G. A. Henty - "Under Wellington's Command"

Thomas Moore et al - "The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore"

Charlotte M. Yonge - "That Stick"

Everett McNeil - "The Cave of Gold"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

The Wizard of the Sea

R >> Roy Rockwood >> The Wizard of the Sea




To Mont the captain was more difficult to understand than ever.

He had risked his own life to save that of a poor Indian whom he had
never seen before, and was never likely to see again.

This showed that he could not have a bad heart.

His heart was not entirely dead, whatever his faults might be.

As if the captain guessed Mont's thoughts, he observed to him at the
bottom of the staircase on board the ship:

"That Indian belonged to an oppressed race. I also am one of the
oppressed, and to my last breath I shall continue to be so. You
recognize now the bond of union between us?"




CHAPTER XXVI.

THROUGH THE EARTH.


The ship again continued her way, traveling toward the Persian Gulf.

If Captain Vindex wanted to visit Europe, it was clear that he would
have to go around the Cape of Good Hope, but that did not appear to be
his design.

He went direct to the Red Sea, and, as the Isthmus of Suez was not then
pierced by a canal, there was no outlet to the Mediterranean.

This puzzled the professor very much.

One morning the captain sought his prisoners, and said to the professor:

"To-morrow we shall be in the Mediterranean."

Mr. Woddle looked at him with astonishment.

"Does that surprise you?" he continued, with a smile.

"Certainly it does, though I thought I had given up being astonished
since I have been on board your ship."

"You are a man of science; why should you be astonished?"

"Because you must travel with the speed of lightning almost to East
Africa and round the Cape of Good Hope."

"I did not say I was going to do so," replied the captain.

"You can't go overland, since there is no canal through the Isthmus of
Suez----"

"But one can go under land," interrupted the captain.

"Under land," answered the professor, holding up his hand.

"Undoubtedly," said Captain Vindex calmly. "For a long while nature has
made underneath this tongue of land what men are trying to do now on the
surface."

"Does there exist a passage?"

"Yes, a passage or tunnel, which at fifty feet depth touches a solid
rock."

"How did you discover it--by chance?"

"No," said the captain. "I guessed that such a tunnel existed, and I
have been through it several times."

"Well," said the professor, "we live to learn. Our fathers never dreamed
of gas, of railways, of telegraphs, and I did not suspect the existence
of your wonderful ship."

"Shortly, my dear sir," said the captain, "your children--that is to
say, the next generation--will travel through the air in flying
machines; your railway engines will own electricity as their motive
power. There is no end to scientific discovery; the world is in its
infancy. We are just emerging from barbarism. Wait and watch, that's my
motto. You must not be surprised at anything in these days."

"You are right--we are on the march," said the professor.

The day passed, and at half-past nine the _Searcher_ rose to the surface
to receive her supply of air.

Nothing disturbed the silence but the cry of the pelican and other birds
of the night, with the occasional sound of the escaping steam of a
steamer traveling toward the Far East.

Mont could not rest below, and at once ascended to the platform to
breath the fresh air. In the darkness he saw a pale light, discolored by
the fog, which burned about a mile off.

"A lighthouse," he said.

The captain was by his side, and quietly replied:

"It is the floating lightship of Suez."

"We are near the mouth of the tunnel, I suppose? Is the entrance easy?"

"No," said Captain Vindex, "it is difficult. I always steer the ship
myself, and if you like to come into the wheelhouse with me I will show
you the way. In a moment the _Searcher_ will sink, and we shall not rise
till we are in the Mediterranean."

Mont followed the captain into the pilot's cabin, which was at the bow
of the vessel, the wheel working the rudder by long chains carried aft.

The cabin measured six feet square, four round windows of thick
plate-glass enabled the helmsman to see on all sides, and the electric
light, thrown well forward, made everything as clear as day.

A strong negro, with an eye like a hawk, was at the wheel, but he gave
the spokes to the captain and fell back.

"Now," exclaimed the Wizard of the Sea, "let us search for our passage."

Electric wires communicated with the engine room, so it was easy to
communicate directly with the engineers by pressing a knob of metal.

Touching this knob, the speed of the screw lessened considerably.

For about an hour the ship passed by a bank of sand, which was varied by
rocks, on which Mont saw all kinds of sea weeds, coral formations, and
curious fish agitating their fins in alarm at the apparition of the
_Searcher_.

At half-past ten a long and large gallery appeared in front, black and
apparently deep.

The ship entered this gloomy tunnel boldly, and an unaccustomed rushing
sound made itself heard against the sides, which arose from the waters
of the Red Sea rushing into the Mediterranean.

Following the current with the speed of an arrow, the ship made its way,
though the engines were reversed and the screw went backward to abate
the velocity of its progress.

A single false turn of the wheel, and the _Searcher_ would have been
dashed to atoms against the ironlike rocks on each side, above, and
below.

Mont held his breath.

He could see nothing but the foaming waters, made transparent by the
electric light.

Half an hour later the captain gave up the helm to the negro, and,
turning to our hero, exclaimed:

"We are in the Mediterranean."

