Emily and the Lost City of Urgup

by Gerry Hotchkiss

  “Not fourteen, but July Fourteen, the celebration of the successful French Revolution, the beginning of the Republic rather than the Monarchy. Let’s pretend and celebrate it is the Fourteenth, no?, professor,” she added. “Indeed, we shall,” he said.

  Back in Cairo, the thieves were tried and convicted of attempted robbery of ancient artifacts. The sentence carried orders to receive five years in prison. Professor Dasam knew that the prisons of Cairo were notorious for unhealthy cells and food. Too many miscreants, people who had broken the law in many different ways, were sick the entire time they were in prison. He arranged that the four thieves would receive in place of a prison cell, daily work in the bowels of an ocean liner shoveling coal into its boilers for the same period of time.

  As Emily and Professor Witherspoon were dining on the top deck of the cargo ship, the four thieves were tied up below, to be sent to France and placed aboard the next French Liner leaving from Le Havre.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

  The True Facts

  EMILY, THE PROFESSOR, and Bibi found a small intimate bistro where an accordion player was singing French songs. After they were seated, Bibi excused herself and left the table. Emily spied her talking to the owner of the bistro who smiled and watched as Bibi returned to their table. Suddenly a very solemn march was played by the accordionist and everybody around Emily, including Bibi and the professor, stood up, standing at attention. Emily stood. When the music ended they all clapped and sat down.

  “What was that?” asked Emily. “It is the Marseillaise, our national anthem and I shall teach you its words in English and French. You must admit that it is far grander than Mr. Francis Scott Key’s?”

  “I think the Star Spangled Banner is just as thrilling,” protested Emily, although she secretly agreed with Madam Bibi,

  Before they left for Le Havre the next morning Madam Bibi strolled along the banks of the Seine with Emily. “Count the bookstalls, mon chere,” she said. “You can determine how civilized a city is by its number of book stores.” “You must come to our house, then,” Emily replied, “it is all books.” Madam Bibi gave her a curious look. Was Emily teasing her?

  They took a first class compartment in the train from Paris to Le Havre. It had its own special door inside and outside the train, plush velvet seats but not room for the luggage, which was in a special luggage car attached to the train. Emily watched the countryside roll by. Every piece of earth was under some cultivation. Fields of red poppies, yellow sunflowers, vegetables, walnut trees, vineyards swept by. “France has been called the breadbasket of Europe,” Professor Witherspoon noted. “A small country by our size, it uses every inch of soil to grow something.”

  That night they stayed at a small inn run by an elderly couple who offered a glass of wine to Emily along with the professor and Madam Bibi. The professor looked taken back until Madam Bibi said in French, “the young lady would like it watered down, if you please.” When it was returned the dark red color looked a dull pink, but Emily felt very grown up with her glass of wine. “This will be our little secret, no?” said Madam Bibi. “Oui,” answered Emily in her best French.

  Next morning they found themselves in the very same state rooms they had on sailing to Europe. Emily’s porter explained that the French Line prided itself on keeping records of every passenger that sailed with them. “Maybe you would like to see the whole ship?” he inquired. “We have an Engineer’s tour on Tuesdays.” Emily told him she would ask Madam Bibi, but was sure the answer would be yes.

  Tuesday morning, all three took the tour. There were seven stages, floors, with passenger rooms. The top two were First Class, the next two Cabin Class. She was on the upper of the two cabin class floors. Below that were three Tourist Class floors. Aft, or behind the tourist rooms, were the galleys where cooks prepared more than a thousand meals for every sitting. A sitting was the time when one was obliged to eat. Emily already knew that hers would be the last, the “civilized” last as Madam Bibi would say. Outside Emily’s floor was a promenade deck. Four times around was about one mile. Food was stored more forward on the ship. Some 60,000 eggs would be used during the voyage.

