A small bell chimed, Kienttee looked up from his other chores to see a gray blue pigeon starting to feed heavily in the cote. Kienttee noticed the small bone cylinder attached to the leg of the pigeon and slowly moved toward it. Making gentle soothing sounds, Kienttee managed to grasp the pigeon without startling it. He removed the bone cylinder from its leg and returned the bird back to its perch. The bird ruffed its wings a few times, and held Kienttee's gaze with a stare of its own. Satisfied, the bird turned back to the feed as Kienttee set off to deliver the message.
Some time later, Mark Fairvictory, in stunned disbelief, had read the message from DeKabanbouy several times. It seemed to him that his first course of action was to notify Lord Swithington that his daughter was safe. Once that was done arrangements for a rescue expedition should be made. It should be done in haste, Fairvictory thought, the supplies that the Drake had carried wouldn't last long. He simply could not imagine that this uncharted island could be large enough to support the shipwrecked crew indefinitely.
Fairvictory remembered that a telegraph line had finally been strung into Capetown. He visited the office and sent a wire to Lord Archibald Swithington describing the message received about his daughter and the rest of the Drake's crew. The wire from Fairvictory to Swithington was repeated from office to office until it reached England. But also during this time, his message was intercepted and sent off to other expansionist governments by agents that were paid to eavesdrop on their behalf. In a matter of days, several governments of Europe knew about the shipwreck and its location. Speculation grew about this "uncharted island" and what else may be found in the region.
After sending the wire, Fairvictory visited the East Indies company to see if a ship was available to use for rescue. At this time there were none in port, but the RMS Smytheton was due any day. This steamer was under the command of Captain Trevor Swetham. Fairvictory knew him to be a good pilot, if a bit taciturn and humorless. Nevertheless, Fairvictory was convinced that the aid of Swetham could be enlisted. So he began his visits to the various shipping offices in Capetown to arrange provisions and supplies as quickly as possible for a rescue. Soon the whole town was buzzing about the shipwreck and the island that was not on any map.
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