Summary of the story: 15 year old captain. Foreign literature abbreviated

Vitaly Meshchersky, a young man who recently entered the university, comes home for the holidays, inspired by the desire to find love without romance. Following his plans, he travels through neighboring estates, ending up one day at his uncle’s house. Along the way, mention is made of the hero's childhood love for his cousin Sonya, whom he now meets and with whom he immediately begins an affair. Sonya coquettishly warns Vitaly that tomorrow he will see her friend from the gymnasium, Natalie Stankevich, visiting her and will fall in love with her “to the grave.” The next day in the morning he actually sees Natalie and is amazed at her beauty. From this time on, a sensual relationship with Sonya and Natalie’s innocent admiration develop simultaneously for Vitaly. Sonya jealously assumes that Vitaly is in love with Natalie, but at the same time asks him to pay more attention to the latter in order to more carefully hide her connection with him. However, Natalie does not leave Sonya’s relationship with Vitaly unnoticed and, when he takes her hand, she informs him about it. Vitaly replies that he loves Sonya like a sister.

The day after this conversation, Natalie does not come out for breakfast or lunch, and Sonya ironically suggests that she has fallen in love. Natalie appears in the evening and surprises Vitaly with her friendliness, liveliness, new dress and changed hairstyle. On the same day, Sonya says that she is sick and will be in bed for five days. In Sonya's absence, the role of the mistress of the house naturally passes to Natalie, who meanwhile avoids being alone with Vitaly. One day Natalie tells Vitaly that Sonya is angry with her for not trying to entertain him, and suggests meeting him in the garden in the evening. Vitaly keeps himself busy wondering to what extent he owes this offer to polite hospitality. At dinner, Vitaly announces to his uncle and Natalie that he is going to leave. In the evening, when she and Natalie go for a walk, she asks him if this is true, and he, answering in the affirmative, asks her permission to introduce himself to her family. She goes back to the house with the words “yes, yes, I love you” and tells Vitaly to leave tomorrow, adding that she will return home in a few days.

Vitaly returns home and finds Sonya in her room in a nightgown. At that very moment, Natalie appears on the threshold with a candle in her hand and, seeing them, runs away.

A year later, Natalie marries Alexei Meshchersky, Vitaly's cousin. A year later, Vitaly accidentally meets her at a ball. A few years later, Natalie's husband dies and Vitaly, fulfilling his family duty, comes to the funeral. They avoid talking to each other.

Years pass. Meshchersky graduates from university and settles in the village. He meets the peasant orphan Gasha, who gives birth to his child. Vitaly invites Gasha to get married, but in response he hears a refusal, an offer to go to Moscow and a warning that if he plans to marry anyone else, she will drown herself along with the child. Some time later, Meshchersky goes abroad and on the way back sends Natalie a telegram, asking permission to visit her. Permission is given, a meeting takes place, a mutual sincere explanation and a love scene take place. Six months later, Natalie dies from premature birth.

Verne always writes such novels that you can’t put them down, but if you don’t have time, read summary novel "Fifteen summer captain"for the reader's diary.

Plot

Conclusion (my opinion)

Current page: 1 (book has 24 pages in total)

Jules Verne
Fifteen year old captain

Part one

Chapter One
Schooner "Pilgrim"

On February 2, 1873, the topsail schooner Pilgrim was at 43°57 south latitude and longitude 165°19 West from Greenwich. This is a vessel of four hundred tons, fitted out at San Francisco for whaling in southern seas, belonged to the wealthy Californian shipowner James Weldon; Captain Hull had been in command of the ship for many years.

James Weldon annually sent a whole flotilla of ships to the northern seas, beyond the Bering Strait, as well as to the seas of the Southern Hemisphere, to Tasmania and Cape Horn. The Pilgrim, although one of the smallest ships in the flotilla, was considered one of the best among them. His progress was excellent. Excellent, very convenient equipment allowed him and a small team to reach the very border solid ice Southern Hemisphere. Captain Hull knew how to maneuver, as the sailors say, among the floating ice floes that drift in the summer south of New Zealand and the Cape Good Hope, that is, at much lower latitudes than at northern seas. True, these are only small icebergs, already cracked and washed out warm water, And most they quickly melt into the Atlantic or Pacific oceans.

The Pilgrim, under the command of Captain Hull, an excellent sailor and one of the best harpooners in the southern flotilla, had a crew of five sailors and one junior sailor. This was not enough, since whale hunting requires a fairly large crew to service the boats and to cut up the caught carcasses. But Mr. James Weldon, like other shipowners, believed that it was much more profitable to hire in San Francisco only the sailors necessary to operate the ship. New Zealand had no shortage of skilled harpooners and sailors of all nationalities, unemployed or simply runaways from their ships, always ready to hire out for a season. At the end of the fishing trip, they received payment and waited on the shore next year, when their services might again be needed by whaling ships. With such a system, shipowners saved considerable sums on crew salaries and increased their income from fishing.

