginald in a punishment cell, arranges the election of a groom. Viviana refuses everyone, including Slayton. He says that it should belong only to him, and whoever does not agree can measure his strength with him.
A fight began. Gatling, using it, gets out from under arrest and takes part in the elections. Miss Kingman agrees to become his wife. He takes the girl away and warns that she has nothing to be afraid of - she is free. The summary of the “Island of Lost Ships” cannot convey the horror that Viviana experienced during the terrible ceremony of these vagabonds, so she was grateful to Gatling for her salvation.
Escape succeeded
The new arrivals were about to flee. They are joined by those who do not like the order on the island - Turnip with his wife and three sailors. They report that there is a sailable submarine on the island. It just needs a little fixing. Together they repair the boat for several nights in a row. But one morning, when they were returning, one of the governor's associates saw them.
They made the decision to flee immediately. The fugitives are pursued. Reginald takes a bullet in the shoulder, but Slayton, who was chasing him, was also wounded. The fugitives take refuge in the boat, batten down the hatch and hide under water. They are saved. Miss Kingman tends to an injured Gatling, and he tells Viviana the story that resulted in him being declared a criminal.
Reginald was in love with a wonderful girl Della. But Della Jackson's father, in order to improve his financial situation, decided to marry her to the son of the banker Lorrobi. She did not argue with her father, but she wanted to meet Gatling before the wedding. He, deciding that it was better for them not to see each other, left the city. The meeting did not take place. In one of the newspapers, Reginald read that Della was killed where they agreed to meet. Gatling was declared a criminal.
Expedition to the island
The next chapter of the novel "The Island of Lost Ships", a summary of which is given in this article, begins with the difficulties that the fugitives encountered on the submarine. The supplies of electricity and air are running out. It is necessary to raise the boat to the surface, but too thick algae interfere. Someone will have to get out through the torpedo hatch and clear the way with a knife. Gatling is still too weak, and Simpkins decides on this. Soon the boat surfaced. The fugitives saw a ship, which, having received a distress signal, was heading towards them.
The life of the fugitives was out of danger. Another mystery was revealed on the ship. From the newspaper, Simpkins learned that Lorrobi killed Della because the girl refused to marry him. The son of a banker, having received a letter from her, in which she said that she would not marry him, decided to kill Della, and blame her opponent. The history of the crime was detailed in Lorrobi's diary.
The chapter continues the summary of the Island of Lost Ships, where Viviana and Reginald become husband and wife. After some time, they organized an expedition to explore the Sargasso Sea, and decided to visit the island along the way. Simpkins sets out to find out Slayton's secret and joins them in order to find documents on the island. Having equipped the ship "Caller" with a special screw that cuts the algae, they set off. A researcher, Professor Thompson, is traveling with them.
Slayton Mystery
Meanwhile, the island is bustling with life. As Gatling fled, Slayton was severely wounded and fell into the water. Flores declared himself the new governor. He generously endowed those who disagreed and made his assistants. Flores invites the islanders to explore the neighboring island, the same graveyard of ships. Having built bridges, they move to a new island and meet an overgrown savage there.
It soon turns out that Slayton, who was considered dead, was alive. He is trying to regain power. But Florence takes him into custody. Slayton manages to free himself during the night and seize power again. The "Caller" approaches the island. Bokko, assistant to the governor, comes to the ship and talks about the situation on the island. The arrivals on the Caller threaten to bombard the island if they are not allowed to land. Bokko conveyed the essence of the negotiations to his comrades, and the islanders decided to oppose Slayton. He is running.
Simpkins found the documents and found out that the inhabitant of the neighboring island was the pianist Edward Gortwan, Slayton's brother. In order to take possession of his fortune, Slayton, aka Abraham Gortvan, places his brother in a psychiatric clinic. To do this, they had to bribe the officials of Montreal, where they then lived. When the administration of the city has changed, Slayton is afraid that his scam will be revealed, and takes Edward to the Canary Islands. The ship was caught in a severe storm along the way. Slayton leaves his brother and makes his way to a nearby island. During this time, Edward went wild, but in the company of people, his mind gradually returns to him.
