CHAPTER XVII The Decoy Wireless

The West Barbican's stay at Cape¹ Town was of short duration. She landed about a score of her passengers and a small quantity of cargo², coaled, and proceeded, giving Peter little opportunity of a closer acquaintance with the oldest city of South Africa.

He was fairly busy during the run round to Durban, since the ship was within wireless³ range both of Cape Town and the seaport⁴ of Natal⁵. Consequently he spent most of his waking hours in the wireless-cabin, rather than have to be continually called by Partridge and Plover⁶.

The West Barbican, having spent a night at anchor under the Bluffs⁷ at Durban, proceeded alongside the quay⁸ to disembark the bulk of her passengers and a considerable amount of cargo.

It was here that "Mr. Porter" severed⁹ his personal acquaintance with the ship, although his interest in the West Barbican did not in the least degree wane¹⁰. On the contrary it was rapidly increasing.

With a Kaffir porter carrying his portmanteau and suit-case von Schoeffer passed along the gangway and gained terra firma. He had found no suitable place in which he could secrete¹¹ his explosives, nor had he an opportunity for so doing; so the only course that remained open, short of dumping the stuff into the sea, was to take it ashore¹² with him.

He anticipated no difficulty in passing the Customs. None of the officials would detect in the harmless-looking slab¹³ that resembled sheet-glue one of the strongest explosives possible to obtain. They were "traveller's samples" and as such were allowed duty free.

So within ten minutes of leaving the West Barbican Ludwig Schoeffer was bowling¹⁴ along in a rickshaw, drawn¹⁵ by a huge, muscular Zulu "boy", en route for a small hotel that overlooked the harbour.

On the following day Schoeffer's explosive, with the detonator timed for its maximum limit, was stored in No. 3 hold of the S.S. West Barbican, as one of the twenty odd cases of hardware consigned¹⁶ by the well-known firm of Van der Veld to Senhor Perez Bombardo of Beira.

Simply but effectively disguised, Schoeffer saw the crate¹⁷ whipped on board and lowered into the hold. So far so good. It looked as if he were certain of success. He chuckled¹⁸ as he conjured¹⁹ up a mental picture of the head director of the Pfieldorf Company handing over a substantial cheque.

During the rest of the West Barbican's stay at Durban, Ludwig Schoeffer lay low. For the present he had done all that was necessary. His deep-laid scheme was progressing favourably²⁰.

His idea was to signal the ship by means of wireless and, by spurious authority, order her to Rangoon. It was not unusual for ships of the Blue Crescent Line to receive unexpected orders when on the high seas, since they held roving commissions once they were round the Cape and had landed their mails.

And, since it would take longer than the seven days to make Rangoon, the West Barbican would end her career mysteriously in mid-Indian Ocean.

At ten one morning the West Barbican stood out to sea bound for Beira and Pangawani, at which latter place she was to land the consignment²¹ of steelwork for the Kilba Protectorate.

At four the same afternoon Schoeffer walked into the offices of the wireless company at Durban.

"I want this message sent to the West Barbican," he announced, handing in a form written in code—the private code of the Blue Crescent Line.

The clerk accepted the form without demur²². He had no idea of its meaning, nor had he any way of finding out. Not that he wanted to. Messages in code were the rule rather than the exception.

The message as received and ultimately sent off by the shore operator was as follows:

"SW. TLB. FEW. CNI. TLXQ. VP AELB TNI PU. AEMQ".

Ludwig Schoeffer paid the eighteen shillings demanded and obtained a receipt. Then, having got an assurance that the message would be dispatched within an hour, he wished the clerk good afternoon and walked briskly to the waiting rickshaw.

The bogus message read, when decoded²³:

"I have received telegraphic instructions from your owners for you to proceed straight to Rangoon, where you will unload steelwork, proceeding²⁴ thence to Port Sudan".