This is exactly what James Weldon did when he equipped the Pilgrim for voyage.

The schooner had just completed a whaling campaign near Yuzhny Arctic Circle, but in her holds there was still a lot of room for whalebone and many barrels not filled with blubber. Even at that time, whaling was not an easy task. Whales became rare: the results of their merciless extermination were telling. Real whales, called bowhead whales in the north and Australian whales in the south, began to disappear, and hunters had to hunt for minke whales, 1
Real whales provide blubber to hunters ( whale oil) – a valuable industrial raw material – and whalebone. Whalebone - horny plates - is used to make various products. Minke whales only produce blubber; Their baleen plates are poorly developed.

Hunting for which poses considerable danger.

Captain Hull was forced to do the same this time, but he expected to go on his next voyage to higher latitudes - if necessary, right up to Clery Land and Adélie Land, discovered, as is firmly established, by the Frenchman Dumont-D'Urville on the Astrolabe. and “Zele”, although this is disputed by the American Wilkes.

In general, Pilgrim was unlucky this year. At the beginning of January, at the height of summer in Southern Hemisphere, that is, long before the end of the fishing season, Captain Hull had to leave the hunting site. The auxiliary team is quite a bunch dark personalities- behaved impudently, the hired sailors shirked work, and Captain Hull was forced to part with her.

The Pilgrim headed north-west, towards New Zealand, and on January 15 arrived at Waitemata, the port of Auckland, located deep in the Hauraki Gulf on the eastern coast of the northern island. Here the captain landed the whalers hired for the season.

The permanent crew of the Pilgrim was unhappy: the schooner did not pick up at least two hundred barrels of blubber. Never before have the results of fishing been so disastrous.

Captain Hull was the most dissatisfied of all. The pride of the famous whaler was deeply wounded by the failure: for the first time he returned with such meager booty; and he cursed the loafers, whose disobedience had ruined the fishery.

In vain he tried to recruit a new crew in Auckland: all the sailors were already employed on other whaling ships. The hope of replenishing the Pilgrim's cargo had thus to be abandoned, and Captain Hull was about to leave Auckland when a request was made to him to take passengers on board—a request which he could not refuse. At this time, Mrs. Weldon, the wife of the owner of the Pilgrim, her five-year-old son Jack and her relative, whom everyone called “Cousin Benedict,” were in Auckland. James Weldon, who occasionally visited New Zealand on trade matters and brought all three of them there, intending to take them to San Francisco himself. But just before leaving, little Jack became seriously ill, and his father, who was called to America by urgent matters, left, leaving his wife, sick child and cousin Benedict in Auckland.

Three months passed—three difficult months of separation, which seemed endlessly long to poor Mrs. Weldon. Little Jack gradually recovered from his illness, and Mrs. Weldon was able to leave. Just at this time, the Pilgrim arrived at the port of Auckland.

The fact is that in order to return to San Francisco, Mrs. Weldon had to first go to Australia to transfer there to one of the transoceanic steamships of the Golden Age company, which sailed from Melbourne to the Isthmus of Panama via Papeete. Having reached Panama, she had to wait for an American steamer plying between the isthmus and California. This route meant long delays and transfers, especially unpleasant for women traveling with children. Therefore, having learned about the arrival of the Pilgrim, Mrs. Weldon turned to Captain Hull with a request to take her to San Francisco along with Jack, cousin Benedict and Nan, an old black woman who also nursed Mrs. Weldon herself. Travel three thousand leagues 2
Lieu is a French measure of distance equal to 5.555 meters at sea.

On sailing ship! But Captain Hull's ship was always kept in immaculate order, and the time of year was still favorable for sailing on both sides of the equator. Captain Hull agreed and immediately made his cabin available to the passenger. He wished that during the voyage, which was to last forty or fifty days, Mrs. Weldon should be surrounded on board the whaling ship with as much comfort as possible.

Thus, for Mrs. Weldon, traveling on the Pilgrim presented some advantages. True, the voyage should have been somewhat delayed due to the fact that the schooner first had to call at the port of Valparaiso in Chile to unload. But after that the ship had to go all the way to San Francisco along American coast with favorable onshore winds.

Mrs. Weldon, who more than once shared her husband's hardships long journeys, was a brave woman, and the sea did not frighten her; She was about thirty years old, she had enviable health and was not afraid of the hardships and dangers of sailing on a small-tonnage ship. She knew that Captain Hull was an excellent sailor, in whom James Weldon had complete confidence, and that the Pilgrim was a reliable, fast ship and had an excellent reputation among American whaling ships. An opportunity presented itself, it was necessary to take advantage of it. And Mrs. Weldon took advantage of it.

Of course, Cousin Benedict had to accompany her.

