The Mystery of the Locked Steering Wheel
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 3891
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Fred readied himself to jump into the horde of pirates that stood
before him and kill
as many as he could before they killed him. He only wished that he hadn't
just thrown his
sword away. Just as he was about to leap at the nearest man though,
Captain Roberts
broke through to the front of the crowd and shouted for everyone to stop.
The
commanding voice brought everyone to heel, including Fred. The captain
then looked up
at the bleeding but defiant nobleman. He then glanced over at the pilot's
wheel.
"Planning on steering us away from our prize?" the captain asked. "That was the idea," Fred answered bravely. Roberts shook his head with disbelief. "Uh, you've never been on a ship before, have you?" Fred frowned, wondering why he was asking. "No." "Do you know what you're standing next to?" Roberts asked as if Fred didn't know the answer. "It's a steering wheel," Fred replied without hesitation. "Pilot's wheel," Roberts corrected him, "but yeah, it's a steering wheel all right. Now, how effective can it be, do you think, if we lock it down so it won't turn?" Fred blinked, he had asked himself the very same question when he first ran up to the wheel. "Um, not very?" "Quite right," Roberts smiled and nodded. He then called out in a loud voice, "Oh Billingsley." "Aye Cap'n?" a voice answered from the deck above Fred's head. "Is our course still set for the merchantman?" Roberts asked the ship's pilot. "Aye, straight as an arrow," was the reply. "Thank you, carry on." The captain now turned his full attention back to Fred. "You impress me, King's Man. You're brave, agile and quick, and stupid enough to confuse a ship's pilot's wheel with an emergency spare. I would have thought the fact that there was no pilot next to it would have tipped you off. Maybe you were just too busy killing my men to notice." "Well I was kind of preoccupied," Fred replied with a smirk.
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WolfRun
8/21/1999 1:45:44 AM
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