Their Lordships Request: A Harry Heron Adventure (48 page)

***

             
For
a
week
after
leaving
Ascension
the
ships
had
an
escort
of
the
frigate
birds
native
to
the
island,
Fregata
Aquila
,
as
Mister
Bentley
insisted
on
calling
them.
It
was
during
the
slow
days
as
they
crawled
through
the
nearly
windless
area
skirting
the
doldrums
that
Harry
and
Kit
discovered
that
the
Parson
was
also
extremely
knowledgeable
in
the
field
of
astronomy.
Both
took
advantage
to
learn
more
of
the
stars
and
constellations
important
to
them
for
navigation
and
in
the
process
learned
that
a
ships
longitude
could
be
calculated
by
measuring
the
ascent
of
Venus
and
its
progression.

             
"
Ah
yes,
"
Mister
Bentley
informed
them
kindly.
"
The
invention
of
the
chronometer,
convenient
though
it
is,
has
done
us
the
disservice
of
rendering
an
entire
branch
of
mathematics
redundant.
"

             
"
Aye,
so
it
has.
"
The
Master
loomed
next
to
them
as
they
discussed
this.
"
But
it
required
an
uncommon
amount
of
ability
to
calculate
it
all
using
the
complex
tables
and
took
no
account
of
those
times
when
you
could
not
measure
the
blessed
planet
at
all.
"

             
"
A
true
argument,
Mister
Wentworth,
"
Mister
Bentley
responded.
"
But
you
must
concede
that
it
gave
a
result
more
accurate
than
your
best
chronometer
can
hope
to
do.
"

             
"
Nay,
Reverend
sir
,
I
cannot
allow
that.
The
calculations
were
too
complex
and
few
could
perform
them
with
the
accuracy
needed.
With
the
chronometer
and
the
log-line
I
can
tell
the
longitude
in
a
fraction
of
the
time
and
accurate
enough
to
boot.
"

             
The
two
Midshipmen
listened
in
awe
to
this
friendly
argument
as
it
progressed.
Later
they
would
learn
that
these
two
men
had
formed
an
unlikely
friendship
based
on
mutual
respect
and
a
shared
love
of
the
mathematics
and
the
study
of
the
stars.
As
the
voyage
progressed
they
and
several
others
of
the
younger
members
of
the
Gunroom
benefitted
from
both
the
friendship
and
the
easy
desire
they
shared
to
impart
their
knowledge
freely
to
any
and
all
who
showed
interest.
Harry
'
s
mathematical
ability
in
particular
drew
the
interest
of
both
men
and
they
encouraged
him
to
copy
some
of
their
precious
mathematical
tables,
even
showing
him
how
to
calculate
the
logarithms
and
the
antilogarithms
necessary
to
carry
out
the
more
complex
mathematics
needed
for
precision
navigation.

             
But
the
parson
'
s
interest
in
the
stars
and
planets
enthused
both
Harry
and
Kit
particularly.
Clear
evenings
frequently
found
them
in
the
Main
Top
with
one
of
the
heavy
telescopes
studying
whatever
planet
they
could
find
and
bring
into
focus.
Harry
found
himself
wondering
whether
any
of
the
strange
worlds
the
glass
revealed
harboured
people
and
if
so,
what
they
may
be
like.

             
"
Do
you
not
wonder,
Kit,
"
he
asked
as
they
studied
Jupiter
with
its
whirling
clouds,
"
What
a
being
who
lived
on
that
place
would
look
like?
"

             
"
Aye,
and
I
think
it
may
be
like
the
fantastical
beings
once
supposed
to
live
in
the
South
Americas.
"
Kit
chuckled.
"
I
saw
a
book
once
in
the
Penny
Library
which
had
beings
with
no
head
and
their
mouths
in
their
stomachs,
great
thick
arms
and
dressed
as
savages.
Any
who
live
on
that
place
must
be
so
too.
"

             
This
provoked
a
friendly
argument
which
continued
on
and
off
until
it
was
time
to
descend
and
attend
to
duty
for
Harry
and
find
his
hammock
for
Kit.

***

             
The
voyage
followed
the
winds
for
the
South
Atlantic,
necessitating
a
long
sweep
toward
the
coast
of
Brazil
and
then
a
great
arc
toward
the
Cape.
The
lookout
sighted
the
famous
mountain
midway
through
the
Forenoon
watch
and
his
cry
from
aloft
brought
a
pause
as
the
hands
who
could
strained
to
see
the
distant
coast.