The Crusade of the Excelsior
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Bret Harte. The Crusade of the Excelsior
PART I. IN BONDS
CHAPTER I. A CRUSADER AND A SIGN
CHAPTER II. ANOTHER PORTENT
CHAPTER III "VIGILANCIA."
CHAPTER IV. IN THE FOG
CHAPTER V. TODOS SANTOS
CHAPTER VI "HAIL AND FAREWELL."
CHAPTER VII. THE GENTLE CASTAWAYS
CHAPTER VIII. IN SANCTUARY
CHAPTER IX. AN OPEN-AIR PRISON
CHAPTER X. TODOS SANTOS SOLVES THE MYSTERY
CHAPTER XI. THE CAPTAIN FOLLOWS HIS SHIP
PART II. FREED
CHAPTER I. THE MOURNERS AT SAN FRANCISCO
CHAPTER II. THE MOURNERS AT TODOS SANTOS
CHAPTER III. INTERNATIONAL COURTESIES
CHAPTER IV. A GLEAM OF SUNSHINE
CHAPTER V. CLOUDS AND CHANGE
CHAPTER VI. A MORE IMPORTANT ARRIVAL
CHAPTER VII. THE RETURN OF THE EXCELSIOR
CHAPTER VIII. HOSTAGE
CHAPTER IX. LIBERATED
Отрывок из книги
It was the 4th of August, 1854, off Cape Corrientes. Morning was breaking over a heavy sea, and the closely-reefed topsails of a barque that ran before it bearing down upon the faint outline of the Mexican coast. Already the white peak of Colima showed, ghost-like, in the east; already the long sweep of the Pacific was gathering strength and volume as it swept uninterruptedly into the opening Gulf of California.
As the cold light increased, it could be seen that the vessel showed evidence of a long voyage and stress of weather. She had lost one of her spars, and her starboard davits rolled emptily. Nevertheless, her rigging was taut and ship-shape, and her decks scrupulously clean. Indeed, in that uncertain light, the only moving figure besides the two motionless shadows at the wheel was engaged in scrubbing the quarter-deck—which, with its grated settees and stacked camp-chairs, seemed to indicate the presence of cabin passengers. For the barque Excelsior, from New York to San Francisco, had discharged the bulk of her cargo at Callao, and had extended her liberal cabin accommodation to swell the feverish Californian immigration, still in its height.
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"The Gulf of California?" repeated the young girl, while a slight shade of disappointment passed over her bright face; "are we then so near"—
"Not the California you mean, my dear young lady," broke in Senor Perkins, "but the old peninsula of California, which is still a part of Mexico. It terminates in Cape St. Lucas, a hundred miles from here, but it's still a far cry to San Francisco, which is in Upper California. But I fancy you don't seem as anxious as our friend Mr. Banks to get to your journey's end," he added, with paternal blandness.
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