Everybody started rushing around franticly. As the other ship got closer, our crew huddled together.
“Be calm,” Commander Gorringe told us as the ship pulled alongside ours. “Do not do anything to provoke them.”
An officer climbed out on the deck of the other ship.
“Are you in distress?” he hollered threw a megaphone. “Do you need assistance?”
We all let out a breath of relief. It wasn’t pirates. The ship was an Austrian fishing vessel.
“We can offer you bread & water,” the officer shouted. “& fish, of course.”
Commander Gorringe accepted some loaves of bread & tried to pay for them, but the Austrian officer refused to accept any money. He explained that it was maritime law to help a ship in distress. We all thanked him & his crew, & waved as they went on their way.
JULY 10, 1880
It had taken me a few days, but I removed the broken crankshaft & replaced it with the new one. I gave the news to Commander Gorringe.
“Okay, let’s give her a go,” he ordered.
The engines were turned on & the propellers began to spin. A cheer went up from the crew. They all clapped me on the back & sang a song about me being a jolly good fellow. That felt good.
Once again we are on our way & heading for New York. It is smooth sailing & I was able to take a much needed rest.
In talking with the other English speaking men on the crew, I now have some information about the obelisk we are carrying below deck. They told me it was carved out of granite in Egypt many centuries ago & brought to Alexandria by Augustus Caesar. The Americans did not steal it. The Egyptians gave it to them.
The rumor is that Egypt was going broke & gave the Americans the obelisk as a gift so tourists would come to Egypt & spend their money to see Egypt’s other treasures, including the pyramids. I don’t know if that is true. But I can’t think of any other reason why they would give up such a treasured object. They say the Egyptian government even sold The Dessoug to Commander Gorringe. That’s how badly they needed money. Before this, the ship was used by the Egyptian postal service.
I also learned that Commander Gorringe’s first name is Henry. The men say he was born in Barbados, which is an island just north of South America. He went to sea when he was 14 years old. He was caught in a storm & shipwrecked in India. Then he was rescued & got on a ship to Cuba where a kindly missionary arranged for him to come to America. After that, he fought in the American Civil War & became a Navy engineer. His life sounds a little like mine.
The men say that if Commander Gorringe successfully brings the obelisk to New York & stands it up there, he will be paid seventy-five thousand dollars! I cannot even imagine what it would be like to have that much money. But the money will be coming from someone who has even more of it—the richest man in America—William Henry Vanderbilt. His family made their fortune building railroads.
Seventy-five thousand dollars is a lot of money. But then, this is a big job. If Commander Gorringe fails, he gets nothing.
JULY 11, 1880
Many of the men in our crew, I have discovered, are drunkards. One of them fell overboard the other day, & we had to rescue him. Maybe that’s why Commander Gorringe seems to like me so much. He has taken me under his wing. Yesterday, he pulled me aside & when he shook my hand, he slipped an American five dollar bill into it. He said he wanted to show his appreciation for plugging the leak in the boiler & replacing the broken crankshaft. He said I was indispensible, whatever that means. Commander Gorringe is a good man.
Forget about that hot dog I wanted to eat. The first thing I am going to do when we get to New York City is buy myself a big stake dinner with this five dollar bill. I will use whatever is left of the money to get some new clothes so I will look presentable when I apply for work in America.
JULY 12, 1880
Smooth sailing. We should be in New York in a few days. Everyone is excited that our voyage is nearly over. But I am concerned about the weather a head. The sky is darkening. It looks like we are in for a storm.
JULY 13, 1880
The wind kicked up, & it is getting stronger & stronger as the day goes on. I am afraid my diary will blow out of my hands or become soaked with water. We are tieing everything down so it will not blow away. Some of the men are seasick. Not me. I am used to being in rough waters.
The waves are getting bigger & the ship is bouncing up & down like an elevator. I have not been inside an elevator yet, but I know they go up & down. I bet they have them in New York City. Maybe I will get to ride one when we get there.
I mean IF we get there.
JULY 14, 1880
It is getting worse. There are huge waterspouts forming not far from The Dessoug. They must be at least 50 feet high. If one of these waterspouts hits the ship, the weight of the water could smash the deck & it will be all over. They move so fast. It will not be possible to steer the ship around them. We have to hope for luck. Two giant waves have already broken on the deck. Everyone is slipping & hanging on to whatever they can grab.
The wind whips at my face so hard I can feel my cheeks being pulled. & now the rain is coming. The drops come down so hard they sting my face. Commander Gorringe has given the order to cover the hatches & skylights & get down below.
Now we are all huddling in the cargo hold with the obelisk. There is nothing we can do but wait it out. Men are saying prayers & writing letters to their loved ones. But if The Dessoug capsizes or breaks apart, none of those letters will be found. We will all be lost at sea. My diary will be gone. Nobody will remember me, or any of us. The obelisk will be on the bottom of the Atlantic forever. Everything Commander Gorringe has worked so hard to achieve will be for nothing.
& then, for a moment, there was calm.
“Is it over?” somebody asked.
Commander Gorringe gave us permission to open the hatch & take a look outside. One by one we climbed the ladder up to the deck. It looked all clear. But then we turned around to see a waterspout behind The Dessoug. It was a giant funnel of swirling, furious water not more than 50 feet away. What holds it together? The waterspout looked like it was going to hit us dead on.
“Grab onto something!” shouted Commander Gorringe.
Then, at the last instant, the waterspout veered off in a different direction.
The storm is over. The sky calmed down. Nobody was hurt. Nobody fell overboard. But it was terrifying. We all pitched in to repair the damage. Commander Gorringe said we “dodged a bullet.” I have never heard anyone say that before. We didn’t dodge a real bullet, but it felt that way. I am thankful to be alive.
JULY 20, 1880
Finally! After 39 days at sea, early this morning we reached New York City! It is a busy, bustling port, much bigger than Alexandria. It is bigger than any city I have ever seen. It may even be bigger than London.
As we steamed into the harbor, passengers on ferryboats waved their hats & handkerchiefs at us. The newspapers must have told them we were coming.
The first thing we saw was a big, beautiful bridge that is not finished being built. They say it will be called the Brooklyn Bridge. They started building it 12 years ago, & it won’t be done until 1883. That is a long time to build a bridge! Commander Gorringe says it will be the longest bridge in the world. He knows all about it because the company that made the steel cables for the bridge also made the cables for the machine he will use to stand the obelisk up in Central Park.