Edward did not speak for a long time, but one day he heard Viviana playing the piano. The music had an effect on him. Once a famous musician, he soon began to perform. He allowed himself to cut his nails and hair, gradually began to speak.
All that remained was to capture Slayton to bring him to justice. He hides on a sailboat along with an assistant who throws a bomb at one of the ships. The island is on fire. In the hope of salvation, everyone flees aboard the "Caller". Slayton was unable to escape.
Alexander Romanovich Belyaev
Isle of Lost Ships
Part one
I. On deck
The large transatlantic steamer "Benjamin Franklin" stood in the harbor of Genoa, ready to sail. There was the usual bustle on the shore, the cries of a multilingual, motley crowd were heard, and on the ship there was already a moment of that tense, nervous silence that involuntarily seizes people before a long journey. Only on the deck of the third class, passengers fussily "shared the crampedness", seating themselves and packing their belongings. The first-class audience, from the height of their deck, silently watched this human anthill.
Shaking the air, the steamer roared for the last time. The sailors hastily began to raise the ladder.
At that moment, two people quickly climbed the ladder. The one following behind made a sign to the sailors with his hand, and they lowered the ladder.
Late passengers entered the deck. A well-dressed, slender and broad-shouldered young man, with his hands in the pockets of his wide coat, quickly walked towards the cabins. His clean-shaven face was perfectly calm. However, an observant person might have noticed by the stranger's knitted eyebrows and a slight ironic smile that this calmness is made. Behind him, not lagging behind a single step, was a plump middle-aged man. His bowler hat was shifted to the back of his head. His sweaty, rumpled face expressed at the same time fatigue, pleasure and intense attention, like a cat that drags a mouse in its teeth. He never took his eyes off his companion for a second.
On the deck of the ship, not far from the ladder, stood a young girl in a white dress. For a moment, her eyes met those of a late passenger in front of her.
As this strange couple passed, the girl in the white dress, Miss Kingman, heard the sailor who was clearing the ladder say to his comrade, nodding in the direction of the retired passengers:
- Did you see it? An old acquaintance of Jim Simpkins, a New York detective, caught some thug.
- Simpkins? replied another sailor. “This one doesn’t hunt small game.
Yes, look how you are dressed. Some specialist in bank vaults, if not worse.
Miss Kingman became terrified. A criminal, perhaps a murderer, will travel with her all the way to New York on the same boat. Until now, she had seen only in the newspapers the portraits of these mysterious and terrible people.
Miss Kingman hurried up to the upper deck. Here, among the people of her circle, in this place, inaccessible to ordinary mortals, she felt relatively safe. Leaning back in a comfortable wicker chair, Miss Kingman fell into inactive contemplation - the best gift of sea travel for nerves tired of the bustle of the city. The awning covered her head from the hot rays of the sun. The leaves of the palm trees, which stood in wide tubs between the chairs, swayed softly above her. From somewhere to the side came the aromatic smell of expensive tobacco.
- Criminal. Who would have thought? whispered Miss Kingman, still remembering the meeting at the gangplank. And, to finally get rid of the unpleasant impression, she took out a small elegant cigarette case made of ivory, Japanese work, with flowers carved on the lid, and lit an Egyptian cigarette. A blue plume of smoke drifted up to the palm fronds.
The steamer departed, carefully getting out of the harbor. It seemed as if the ship was standing still, and the surrounding scenery was moving with the help of a rotating stage. Here all Genoa turned to the side of the steamer, as if wishing to appear to be departing for the last time. White houses ran down from the mountains and crowded along the coastal strip, like a herd of sheep at a watering hole. And above them rose yellow-brown peaks, flecked with green orchards and pines. But then someone turned the scenery. The corner of the bay opened up - a blue mirror surface with crystal clear water. The white yachts seemed to be immersed in a piece of blue sky that had fallen to the ground - all the lines of the ship were so clearly visible through the transparent water. Endless schools of fish darted between the yellowish stones and short algae on the white sandy bottom. Gradually, the water became more and more blue, until it hid the bottom ...