The cousin was about fifty years old. But despite his rather advanced age, it would be unwise to let him out of the house alone. More lean than thin, not exactly tall, but somehow long, with a huge tousled head, with gold glasses on his nose - that was Cousin Benedict. In this lanky man, at first glance, one could recognize one of those respectable scientists, harmless and kind, who are destined to always remain adult children, live in the world until they are a hundred years old, and die with an infant soul.

“Cousin Benedict” - that’s what he was called not only by family members, but also by strangers, and he really was one of those simple-minded good-natured people who seem to be everyone’s relatives - Cousin Benedict never knew what to do with his long arms and legs; it was difficult to find a person more helpless and dependent even in the most ordinary, everyday issues. It cannot be said that he was a burden to those around him, but he somehow managed to embarrass everyone and he himself felt constrained by his own clumsiness. However, he was unpretentious, flexible, undemanding, insensitive to heat and cold, and could go without eating or drinking for days if they forgot to feed and drink him. He seemed to belong not so much to the animal kingdom as to the plant kingdom. Imagine a barren tree, almost devoid of leaves, unable to shelter or feed a traveler, but possessing a beautiful core.

Such was Cousin Benedict. He would willingly provide services to people if he were able to provide them.

And everyone loved him, despite his weaknesses, and perhaps precisely because of them. Mrs. Weldon looked at him as her son, as little Jack's older brother.

It should be noted, however, that Cousin Benedict was neither lazy nor a slacker. On the contrary, he was a tireless worker. His only passion—natural history—absorbed him entirely.

To say “natural history” means to say a lot.

It is known that this science includes zoology, botany, mineralogy and geology.

However, Cousin Benedict was in no way a botanist, a mineralogist, or a geologist.

Was he then a zoologist in in every sense this word - someone like Cuvier 3
Cuvier, Georges (1769–1832) - famous French naturalist, famous for his studies of fossil animals; proposed a classification of the animal world, dividing it into four main types; this classification, used here by Jules Verne, is now obsolete.

of the New World, analytically decomposing or synthetically recreating any animal, one of those profound sages who devote their entire lives to the study of those four types - vertebrates, soft-bodied, articulated and radiate - into which modern natural science divides the whole fauna? Did this naive but diligent scientist study the various orders, suborders, families and subfamilies, genera and species of these four types?

Did Cousin Benedict devote himself to the study of vertebrates: mammals, birds, reptiles and fish?

No and no!

Perhaps he was occupied by mollusks? Perhaps cephalopods and bryozoans revealed all their secrets to him?

Not either!

So, it was for the sake of studying jellyfish, polyps, echinoderms, sponges, protozoa and other representatives of radiata that he burned kerosene in a lamp until late at night?

It must be said frankly that it was not the radiants who absorbed the attention of cousin Benedict.

And since of all zoology there remains only the section of the articulars, it goes without saying that it was this section that was the subject of the all-consuming passion of cousin Benedict.

However, clarification is required here too.

There are six orders of articulars: insects, polypods, arachnids, crustaceans, barnacles, and annelids.

So, Cousin Benedict, scientifically speaking, would not be able to distinguish an earthworm from a medicinal leech, a house spider from a false scorpion, an acorn from a shrimp, a nod from a scolopendra.

Who was Cousin Benedict, then?

Only an entomologist, and no one else!

To this it may be objected that entomology, by the very meaning of the word 4
The word "entomology" is made up of Greek words: “entomos” - “divided, dissected” and “logos” - “science”.

There is a part natural history, engaged in the study of all articulars. Generally speaking, this is true, but usually the concept of “entomology” has a more limited content. This term is used only to denote the science of insects, that is, jointed invertebrates, in the body of which there are three distinct sections - head, thorax and abdomen - and which are equipped with three pairs of legs, which is why they are called hexapods.

So Cousin Benedict was an entomologist who devoted his life to studying only the class of insects.

But one should not be mistaken in thinking that Cousin Benedict had nothing to do. There are at least ten units in this class:

Orthoptera (representatives: grasshoppers, crickets, etc.);

lacewings (representatives: antlions, midges);

Hymenoptera (representatives: bees, wasps, ants);

Lepidoptera (representatives: butterflies);

Hemiptera (representatives: cicadas, fleas);

Coleoptera (representatives: chafers, bronze beetles);

Diptera (representatives: mosquitoes, mosquitoes, flies);

fanwings (representatives: stylops, or fanwings);

lower insects (representatives: silverfish).

And among the Coleoptera alone there are at least thirty thousand different types, and among the dipterans - sixty thousand, 5
Now more than a million species of insects are known, divided into more than 30 orders, of which over two hundred thousand varieties of beetles.

Therefore, it must be admitted that there is more than enough work for one person here.

So, the life of cousin Benedict was devoted entirely exclusively to entomology.