In less than half an hour the ship, carried by the current, had
traversed the Isthmus of Suez.

The next morning they came to the surface, and were able to breathe the
fresh air again.

Stump was in high spirits when he found that they were near civilization
again, because he thought they had a chance of escaping, and this idea
was always uppermost in his mind.

He spoke to his companions about it, and they all agreed to follow him
if a good opportunity offered.




CHAPTER XXVII.

THE ESCAPE--CONCLUSION.


The ship traveled leisurely along the Mediterranean, often rising in
sight of land and lying like a log upon the water.

In the evening it was the custom of the prisoners to play at checkers,
dominoes, or some game they liked; and after the fourth day in the
Mediterranean, Stump, instead of putting the games on the table, shut
the door, and, in a mysterious way, exclaimed:

"I've squared the nigger!"

"Which?" asked Mont.

"Number One. He as waits upon us. His real name's Smunko. I've found
that out. Me and he's firm friends. I've told him I want to bolt, and he
says he shan't let on to the skipper, or any of them, though they are
all a lot of spies."

"Perhaps he's one, too," observed the professor, smiling.

"Not he, sir," answered the boy; "Smunko's right enough. He's going to
keep all the other chaps quiet, some dark night, when we are near the
land. Then we are to go on the platform and swim for our lives."

"A very good arrangement, if it can be carried out," remarked the
professor. "But I fear your friend Smunko is not to be depended upon."

Stump was indignant.

"The fact is," went on the professor, "I don't want to discourage the
lad, but I have no wish that he should do anything rash, and involve us
in a mess. The captain might doom us to solitary confinement. At present
we are treated liberally, if we are prisoners."

"All right, sir," replied Stump, "I'll turn it up as far as you are
concerned. If Master Mont likes to come with me, all well and good; if
not he can let it alone. I know my game, and I mean to stick to it."

"Don't show your nasty temper, Stump," said our hero.

"Aint being cooped up here like a turkey in a pen, fatting for
Christmas, enough to rile a bishop?" asked the boy. "But I shan't say
no more. When all's ready I'll give you one more chance, and if you aint
with me, I'm off alone."

It was impossible to check Stump's will. The only one who had any
influence over him was Mont.

He was a boy rudely brought up, unaccustomed to control his passions,
and having a decided character, but to our hero he was deeply attached.

The next day the ship floated near an island, which the professor
declared to be the Isle of Cyprus.

In the evening Stump whispered to Mont:

"Now, sir, all's ready. Smunko's piping off the other blacks; we're not
a quarter of a mile from the land."

Mont's heart beat high.

"Tell the others," he said.

"No; let you and I go together."

"I can't leave Carl, and the professor is one of us."

In this Mont was firm.

He would not leave the _Searcher_ without Carl and the professor.

So the two were told that all was ready.

"Come on, now," said Mont. "We must not lose our chance."

With the valuable pearls they had secured in the Indian Ocean in their
pockets, the others followed Mont to the deck.

All hearts beat loudly.

"There is a boat!" whispered Carl. "Come on."

He dropped into the sea, and the others did the same.

Not far away floated a log, and to this they clung.

They paddled with their hands, and were soon some distance away from the
submarine monster.

Then they cried for help.

The boat they had seen came in their direction.

They were seen, and the natives from the island let out a shout.

Then suddenly Captain Vindex appeared on the deck of the _Searcher_.

He shook his fist at the party.

Stump laughed at him; the others waved him off.

"She is going down!" cried Mont. "Quick, pull for the shore, before you
are wrecked!"

The natives did not like the looks of the strange submarine ship, and
they pulled with all strength.

By the agitation in the water the party knew the _Searcher_ was after
them.

But the shore was gained, and they were safe.

Then came a fearful shock.

In his eagerness to catch them Captain Vindex had allowed the _Searcher_
to run into the rocks.

The submarine craft shot out of the water, and then----

Bang! Boom! Crash!

It was as if heaven and earth were splitting in twain.

The whole island shook, and all in the boat fell flat.

The _Searcher_ had been blown to atoms.

The air was filled with flying bits of iron and steel.

Of course all on board were instantly killed.

It was a long while before Mont and his companions recovered.

"Out of it at last, thank Heaven!" murmured Professor Woddle, and all
said "Amen."

A month later the little party returned to the United States.

Mont's widowed mother was overjoyed to see him alive, and Carl's parents
were equally elated, and so were the many friends at Nautical Hall.

The pearls were equally divided, and to-day all of the party are rich
men.

"But I wouldn't take another such trip," says Mont. "No, not to pick up
all the hidden treasures of the ocean. After this I'm going to remain at
Nautical Hall and take the balance of my sea training on land. I've had
all I want of such submarine ships as the _Searcher_, and such
mysterious men as was the Wizard of the Sea."




* * * * *



Transcriber's Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired.

Page 34, "slooop" changed to "sloop". (hire a sloop)

Page 101, "life" changed to "lives". (lives of the)

Page 103, "breath" changed to "breathe". (breathe the fresh)

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