In Search of the Castaways Page #6

We shall see

what we shall see.

I'll wager she's faster

than any ship in the Royal Navy.

I'd say that steam was the coming thing

if it weren't so complicated to handle.

Don't know about complicated.

It's simple.

- Yes?

- Pardon, milord.

Could I talk to you sometime,

before too long?

- What about?

- No matter how much I think about it,

it is always the same.

Captain Grant is in Australia.

There is no way the note could mean

he is in New Zealand.

My dear fellow, don't worry about

that note. Mr. Ayrton knows precisely

- where the Britannia went down.

- Of course.

Milord, I'll be the happiest

man in the world

if it turns out

that once again I'm wrong.

- I have no doubt you will be.

- If it's no trouble,

- I'd like to see the engine room.

- Delighted to take you.

I think you'll find there's

nothing complicated about steam.

It's a beautiful day.

Why not enjoy it?

Let bygones be bygones.

Now that we're at sea,

I can let you in on our secret,

if you're interested.

Those boxes you were wondering about.

Would you like to know what's in them?

Trinkets, trade goods.

They're for barter

so we can buy your father's freedom.

- Who told you this?

- Mr. Ayrton.

And you believed him?

All right, Miss Suspicious.

If it'll make you more companionable,

I'll take you below

and show you.

[Men chattering]

Well, here you are.

All right, Pandora, which box

do you want me to open?

That one.

You sure you don't have

a guilty feeling?

After all, it is rather

like spying on someone.

Especially when they've

gone out of their way to be nice.

- Open it.

- I will.

[Straining]

Nothing is too much trouble

if it satisfies your curiosity.

Voila, mademoiselle.

Trade goods.

Trinkets, he said.

So that's his game. He's using

my father's ship as a gunrunner.

Pity you did that.

Wilcox, down here!

[Whispering] We must warn the others.

I'll lead them off. Make for the door.

[Men shouting]

- [Man #1] There he is!

- [Man #2] I see him.

[Man #3] Grab the boy!

Oh!

Now, is that a nice way to behave when

we're taking you to meet your father?

Come on.

Make no noise. Just stop the paddles.

Anything else, and I'll shoot.

[Bell dings]

Been to New Zealand before?

Yes, twice.

Do as I tell you. Perhaps you'll

live to make it three times.

[Bell dings]

We're stopping.

That is most strange.

- Raise the hands. Quietly.

- Do as he says, Robert.

- [Screams]

- [John] Help, Lord Glenarvan!

Help!

Lord Glenarvan! Help!

Lord Glenarvan!

I thought I heard

the boy call for help.

You did.

Now give me that gun,

and no harm will come to him.

[Glenarvan] You can't put us out

there without oars. It's not human!

Oh, the current will carry you

to the shore, if that's any consolation.

But I'm afraid we'll have

to keep your crew on board

until they've taught us

the fine points of using steam.

We're unaccustomed to such

luxuries in the South Pacific.

- You'll pay for this.

- You've got it backwards, old man,

we have been paid for it,

and quite handsomely.

Cheer up, Frenchy. You promised

you'd be the happiest man in the world

if you were wrong about Grant

being in Australia.

And you were.

Brian and Riley,

lay her off and stand by

to make sail.

- [Man] Aye, aye, sir.

- You were in Plymouth.

My father signed you on

the day he sailed.

As third mate. What a memory.

You'll hang for this, you know.

I'll see to it personally.

I'll make a report

to the admiralty.

[Chuckling] You do that.

And here's a bottle to put it in.

Hope it isn't

swallowed by a shark.

- Lower away!

- You'll never get away with this.

That's what Grant said when we put him

over the side at this spot.

With his two rather

foolishly loyal mates.

If you're lucky, you might all

end up in the same stewpot.

[Men laughing]

If anyone is interested,

I might explain.

It is the influence

of the west wind drift

playing against

the East Australian current

that might drive us

right up onto the shore.

Yes, yes, yes.

That's the second

of my ships he's got.

First the Britannia, and now

my beautiful new steam yacht.

It's all clear now.

It was a mutiny.

There's no reason why

he should lie about it.

My father was set adrift here...

Then he must be

a prisoner of the Maoris.

What did he mean, we might all

end up in the same stewpot?

Not to change the subject,

but our reception committee

seems to be waiting.

[Glenarvan] Maoris.

Hundreds of them.

A deuce of a fix,

no trinkets to bargain with.

What have we got to offer, huh?

Just us, I suppose.

[Shouting]

[Laughter]

- Good gracious!

- You come a stranger. I'll take you in.

I have prepared a place

for thee in the presence of thine enemy.

- [Shouting]

- [Screams]

It's all right.

I'm sure he's harmless.

What think ye now?

I be crazy, eh?

Not a bit of it.

I be smart.

Mark ye well,

the words of old Bill Gaye.

Bill Gaye?

Weren't you the mate

on my father's ship?

Depends entirely

who your father was.

What was his ship?

And who you be, for that matter?

You see? I be smart.

Makes a difference who she is.

I'm Mary Grant. My father's

Captain Grant of the Britannia.

Well, why didn't

you say so before?

Fine ship, she was.

I walked her decks

across the seven seas.

[Clattering]

Woe, be unto thee, O Moab,

for thy sons

are taken captive.

- Who is he?

- He seems to be the mate

- from the Britannia.

- Do you know where he is?

Can you tell me?

Where is Captain Grant?

Have you no eyes?

Can you not see?

- He's gone.

- Where?

Same as before.

Diane's Inlet.

- Did the Maoris take him?

- Nay, he be smart too.

He learns the way

to keep alive.

For they need him

when they get more guns.

Guns? That must be Ayrton.

Aye, that's who it be.

Somehow the devil

has got another ship.

- Were there three of you?

- Aye, three of us there were.

Captain Grant, McKnabb

and old Bill Gaye

against Ayrton and

all of his mutinous crew.

[Shouting]

My father, Captain Grant, did he and

McKnabb go together to Diane's Inlet?

Nay, my child. I say unto you,

McKnabb, he was not smart.

[Cackles] He was caught

when he tried to escape.

- Poor devil.

- [Shouting]

[Cackling]

What's he laughing at?

For this child I have prayed.

And the Lord hath granted my petition,

which I asked of him.

This is the night the Lord

hath given us our salvation.

What think ye?

Could a man force

himself through there?

Even a man who has gone without food

to make himself as thin as a man can be?

Nay, I say unto you

it is impossible.

It is easier for a camel to go

through the eye of a needle.

Robert, do you think you

could crawl through there?

- Maybe if I tried very hard.

- [Cackling]

- You be smart too.

- If he could, what good would it do?

I'll show you now. The Lord

helps them that helps themselves.

Two years we took to make it.

From the hairs of our heads,

from the garments we wore,

from a thousand things

we gathered.

Preposterous. What could the boy

possibly do all by himself?

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