He devoted all his time to this science: not only his waking hours, but also his sleeping hours, because even in his sleep he invariably dreamed of insects. It is impossible to count how many pins were driven into the cuffs of his sleeves, into the lapels and tails of his jacket, into his waistcoat, into the brim of his hat. When Cousin Benedict was returning home from his country walk, which he always took with scientific purpose, his hat was a display case with a collection of a wide variety of insects. Pinned, they were pinned to the hat both outside and inside.

To complete the portrait of this eccentric, let us say that he decided to accompany Mr. and Mrs. Weldon to New Zealand solely to satisfy his passion for new discoveries in entomology. In New Zealand, he had managed to enrich his collection with several rare specimens, and now Cousin Benedict was understandably eager to return to San Francisco, wanting to quickly sort the precious acquisitions into boxes in his office.

And since Mrs. Weldon and her son were returning to America on the Pilgrim, it is quite understandable that Cousin Benedict was traveling with them. However, in case of any danger, Mrs. Weldon could least count on the help of Cousin Benedict. Fortunately, she only had to do nice trip on seas that were calm at this time of year, and on board a ship captained by a captain worthy of complete confidence.

During the three days of the Pilgrim's stay at Waitemata, Mrs. Weldon managed to make all preparations for departure. She was in a hurry because she did not want to delay the departure of the ship. Having arranged for the native servants she hired in Auckland, she moved onto the Pilgrim on January 22 with Jack, cousin Benedict and the old black woman Nan.

Cousin Benedict carried with him his entire precious collection in a special box. This collection, by the way, contained several specimens of the rove beetle, a carnivorous beetle with eyes located in the upper part of the head, which until that time was considered unique to the New Caledonian fauna. Cousin Benedict was offered to take with him the poisonous spider "katipo", as the Maori call it, 6
Maori - indigenous people New Zealand.

The bite of which is often fatal to humans. But the spider does not belong to the insects, its place is among the arachnids, and, therefore, it was of no interest to cousin Benedict. Therefore, our entomologist disdainfully rejected the spider and still considered the New Zealand rove beetle the most valuable specimen in his collection.

Of course, Cousin Benedict insured his collection, sparing no expense to pay the insurance premium. This collection, in his opinion, was more expensive than the entire cargo of blubber and whalebone in the hold of the Pilgrim.

When Mrs. Weldon and her companions had boarded the schooner and the moment had come to weigh anchor, Captain Hull approached his passenger and said:

“It goes without saying, Mrs. Weldon, that you accept full responsibility for your decision to sail on the Pilgrim.”

“Why do you say that, Captain Hull?” asked Mrs. Weldon.

- Because I have not received any instructions in this regard from your husband, and sailing on a schooner cannot be as easy and pleasant as on a packet boat, 7
Packet boat is an obsolete name for a postal and passenger ship.

Specially adapted for the carriage of passengers.

“Do you think, Mr. Hull,” answered Mrs. Weldon, “if my husband were here, would he hesitate to make this voyage on the Pilgrim with me and our son?”

- Of course not! - answered the captain. - No more than I would hesitate. The Pilgrim is an excellent vessel, even though she had a bad fishing season this year, and I am confident in her as only a sailor who has commanded her for many years can be confident in his vessel. I told you this, Mrs. Weldon, only to clear my conscience and to repeat once again that you will not find here the conveniences to which you are accustomed.

“If it comes down to convenience, Captain Hull,” objected Mrs. Weldon, “that doesn’t bother me.” I am not one of those capricious passengers who always complain about the cramped cabin or the monotonous menu.

Mrs. Weldon looked at her little son, whom she held by the hand, and finished:

- So, let's go, captain!

Captain Hull immediately ordered the anchor to be raised. Through short time The Pilgrim, having set sail, left the port of Auckland and headed for the American coast. However, three days after sailing from the east, it blew strong wind, and the schooner was forced to hold steeply to the wind.

Therefore, on February 2, Captain Hull was still in latitudes higher than he would have liked - in the position of a sailor who intends to round Cape Horn, rather than sail straight to west bank New World.

Chapter two
Dick Sand

Mrs. Weldon was made as comfortable as possible on board the Pilgrim. The ship had neither a poop deck nor any superstructure, which means there were no cabins for passengers. Mrs. Weldon had to be content with Captain Hull's tiny cabin located aft. The delicate woman had to be persuaded to occupy her. Little Jack and old woman Nan settled in this cramped room with her. There they had breakfast and lunch with the captain and cousin Benedict, who was assigned a cell at the bow of the ship.

Captain Hull himself moved into the cabin intended for his assistant. But as you know, the crew of the Pilgrim, for the sake of economy, was not fully staffed, and the captain did without an assistant.

The Pilgrim's crew - skilled and experienced sailors who held the same views and the same habits - lived peacefully and amicably. They had been sailing together for the fourth fishing season. All the sailors were Americans, all from the California coast, and had known each other for a long time.