  Steam turbines powered the ocean liner and at the very bottom of the boat was the boiler room where Emily watched men bare to the waist, with handkerchiefs wound around their foreheads, shovel coal into furnaces belching hot air from the fires inside. “Look,” professor, “that man, third from the right, isn’t that Smiley Wiley?” “And the bald man next to him?” “What on earth,” said the professor. “I shall certainly inquire about the names of the men working here.”

  That night they were invited to sit at the Purser’s table. “This is an honor, Emily,” said Professor Witherspoon. The Captain entertains a select few of the First Class passengers just as the Purser selects a few of the Cabin Class passengers. So best bib and tucker.” Emily chose her favorite dress that Madam Dasam had made for her. Madam Bibi, too, was dressed to the nines, as the professor said, and he was in black tie and tuxedo. “Mon chere, let me fix your tie, it is so crooked,” said Bibi as she reached up on the tips of her toes, straightening his bow tie and giving him a short peck on his cheek.

  The professor told the Purser about the thieves they uncovered in Egypt. They looked like several of the men in the boiler room. The Purser noted that it was surely a mistake, a coincidental appearance, but that he would check out the names. At breakfast the professor and Emily ate alone, as Madam Bibi thought it barbaric to eat all that food so early in the day. The Purser showed the professor and Emily a list of names of the men working in the boiler room. There they were: Smiley Wiley, Butts Noggin, Rutts Noggin and Nutts Noggin. “Oh dear, oh dear,” said Witherspoon. “These are the men I spoke of. I know they were brought before the court in Cairo.”

  “I shall check with the Captain for an explanation,” said the purser. He returned quite quickly. “This will seem unusual to you. I know it is very strange to me, I have never heard of such a thing before. A Professor Dasam requested that the Court in Cairo change the sentence from five years in prison to five years in the boiler room of an ocean liner under strict supervision. The court obliged and the French line agreed. The Captain asked if you would join him at lunch on the Main Deck to explain further.” “We would be delighted,” said the professor.

  Although it was the first sitting, Madam Bibi was too curious to see how the First Class passengers lived not to join them at the Captain’s table. In this circumstance it was a very small table for six. The Captain, his First Mate, the Purser and the three of them. “I am really at a loss for words, Professor,” said the Captain. It seems that this Professor Dasam is a personal friend of the owners of the French Line, in fact I believe Dasam has shares in the corporation.” “Shares?” asked Emily. “The French Line is a corporation, a company. Individuals and other companies own part of the corporation with what we call shares.”

  “Anyway, Dasam’s request was accepted.” “Well,” said Professor Witherspoon, “the professor is also a very close personal friend of mine. In fact he was with us at the capture of those men. There must be a good reason for his request. I just hope and pray that you guard them carefully. They are very clever men.”

  In fact, as the Captain was talking, those clever men were plotting how to get out of the infernal boiler room. Each had lost at least five pounds in just the first few days on board, shoveling coal into the fiery boilers. “We’ve got one thing going for us,” said Smiley. “What’s that? asked Butts. “We’re all working the same shift. That’s the one time we are all watched. I think we’ve got to figure out an escape at nighttime.” They slept on hammocks over the screws, the huge propellers on steel poles the width of a tree trunk, that drove the ocean liner. Just fore of them was the laundry. “When the room is full of snoring boiler workers and the noise of the screws is at full blast, we’ll sneak into the laundry and exchange our clothes for those of stewards.” />
  That night around three am, the four thieves tip-toed out of their bunk room into the laundry. Dozens and dozens of machines were washing and drying clothes. They stopped two in a wash cycle and used sheets to clean themselves from dirt and grime of coal dust. They put their dirty clothes into the machine and turned it back on. Naked they snuck around the room looking for newly pressed stewards’ clothes. Several times they hid as a laundress came by with soiled linens. There, ahead of them were women ironing sheets, pillows, linen and shirts. Nearby were trousers and coats, hanging on steel poles.