1 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

2 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

3 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

4 seaport   

n.海港，港口，港市

参考例句：

• Ostend is the most important seaport in Belgium.奥斯坦德是比利时最重要的海港。
• A seaport where ships can take on supplies of coal.轮船能够补充煤炭的海港。

5 natal   

adj.出生的，先天的

参考例句：

• Many music-lovers make pilgrimages to Mozart's natal place.很多爱好音乐的人去访问莫扎特的出生地。
• Since natal day,characters possess the visual elements such as dots and strokes.文字从诞生开始便具有了点画这样的视觉元素。

6 plover   

n.珩，珩科鸟，千鸟

参考例句：

• He wondered if the plover was the fastest bird.他想知道千鸟是不是最快的鸟。
• American plover of inland waters and fields having a distinctive cry.美洲内陆水域和牧场的鸻，叫声特别。

7 bluffs   

恐吓( bluff的名词复数 )； 悬崖； 峭壁

参考例句：

• Two steep limestone bluffs rise up each side of the narrow inlet. 两座陡峭的石灰石断崖耸立在狭窄的入口两侧。
• He bluffs his way in, pretending initially to be a dishwasher and then later a chef. 他虚张声势的方式，假装最初是一个洗碗机，然后厨师。

8 quay   

n.码头，靠岸处

参考例句：

• There are all kinds of ships in a quay.码头停泊各式各样的船。
• The side of the boat hit the quay with a grinding jar.船舷撞到码头发出刺耳的声音。

9 severed   

v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 wane   

n.衰微，亏缺，变弱；v.变小，亏缺，呈下弦

参考例句：

• The moon is on the wane.月亮渐亏。
• Her enthusiasm for him was beginning to wane.她对他的热情在开始减退。

11 secrete   

vt.分泌；隐匿，使隐秘

参考例句：

• The pores of your body secrete sweat.身上的毛孔分泌汗液。
• Squirrels secrete a supply of nuts for winter.松鼠为准备过冬而藏坚果。

12 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

13 slab   

n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上

参考例句：

• This heavy slab of oak now stood between the bomb and Hitler.这时笨重的橡木厚板就横在炸弹和希特勒之间了。
• The monument consists of two vertical pillars supporting a horizontal slab.这座纪念碑由两根垂直的柱体构成，它们共同支撑着一块平板。

14 bowling   

n.保龄球运动

参考例句：

• Bowling is a popular sport with young and old.保龄球是老少都爱的运动。
• Which sport do you 1ike most,golf or bowling?你最喜欢什么运动，高尔夫还是保龄球？

15 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

16 consigned   

v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃

参考例句：

• I consigned her letter to the waste basket. 我把她的信丢进了废纸篓。
• The father consigned the child to his sister's care. 那位父亲把孩子托付给他妹妹照看。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 crate   

vt.(up)把…装入箱中；n.板条箱，装货箱

参考例句：

• We broke open the crate with a blow from the chopper.我们用斧头一敲就打开了板条箱。
• The workers tightly packed the goods in the crate.工人们把货物严紧地包装在箱子里。

18 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

19 conjured   

用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现

参考例句：

• He conjured them with his dying breath to look after his children. 他临终时恳求他们照顾他的孩子。
• His very funny joke soon conjured my anger away. 他讲了个十分有趣的笑话，使得我的怒气顿消。

20 favourably   

adv. 善意地，赞成地 =favorably

参考例句：

• The play has been favourably commented by the audience. 本剧得到了观众的好评。
• The open approach contrasts favourably with the exclusivity of some universities. 这种开放式的方法与一些大学的封闭排外形成了有利的对比。

21 consignment   

n.寄售；发货；委托；交运货物

参考例句：

• This last consignment of hosiery is quite up to standard.这批新到的针织品完全符合规格。
• We have to ask you to dispatch the consignment immediately.我们得要求你立即发送该批货物。

22 demur   

v．表示异议，反对

参考例句：

• Without demur, they joined the party in my rooms. 他们没有推辞就到我的屋里一起聚餐了。
• He accepted the criticism without demur. 他毫无异议地接受了批评。

23 decoded   

v.译（码），解（码）( decode的过去式和过去分词 )；分析及译解电子信号

参考例句：

• The control unit decoded the 18 bits. 控制器对这18位字进行了译码。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Scientists have decoded the dog genome. 科学家已经译解了狗的基因组。 来自辞典例句

24 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。