These good people were very considerate towards Mrs. Weldon, the wife of the shipowner, to whom they had boundless devotion. It must be said that they were all very interested in the profitability of whaling and still received considerable income from each voyage. True, they worked sparingly, since the ship's crew was very small, but their small number increased each person's share when summing up the balance at the end of the season. This time, however, almost no income was expected, and therefore they had good reason to curse “those scoundrels from New Zealand.”

Only one person on the ship was not American by birth. Negoro, who performed the humble duties of the ship's cook on the Pilgrim, was born in Portugal. However, he also spoke excellent English.

After the former cook ran away in Auckland, Negoro offered his services to the captain. This silent one closed person He avoided his comrades, but knew his business well. Captain Hull, who hired him, obviously had the right eye: during his work on the Pilgrim, Negoro never earned the slightest reproach.

Still, Captain Hull regretted that he did not have time to make inquiries about the past of the new cook. The captain did not really like the Portuguese’s appearance and especially his shifting eyes, and before allowing the stranger into the tiny, cramped world of the whaling ship, it is necessary to find out everything about his former life.

Negoro looked to be about forty years old. Of medium height, thin, wiry, black-haired and dark, he made an impression strong man. Did he receive any education? Apparently, yes, judging by the comments that occasionally escaped him. However, Negoro never spoke about his past or his family. Nobody knew where he lived or what he did before. Nobody knew what he was going to do next. He only said that he intended to land at Valparaiso. In general, he was strange man. And certainly not a sailor. He knew even less about maritime affairs than an ordinary cook, who spent a significant part of his life sailing.

However, neither lateral nor pitching had any effect on him, seasickness he did not suffer, which beginners are subject to, and this is already a considerable advantage for a ship’s cook.

Be that as it may, Negoro rarely went on deck. He usually spent the entire day in his tiny galley, most of which was occupied by the kitchen stove. When night fell, having extinguished the fire in the stove, Negoro retired to the closet assigned to him at the bow. There he immediately went to bed.

As already mentioned, the crew of the Pilgrim consisted of five sailors and one junior sailor.

This fifteen-year-old junior sailor was the son of unknown parents. He was found at someone else's door when he was just a baby, and he grew up in an orphanage.

Dick Sand - that was his name - was apparently born in the state of New York, and perhaps in the city of New York itself.

The name Dick, a diminutive of Richard, was given to the foundling in honor of the compassionate passerby who picked him up and brought him to the foundling home. The surname Sand served as a reminder of the place where Dick was found - the sandy spit of Sandy Hook at the mouth of the Hudson River, at the entrance to the New York port.

Dick Sand was short and did not promise to become above average height in the future, but he was firmly built. There was an immediate sense of Anglo-Saxon about him, although he had dark hair and his eyes were dark blue. The difficult work of a sailor has already prepared him for everyday battles. His intelligent face breathed with energy. It was the face of a man not only brave, but also capable of daring.

Three words of Virgil's unfinished verse are often quoted: “Audaces fortuna juvat...” (“Fortune helps the brave...”), but they are quoted incorrectly. The poet said: “Audentes fortuna juvat...” (“For those who dare, fate helps...”). Fate almost always smiles on those who dare, and not just the brave. A brave person may sometimes act thoughtlessly. The one who dares first thinks and then acts. This is a subtle difference.

Dick Sand was "audens" - daring. At the age of fifteen, he already knew how to make decisions and bring to completion everything that he had deliberately decided on. His lively and serious face attracted attention. Unlike most of his peers, Dick was stingy with words and gestures. At an age when children do not yet think about the future, Dick realized his pitiful situation and firmly decided to “make his way into the people” on his own.

And he achieved his goal: he was already almost a man at a time when his peers were still children.

Agile, agile and strong, Dick was one of those gifted people about whom you can say that they were born with two right hands and two left legs: no matter what they did, they were “handy”, no matter who they went with – they always step in step.

As has already been said, Dick was raised through public charity. At first he was placed in a foundling home, of which there are many in America. At the age of four, he began to be taught reading, writing and arithmetic in one of those schools in New York State that are supported by donations from generous benefactors.

At the age of eight, an innate passion for the sea forced him to get a job as a cabin boy on a ship that made voyages to southern countries. On the ship he began to study maritime affairs, which he should learn from childhood. The ship's officers treated the inquisitive boy well and willingly supervised his studies. Young was soon to become a junior seaman - no doubt in anticipation of a further career. Anyone who knows from childhood that work is the law of life, who from a young age understood that bread is earned only by the sweat of the brow (a commandment of the Bible that has become the rule for humanity), is destined for great things, because on the right day and hour he will have the will and the strength to accomplish them.