  Smiley saw a brush laying by his feet. He picked it up and three it across the room. “A rat!” he exclaimed loudly. The women screamed and ran from the room. Quickly the men grabbed shirts and ties and socks and coats and suits and underwear and left the room. Between the four they were able to assemble steward’s clothes with a reasonable fit if one didn’t look too closely. They found a stairwell that ran up all the floors to the First Class main deck. When they got there the door was locked. They went down to Cabin Class. That door, too, was locked. So they sat down on the steps not knowing what to do.

  A steward came scampering up the stairwell. “You late, too?” he asked in French. Smiley nodded, since he didn’t know what the steward said. The steward took out a key. It looked more like a bolt. It was long and the end was filed into four sides which slid into the door lock. Turning the key opened the door and the five men ran up to First Class where the key also opened the door. Smiley ‘accidentally’ bumped the steward when he opened the door and Rutts pick pocketed the steward’s key into his own trousers. The men knocked on doors until they found a room with no reply. A maid approached and in French explained that the cabin was empty. When Smiley looked confused she took out another key and opened the cabin door pointing to the empty room. Smiley tried the bump again but the maid slapped him in the face and while Smiley opened his arms in sincere regrets, Rutts slipped his hand into the maid’s gown and extracted a set of keys. She stomped off in a fit.

  “We had better look for an empty cabin elsewhere, away from that ‘battle axe’,” suggested Butts. The thieves went down the stairs to Cabin Class, where they found another empty cabin. The set of keys apparently opened all of the doors. “We’ll settle in here,” said Smiley. “But how will we eat?” asked Nutts. “Lots of passengers eat in their state rooms. They put what they don’t finish outside their door. We’ll eat that,” said Smiley.

  It wasn’t long into the day before the men were missing from their work shift. Filthy clothes had left stains on linen in the laundry room and several stewards were asking for their coats and trousers. When this was reported to the Captain he was enraged. “Somewhere among thousands of passengers and crew are four henchmen, probably dressed as stewards, but who knows what steps they are taking right now before our eyes to deceive us further?” he commanded.

  “I do not want our passengers to hear about this. It will unduly frighten them. These men are not killers, they are thieves. So we must suggest that passengers be especially wary of leaving valuables where they might be purloined. In any voyage there may be, among the passengers, men or women who use the relaxed nature of an ocean voyage to steal. Just as we warn the passengers about card sharks, people who will cheat at playing bridge or poker.”

  Taking the purser aside he added, “but we must tell the true facts to the professor and his party.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

  A Trick Overdone

  THE NEWS OF the escaped thieves was received with some trepidation. Professor Witherspoon asked the Captain how they could insure Emily’s safety, since the thieves had tried to kidnap her in Egypt. “This is a difficult problem,” said the Captain. “We are happy to provide you with two stewards who will keep a close eye on her, but the stewards will not be armed.” Emily spoke up, “Professor, we know the thieves are on the ship, but they do not know we are here, also.” “We shall take no chances anyway,” the Captain went on.

  “It appears that the thieves are hidden somewhere in Cabin Class,” the Captain said, “ so if it is all right with you, I shall move all three of you to First Class, where it will be easier to keep a watch for anything that might appear unusual.” This was readily agreed to, especially by Madam Bibi who discovered that the last sitting in First Class was even later than in Cabin Class.

  Steamer trunks and other personal items were moved without incident and two young and very handsome stewards were assigned to keep watch over Emily. They showed her the First Class swimming pool which included the largest towel Emily had ever seen. It wrapped around her twice from head to toe; she looked more like a mummy than a young girl. On the promenade deck there was skeet shooting. Black plate-like discs were tossed out into the ocean and men and women tried to hit them with shot guns. When they hit a plate it would shatter into a hundred pieces dropping into the ocean. Further on were shuffle board matches. On the floor were squares and rectangles marked with numbers 5, 10, 30, 50. Contestants held long poles that spread out at the end with a curved flat wooden edge abutting round shuffles or discs. By pushing the disc forward towards the squares and rectangles, people tried to land a disc on a square with a high number. Most landed outside or beyond any of the squares.

