"Arthur? Is it really you? ”

Elder looked at Arthur in a daze, as if he remembered something.

He fumbled in his trouser pocket for a while, and then said with a big grin, "I almost forgot to give this to you." Come, I've had a lot of trouble putting together a list of merchant ships from London to North America and France in the last few weeks. ”

Arthur originally just wanted to take a boat to sea, but he didn't expect to get a surprise from Held.

He skimmed through the list of merchant ships, flipped through the handwritten document of Elder to the list of yesterday's departures.

Although there are many merchant ships departing from London every day, only one of them can meet the time and route, and the route is the "Black Thorn" from London, England, Calais, France, to Santo Domingo, West Indies, and Boston, USA.

Arthur hurriedly glanced at the time on his watch, it was 4:55 a.m., nearly six and a half hours had passed since Fred's departure.

He hurriedly asked, "How long does it take for an ordinary merchant ship to travel from London to Calais?" ”

Elder scratched his head: "If you go from London to Calais, you should take the route of the River Thames through Dartford, Margate to Dover, and finally through the Strait of Dover." Considering the recent monsoons, it may take a day for an ordinary merchant ship to go to France. ”

Arthur asked, "What about the Beagle?" ”

When Elder heard Arthur ask the Beagle, he immediately raised his eyebrows and said, "This is the right person!" Since its refurbishment, the Beagle can now reach speeds of up to 12 knots with full sail and wind. If it was to Calais, we would only have arrived in half a day. ”

Hearing this, Arthur couldn't do much more, and he dragged Elder by the collar and dragged him down the board to the boat.

His sudden movement startled Elder and shouted, "Arthur, are you crazy? What is this for? ”

"I don't have time to explain so much, is Colonel Fitzroy here? I must see him right away! ”

"What's wrong? You don't want to work in Scotland Yard again? But hasn't Colonel Fitzroy already rejected you? Naturalist now has Charles, it's really not good, I'm helping you ask, we still lack a maintenance instrument on the ship. ”

Before Elder could finish speaking, he saw Colonel Fitzroy come out of the cabin, lift his trouser belt upward, and look up to see Arthur.

Fitzroy pointed at him and said, "Oh! I remember you, young man, the kid who once served in the Army. ”

Arthur came to the Colonel, saluted, and said, "Mr. Colonel! I have an emergency to report to you! ”

Fitzroy was stunned: "What's wrong?" I'm a Navy captain, and I don't care about the Army. ”

Arthur said: "This matter has nothing to do with the Navy and Army. I have just received information that a merchant ship carrying members guilty of treason is heading for France, and orders must be made to stop it at all costs.

But the dispatch of the ship takes time, so I remembered that Elder needed to go to sea for sea training today, so I came to the dock to try my luck, but I didn't expect to bump into me. Please order that the training plan be changed to the hunt down the merchant ship Black Thorn as soon as possible. ”

When Fitzroy heard this, his expression became serious: "Young man, did you bring an order from the Admiralty?" ”

Arthur shook his head and said, "Because of the suddenness of the incident, the Admiralty is still applying for an order. ”

When Fitzroy heard this, he couldn't help but shake his head and said, "I'm sorry, but I don't have the authority to change the training plan without a written document from the Admiralty." Young man, you have been in the Army, and you should know that soldiers must obey orders.

Moreover, the situation of the Beagle is very special, we only obey the command of the naval headquarters, and even other fleet commanders have no authority to dispatch us. ”

Arthur's heart sank when he heard this, just as he was trying to figure out how to get around Fitzroy.

Elder Rd, who has always been unreliable, preemptively spoke: "Colonel, have you forgotten? First Sea Lord, Thomas Hardy! ”

Fitzroy was reminded by him of this, and then he remembered Arthur's unfathomable background.

After all, the young man in front of him was the one who could get First Sea Secretary Thomas Hardy to personally order not to hire him in the midst of his busy schedule.

Although he strenuously denied that he was related to the Marquis of Hastings, Colonel Fitzroy would not believe it.

Besides, the person who can make friends with Elder can have a bad family background?

Thinking of this, Colonel Fitzroy couldn't help but take a light breath.

This kind of young man shouldn't be idle and have nothing to do to make me happy, right?

And, if what the young man said was true, and the Beagle did not obey orders.

Although procedurally speaking, he is not responsible, but this kind of performance of delaying the fighter will definitely be seen by Admiral Thomas Hardy.

If he is looked down upon by Admiral Hardy, who controls the life and death of an officer in the Royal Navy, then he may not have a chance to be promoted to an officer in his life.

In addition to this, he will offend a large group of members of the Marquis of Hastings' family.

Moreover, a bunch of departments involved in this matter may also hold a grudge against him for this.

But if he listened to the young man......

Even if this young man named Arthur was telling a lie, it was actually not a big deal, it was just a temporary change in the route of the sea training project.

As long as no one pokes this out, and the Admiralty headquarters doesn't know about it, then everyone is not going to do anything, and everything is happy.

Moreover, even if someone told him about it, the Admiralty would at most charge him with bringing someone on board without permission, and he would be fined almost one month's salary.

But even if he is fined a month's salary, won't he still be able to get the Marquis of Hastings' apology?

Judging from Admiral Hardy's reaction to the last special order for Arthur not to be allowed on board, the Marquis of Hastings and Admiral Hardy should have a close relationship.

In this case, if he took the blame for the unsuccessful young master of the Hastings family, then Mr. Marquis still had to help him say a few kind words in front of Admiral Hardy?

It's good that Colonel Fitzroy doesn't think about it, but after thinking about it like this, he immediately feels that his thoughts are clear, and even his breathing is much easier.

Speaking of the sky, this is at most just a trip to the sea with Young Master Hastings, what's the big deal?

Thinking of this, Colonel Fitzroy immediately felt that he had no reason to refuse, this was simply a big gift that fell from the sky and was guaranteed to be earned!

The Colonel couldn't help but puff out his chest, and even his face was full of confident smiles.

What is called using the ship of the Royal Navy and going to your own relationship!

He patted Arthur on the shoulder affectionately, and then hurriedly shouted at the sailors, as if he was afraid that they would change their minds.

"All the staff obeyed the order, immediately stopped carrying supplies, and set sail! On the orders of the Admiralty, the Beagle temporarily changed its sailing plan and attacked the merchant ship 'Black Thorn' at full speed! ”

(End of chapter)