Once on board the merchant ship where Dick served, Captain Hull drew attention to the capable cabin boy. The brave sailor fell in love with the brave boy, and upon returning to San Francisco, he told his master James Weldon about him. He became interested in Dick's fate, sent him to school in San Francisco and helped him graduate, raising him in the Catholic faith, which was followed by the shipowner's family.

Dick devoured knowledge voraciously, being especially interested in geography and the history of travel, in anticipation of the time when his age would permit him to study that part of mathematics which had to do with navigation. But he did not neglect practical training. After graduating from school, he joined the whaling ship of his benefactor James Weldon as a junior sailor. Dick knew that the “great hunt” - whaling - was no less important for the education of a true sailor than long voyages. This is excellent preparation for the seafaring profession, which is fraught with all sorts of surprises. In addition, this training ship turned out to be the Pilgrim, sailing under the command of its patron, Captain Hull. Thus, the young sailor was provided best conditions for training.

Is it worth mentioning that the young man was deeply devoted to the Weldon family, to whom he owed so much? Let the facts speak for themselves. But one can easily imagine how delighted Dick was when he learned that Mrs. Weldon and her son would sail on the Pilgrim. Mrs. Weldon acted as Dick's mother for several years, and he loved little Jack as sibling, although he understood that his position was completely different from that of the son of a wealthy shipowner. But his benefactors knew very well that the seeds of good that they sowed fell on fertile soil. Orphan Dick's heart was full of gratitude, and he would not hesitate to give his life for those who helped him get an education. In general, a fifteen-year-old boy acted and thought like an adult of thirty years old - that was Dick Sand.

Mrs. Weldon thought highly of Dick. She knew that she could safely trust him with her little Jack. Dick Sand adored the baby, who clung to him, feeling that his “big brother” loved him. During those long hours of leisure which are frequent when sailing in good weather on the open sea, when all the sails were set and no work required, Dick and Jack were together almost all the time. The young sailor entertained the child, showing him everything that could be entertaining for a boy in maritime affairs. Mrs. Weldon watched without fear as Jack climbed the shrouds, first to the maintop, then to the topmast. 8
Main-mars - platform on the rear mast; fore topmast - the third part of the composite front mast.

And he slid like an arrow along the rigging down to the deck. Dick Sand was always near the baby, ready to support him, to pick him up if five-year-old Jack’s arms suddenly became weak. Exercises in the free air were beneficial for a child who had just suffered a serious illness; the sea wind and daily exercise quickly returned a healthy glow to his pale cheeks.

This is how life went on aboard the Pilgrim. If there were no easterly winds, neither the crew nor the passengers would have any reason to complain.

However, Captain Hull did not like the stubbornness of the east wind. He could not manage to take a more favorable course. In addition, he was afraid on his further journey that he would fall into a calm zone near the Tropic of Capricorn, not to mention the fact that the equatorial current could throw him further to the west. The captain was mainly concerned about Mrs. Weldon, although he recognized that he was not to blame for this delay. If some ocean steamer heading to America had passed not far from the Pilgrim, he would definitely have advised his passenger to transfer to it. But unfortunately, the Pilgrim strayed so far south that it was difficult to hope to meet a steamer bound for Panama. Yes, and communication between Australia and the New World through Pacific Ocean at that time it was not as lively as it later became. Captain Hull could only wait until the weather had mercy on him. It seemed that nothing should break the monotony of this sea ​​travel, when suddenly it was on this day, February 2, at the latitude and longitude indicated at the beginning of this story, that the first unexpected event occurred.

The day was sunny and clear. About nine o'clock in the morning Dick Sand and Jack climbed onto the saling 9
Saling - horizontal bars connecting parts of the mast.

Foremasts; from there they could see the entire deck of the ship and wide open spaces ocean. Only part of the horizon behind the stern was obscured by the mainmast, which carried the mainsail and topsail. Ahead, a sharp bowsprit with three tightly stretched jibs, like three wings of unequal size, rose above the waves. The foresail panel swelled under their feet, and the foretopsail and topsail billowed above their heads. The schooner kept perhaps steeper to the wind.

Dick Sand explained to Jack why a properly loaded Pilgrim could not capsize, although it lists quite heavily to starboard, 10
Starbort – right side(side) of the ship.

When suddenly the boy interrupted him with an exclamation:

- What is this?!

“Did you see anything, Jack?” – asked Dick Sand, straightening up to his full height on the yardarm.

- Yes, yes! Over there! - said Jack, pointing to some point visible in the gap between the jib and the jib.

Looking in the direction Jack was pointing, Dick Sand shouted at the top of his voice:

– On the right bow, under the wind, there is a sunken ship!

The schooner "Pilgrim" hunts whales. But there are also passengers on the schooner: this is the wife of the owner of the Pilgrim with her five-year-old son Jack. They sail to America to see Mr. Weldon, husband and father, there. Cousin Benedict is with them - he is only interested in entomology (the science of insects).