  Back in Cabin Class, Smiley and his gang were restless. The two beds in their cabin were too small for more than one person, so they took turns sleeping. The fact that there was no soap or toothpaste didn’t bother them. They rarely washed their bodies or their teeth anyway. But they were bored just sitting around, hidden in the empty cabin. One or another was forever leaving the state room in search of a food tray outside another room’s door. By now they had accumulated fifteen trays and were tired of eating leftovers, cold coffee, luke warm tea, stale breads with marmalades and strawberry preserves.

  “I’m going up to First Class,” said Butts. “There’s gotta be something better to eat up there.” “Well, keep your eyes peeled and come back soon,” replied Smiley. Butts took the steward’s pass key and went up the stairs to First Class. The top floor was empty of discarded food trays, but on the lower one he spied a large platter with smoked salmon, peeled shrimp and even a half full bottle of red wine. As he was picking up the tray he bumped into a small lady. “Excuse me,” he said in English.

  “Do I look English to you,” the lady responded in a French accent. He bowed his head and left her standing, staring at him. He didn’t mention the incident as the four men devoured the leftovers from the large platter. “Well done, Butts,” said Smiley as he grabbed the wine bottle from Nutts’ hands, “a feast fit for four gentlemen travelers.”

  Professor Witherspoon, Madam Bibi and Emily were sunning themselves in lounge chairs, reading books and magazines. “Ernest,” said Madam Bibi, “I saw the strangest steward this morning. He was well dressed but had on the dirtiest shoes one could imagine. They looked more like workman’s brogans than the highly polished shoes of a steward. And he was not very observant. He inadvertently bumped me and apologized in English. English, can you imagine. If you will excuse me, dear Emily, I really do not like being compared to an English lady in her dowdy hats and dresses.”

  “He must have been one of the thieves,” said Emily. “They couldn’t change their shoes even though they dressed as stewards.” “What was he doing?” she asked Madam Bibi. “He was collecting an empty tray from outside the door of a stateroom,” she replied. “Well, I doubt he was a thief, then,” Professor Witherspoon added. Emily thought more about it. Why the dirty shoes. Why speak English to Madam Bibi who was so French in dress and manner.

  “The tray, was it completely empty?” Emily went on. “Oh I do not know. I just presumed it was empty since it was outside the door waiting to be removed.” “Suppose it had food on it,” said Emily. “If the thieves are hiding, where will they get food except from leftovers?”

  “Now that’s clear thinking,” Professor Witherspoon commented. “We shall talk to th
e Captain about this.”

  The Captain’s First Mate, listened intently to Emily’s surmise. “Let us set a trap,” he suggested. ‘We shall leave a large platter with lots of leftovers and two partially full bottles of red wine. But I will drill a small hole in the bottom and leave enough spilled wine on the platter that it will drip as the tray is carried away.” “What a first class idea,” said the professor. “Maybe that’s why he is the First Mate,” joked Emily. They all laughed and plotted the trap for that very night.

  Smiley Wiley was so happy with Butts’ provisions, he decided he would do the honors that evening. He put his steward’s coat on, buttoning it tightly against his protruding belly and smoothed his hair with small gobs of grease from the door hinges to the bathroom. Taking the pass key he went up to First Class. Not far away he spied the tray filled with so many left overs. What a catch! He picked up the tray and sped back to the thieves’ state room below.

  There were leftovers of roast duck, green beans, potatoes, steak, artichokes, asparagus, several cheeses, butter, fresh rolls and crackers. There was even a half filled small bowl of caviar. When they had had their fill, their bellies full, the four men lay around on the two beds celebrating their extraordinary good luck. “What was those little black things I ate,” asked Nutts, “kinda fishy tasting, but good.”

  “That was caviar, Beluga caviar, the most expensive thing you can eat,” answered Smiley. But then he sat straight up. “It’s a trap!” he cried. ‘Nobody would leave uneaten caviar on a tray.” He opened the door to the hallway. He looked up and down. Nobody was there. As he closed the door he saw the spots of red wine on the floor. He followed them, leading him right to the stairs to the First Class state rooms.