Read Online The 22 Letters by Richard; Clive; Kennedy King - Free Book Online

seemed to read his thoughts. “Be not anxious,” he smiled. “If the stars can guide great empires, surely they can steer your little ship through the night.”
    So the night passed, with the Chaldean patiently pointing out the constellations and Nun repeating their names, and the same with the greater individual stars, Altair and Deneb and Alphecca and Dubhe and Algol and Mirfak and Aldebaran and Betelgeuse. The watching sailors looked with awe and suspicion at their captain in deep confabulation with the mysterious stranger, and Nun had to detach himself from his studies now and then to see that the look-outs were awake or to give another star to the steersman to steer by; but he could feel already that this new knowledge was giving him power over his men. And he was so captivated by his lessons that he quite forgot he had not slept. But at last he noticed that it was his tutor who seemed to be losing interest, and was gazing fixedly over the stern of his ship.
    â€œThe lesson is finished for the night,” said the Chaldean. “The Bull is rising in the East, and I have my calculations to make.” And not until then was Nun overcome with a great weariness of body and mind, and having given the steersman a last star to steer by until dawn, he stretched himself out to sleep and dreamt of wandering among the Houses of the Virgin and the Twins, and encountering the Serpent and the Scorpion along the Milky Way.
    He did not sleep long, but when he woke the sun had risen astern, the easterly breeze still drove the ship through the blue waves, and all around was an empty horizon. Some of the crew were sleeping after having kept the night watches, but those who were awake turned their eyes toward him, with the unspoken question written on their faces: “Where are we?” They looked expectantly at him, as if awaiting new steering orders or adjustments to the sail—but Nun could think of nothing to do but keep driving westward. Indeed, he began to regret the absence of his newly made friends, the stars. The great blazing sun was comforting to see, but the higher he rose in the heavens the less helpful he was in keeping direction. Nun looked at the Chaldean, peacefully sleeping now that the stars were gone, but decided not to wake him. He took some breakfast, doing his best to look more confident than he felt, and told the boatswain to find the crew jobs such as splicing cordage and scrubbing planks to keep them occupied.
    All day the ship drove on, and all day the Chaldean slept, but now Nun took comfort from his presence and told himself that all must be well if his learned passenger slept so peacefully. At noon the sun rose so high that the masthead seemed to strike at it as the ship rolled to the port side, and all Nun could do was to keep the wind astern and draw as straight a furrow as possible through the blue sea, trusting that the wind was not playing him tricks but was still coming directly from the East. And after noon, when most of the crew were lying around forward, resting in the heat, the boatswain came aft to Nun and spoke to him quietly.
    â€œCaptain, you’re running into danger,” he said.
    â€œDanger?” Nun repeated. “The sea’s wide and clear of rocks, the sun shines and we’ve a fair wind. What’s this talk of danger?”
    â€œI daresay there’s no danger in the sea,” said the boatswain. “Not for me to say you don’t know where you’re going, sir, you and the foreign gentleman. But it’s the crew, sir. The men aren’t happy, not seeing land for a night and a day. They say we’re being driven west to barbarian lands, or worse still heading for the brink of the world, where the water goes over the edge. They want to know where they are.”
    â€œTell ’em they’re at sea,” said Nun curtly. “That ought to be enough for them. If they don’t like it they should have gone for soldiers or