The travelers met an abandoned ship at sea, where there were living creatures: a Dingo dog and five blacks. The huge black man Hercules became good friend everyone, especially little Jack.

During a whale hunt, a boat with a captain and crew dies. Cabin boy Dick Sand takes control of the ship. Smart guy I would have managed it, but the court cook Negoro ruined the compass. This cook is very suspicious. Here is the dog, he has made friends with everyone, growls and barks at Negoro.

Finally we reached the shore. Travelers think they are in South America. Negoro says that he is familiar with this continent. Once they get to some city, they contact Mr. Weldon, and he will save everyone. And strange things happen. The vegetation is not American, little Jack cannot see the promised hummingbird, cousin Benedict is glad that he saw an African insect in America. Suddenly everyone saw giraffes - but these animals are not found on the American continent.

The company meets a noble-looking gentleman named Harris. He says they ended up in Bolivia. Invites everyone to his hacienda (estate), where everyone can relax and wait for news from Mrs. Weldon's husband. It was a trap. Harris and Negoro are in conspiracy. And the continent is not America at all. This is Africa!

Harris and Negoro only care about money. They are thieves. Blacks are sold into slavery. Only Hercules managed to escape. Harris forces Mrs. Weldon to write a letter to her husband. He and Negoro lured a woman and her son to take a considerable ransom. Faithful wife she is afraid that her husband will also be lured into a trap and will demand something completely incredible.

The woman, her son and her cousin were settled among the black savages.

Cousin Benedict is allowed to wander unguarded, as they consider the husband to be out of his mind.

An entomologist really only sees his insects. Suddenly a strong hand grabbed him and dragged him somewhere. The disappearance of the cousin forced increased security for mother and son.

A big celebration took place in an African village. At such holidays, everyone waits for the arrival of the forest spirit - the sorcerer "mganga". He usually appears all painted with strange colors, in strange outfit. And then he appeared! It was a giant. He danced, jumped, shouted furiously, throwing spears, and chose two victims: Mrs. Weldon and her son.

No one dared to resist him. He shouldered the victims and disappeared into the thicket. The woman lost consciousness. Jack beat the monster with his small fists.

It turned out that the one who stole Benedict and Mrs. Weldon and their son was not a sorcerer at all, but good Hercules, grateful for his salvation at sea. The black giant also managed to save Wild Sand. A small group makes their way to the sea to board which ship. By chance they meet Negoro. Dick and Hercules do not have time to do anything: Dingo rushes at the insidious cook and gnaws his throat.

Unfortunately, before his death, the scoundrel managed to plunge a dagger into the faithful dog, and the dog died. It turned out that when Negoro killed Dingo's first owner, Sam Vernon, for money.

Finally, everyone who escaped was lucky to reach America. Dick became Mrs. Weldon for the eldest son, Hercules for true friend. And the blacks who were sold into slavery were later found and redeemed by Mr. Weldon.

A feast was held in honor of the travelers' return. The first toast was to Wild Sand, the fifteen-year-old captain!

On February 2, 1873, the schooner-brig Pilgrim was located at latitude 43°57′ south and longitude 165°19′ west from Greenwich. This vessel, with a displacement of four hundred tons, was equipped in San Francisco for hunting whales in the southern seas.

The Pilgrim belonged to the wealthy Californian shipowner James Weldon; Captain Gul commanded the ship for many years.

James Weldon annually sent a whole flotilla of ships to the northern seas, beyond the Bering Strait, as well as to the seas of the Southern Hemisphere, to Tasmania and Cape Horn. "Pilgrim" was considered one of the best ships flotilla. His progress was excellent. Excellent equipment allowed him and a small team to reach the very border of continuous ice in the Southern Hemisphere.

Captain Gul knew how to maneuver, as the sailors say, among the floating ice floes that drift in the summer south of New Zealand and the Cape of Good Hope, that is, at lower latitudes than in the northern seas. True, these are only small icebergs, already cracked and washed away by warm water, and most of them quickly melt in the Atlantic or Pacific oceans.

On the Pilgrim, under the command of Captain Gul, an excellent sailor and one of the best harpooners of the southern flotilla, there were five experienced sailors and one newcomer. This was not enough: whale hunting requires a fairly large crew to service the boats and to cut up the catch. But Mr. James Weldon, like other shipowners, considered it profitable to recruit in San Francisco only the sailors necessary to operate the ship. In New Zealand among local residents and there was no shortage of deserters of all nationalities, as well as skilled harpooners and sailors ready to hire themselves out for one season. At the end of the campaign, they received payment and waited on the shore for the next year, when whaling ships might again need their services. With such a system, shipowners saved considerable sums on crew salaries and increased their income from fishing.

This is exactly what James Weldon did when he equipped the Pilgrim for voyage.