“How did you like your cabin, miss?”
Miss Kingman looked back. In front of her stood the captain, who included in the scope of his duties to provide kind attention to the most "dear" passengers.
Thank you, mister...
“Mr Brown, great. Are we going to Marseille?
New York is the first stop. However, we may be delayed for a few hours in Gibraltar. Would you like to visit Marseille?
“Oh no,” said Miss Kingman hastily and even with fear. “I'm sick of Europe to death. - And after a pause, she asked: - Tell me, captain, do we have a criminal on the ship?
- What criminal?
Some arrested...
“Maybe even a few of them. The usual thing. After all, this public has a habit of fleeing from European justice to America, and from American justice to Europe. But the detectives track them down and deliver these lost sheep to their homeland. There is nothing dangerous in their presence on the ship - you can be completely calm. They are brought in without shackles, only to ignore the public. But in the cabin they are immediately hand-shackled and chained to the bunks.
"But it's terrible!" Miss Kingman said.
The captain shrugged.
Neither the captain, nor even Miss Kingman herself, understood the vague feeling that this exclamation aroused. It is terrible that people, like wild animals, are chained. So thought the captain, though he thought it a sensible precaution.
It is terrible that this young man, so little like a criminal and no different from the people of her circle, will sit chained all the way in a stuffy cabin. That was the vague subconscious thought that excited Miss Kingman.
And, taking a deep drag on her cigarette, she lapsed into silence.
The captain quietly moved away from Miss Kingman. A fresh sea breeze played with the end of a white silk scarf and her chestnut curls.
Even here, a few miles from the harbour, the scent of magnolias bloomed like a last greeting from the Genoese shore. The giant steamer tirelessly cut through the blue surface, leaving behind a distant wavy trail. And the waves-stitches hurried to mend the scar formed on the silky sea surface.
II. stormy night
- Check to the king. Checkmate.
“Oh, to be swallowed by a shark!” You play masterfully, Mr. Gatling, - said the famous New York detective Jim Simpkins and scratched his right ear in annoyance. “Yes, you play very well,” he continued. “But I still play better than you. You beat me at chess, but what a magnificent checkmate I gave you, Gatling, there, in Genoa, when you, like a chess king, sat in the farthest cell of a ruined house! Did you want to hide from me? In vain! Jim Simpkins will find at the bottom of the sea. Here's a checkmate for you, - and, smugly leaning back, he lit a cigar.
Reginald Gatling shrugged.
– You had too many pawns. You got the entire Genoese police back on their feet and carried on a proper siege. No chess player will win a game with one king piece against all the opponent's pieces. And besides, Mr. Jim Simpkins, our game is not yet… finished.
- Do you think? Has this chain convinced you yet? - and the detective touched the light but strong chain with which Gatling was chained by the left hand to the metal rod of the bunk.
- You are naive, like many brilliant people. Are chains logical proof? However, we will not go into philosophy.
And let's restart the game. I want a rematch,” Simpkins finished.
“We are unlikely to succeed. The pitching intensifies and may mix up the pieces before we're done with the game.
- How would you like to understand this, also in a figurative sense? Simpkins asked as he arranged the pieces.
- As you wish.
- Yes, it shakes thoroughly, - and he made a move.
The cabin was stuffy and hot. It was placed below the waterline, not far from the engine room, which, like a powerful heart, shook the walls of the nearest cabins and filled them with rhythmic noise. The players fell into silence, trying to keep the balance of the chessboard.
The pitch intensified. The storm played out in earnest. The ship lay down on its left side, slowly rose. Again... More... Like a drunk...
Chess flew. Simpkins fell to the floor. Gatling held the chain, but she painfully pulled his hand at the wrist, where the "bracelet" was.
Simpkins swore and sat down on the floor.
- It's more stable here. You know, Gatling, I don't feel well... that... seasickness. Never before had I endured such a diabolical pitching. I will lie down. But… won't you run away if I get sick?