The schooner-brig had just completed a whaling campaign on the border of the southern Arctic Circle, but in her holds there was still a lot of room for whalebone and many barrels not filled with blubber. Even at that time, whaling was not an easy task. Whales became rare: the results of their merciless extermination were telling. Real whales began to die out, and hunters had to hunt for minke whales, the hunt for which poses considerable danger.

Captain Gul was forced to do the same, but he expected to go on his next voyage to higher latitudes - if necessary, right up to the lands of Clara and Adele, discovered, as is firmly established, by the Frenchman Dumont d'Urville, no matter how much this was disputed American Wilkes.

Pilgrim was unlucky this year. In early January, at the height of summer in the Southern Hemisphere and, therefore, long before the end of the fishing season, Captain Gul had to leave the hunting site. The auxiliary crew - a collection of rather shady personalities - behaved impudently, the hired sailors shirked work, and Captain Gul was forced to part with her.

The Pilgrim headed north-west and on January 15 arrived at Waitemata, the port of Auckland, located deep in the Hauraki Gulf on the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. Here the captain landed the whalers hired for the season.

The permanent crew of the Pilgrim was unhappy: the schooner-brig did not receive at least two hundred barrels of blubber. Never before have the results of fishing been so disastrous.

Captain Gul was most dissatisfied. The pride of the famous whaler was deeply wounded by the failure: for the first time he returned with such meager booty; he cursed the loafers and parasites who ruined the fishery.

He tried in vain to recruit a new crew in Auckland: the sailors were already employed on other whaling ships. Thus, it was necessary to abandon the hope of additionally loading the Pilgrim. Captain Gul was about to leave Auckland when he was approached with a request to take passengers on board. He could not refuse this.

Mrs. Weldon, the wife of the owner of the Pilgrim, her five-year-old son Jack, and her relative, whom everyone called “Cousin Benedict,” were in Auckland at the time. They arrived there with James Weldon, who occasionally visited New Zealand on trade matters, and intended to return to San Francisco with him. But just before leaving, little Jack became seriously ill. James Weldon was called to America on urgent business, and he left, leaving his wife, sick child and cousin Benedict in Auckland.

Three months passed, three difficult months of separation, which seemed endlessly long to poor Mrs. Weldon. When little Jack recovered from his illness, she began to get ready for the journey. Just at this time, the Pilgrim arrived at the port of Auckland.

At that time direct message there was no such thing as between Oakland and California. Mrs. Weldon had to first go to Australia to transfer there to one of the transoceanic steamships of the Golden Age Company, connecting Melbourne with passenger flights to the Isthmus of Panama via Papeete. Having reached Panama, she had to wait for an American steamer plying between the isthmus and California.

This route foreshadowed long delays and transfers, especially unpleasant for women traveling with children. Therefore, having learned about the arrival of the Pilgrim, Mrs. Weldon turned to Captain Gul with a request to take her to San Francisco along with Jack, cousin Benedict and Nan, an old black woman who also nursed Mrs. Weldon.

Take a journey of three thousand leagues on a sailing ship! But Captain Gul's ship was always kept in impeccable order, and the time of year was still favorable on both sides of the equator.

Captain Gul agreed and immediately made his cabin available to the passenger. He wished that during the voyage, which was to last forty or fifty days, Mrs. Weldon should be surrounded by as much comfort as possible on board the whaling ship.

Thus for Mrs. Weldon the voyage on the Pilgrim had many advantages. True, the schooner-brig had to first call for unloading at the port of Valparaiso in Chile, which lies away from the direct course. But from Valparaiso to San Francisco itself, the ship had to sail along the American coast with favorable onshore winds.

Mrs. Weldon, an experienced traveler who had often shared the hardships of long journeys with her husband, was a brave woman and was not afraid of the sea; she was about thirty years old and in enviable health. She knew that Captain Gul was an excellent sailor, whom James Weldon completely trusted, and the Pilgrim was a good ship and had an excellent reputation among American whaling ships. An opportunity presented itself - we had to take advantage of it. And Mrs. Weldon decided to sail on board a small-tonnage vessel. Of course, Cousin Benedict had to accompany her.

The cousin was about fifty years old. Despite his advanced age, he could not be allowed out of the house alone. More lean than thin, and not exactly tall, but somehow long, with a huge tousled head, with gold glasses on his nose - that was Cousin Benedict. At first glance, one could recognize in this lanky man one of those respectable scientists, harmless and kind, who are destined to always remain adult children, live in the world until they are a hundred years old, and die with an infant soul.

“Cousin Benedict” was called not only by family members, but also by strangers: such simple-minded good-natured people as he seem to be everyone’s relatives. Cousin Benedict never knew what to do with his long arms and legs; it was difficult to find a more helpless and dependent person, especially in those cases when he had to resolve ordinary, everyday issues.