Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Approaching the Target

On October 10th, it was already the ninth dawn after the boat set sail again.In the first eight days, the boat traveled about 700 kilometers.They are getting closer and closer to the city of Ruse.It will arrive this evening. Nothing seemed to have changed on board, everything was still the same as before, and it was still carrying the two traveling companions: Serge.Radko and Carl.Dragosh, they each recovered the fisherman Ilya.The identities of Brush and the good-natured Mr. Jager. However, Serge.The way Radko played the role of the fisherman made Karl.Dragos couldn't sit still more and more, because Radko seemed to be hypnotized. In order to get to Ruse as soon as possible, he kept paddling and paddling day and night, completely ignoring the most basic camouflage measures.Not only did he take off his sunglasses, but he also didn't shave or dye his hair.This made the change in his appearance more and more obvious during his imprisonment. His black hair became lighter day by day, and his blond beard grew so long.

It would be natural if Dragos expressed some surprise at the change in the fisherman.But he said nothing, determined to follow this path to the end, and decided to ignore it. When the detective and Radko come face-to-face, Dragos's original views are visibly shaken.It was becoming more and more difficult for him to believe that his traveling companion was a criminal. The accident that happened when he entrusted the Sarka police station to investigate was the first reason for his change of mind.In fact, Dragos himself also visited Sarka privately.He was not as easily satisfied as the Grand Police Superintendent, so he made tireless visits to the townspeople, and the answers he received could not help but entangle him in a mystery.

There was a man named Elijah.Brush's people have a very regular life and daily life, and he settled in Sarka.There was no doubt that he had left Siegmaringen shortly before the Big Fishing.After the competition, especially on the night of August 28th and 29th, this Ilya.Has Bush come home?Regarding this second question, there are different opinions and no consensus.His nearest neighbors seem to remember that one day at the end of August, after the fisherman's house was locked up for more than a month, they saw the light come on again in the house.However, they couldn't be sure of anything.All the information he inquired was ambiguous and uncertain, which naturally made the detective even more at a loss.

There is a third doubt that needs to be clarified.Who was the Grand Police Commissioner who had talked to someone at the address given by the defendant?In this regard, Dragos did not collect the slightest circumstantial evidence.Since many people in Sarka know Ilya.Brush, then even if he came back, he must have come back that night and left that night.Because no one in town had seen him.The appearance of such a mysterious figure was suspicious enough in itself, but another incident happened next, which deepened Dragosh's doubts.He learned from the owner of a small inn that on the evening of September 12, thirty-six hours before the Grand Police Commissioner came to investigate, a stranger had asked the owner about Ilya.Bush's address.To make things even more complicated, under the police detective's questioning, the appearance of the stranger described by the boss was very similar to the rumored leader of the Danube Gang.

These circumstances left Dragos in deep thought.He was about to sniff out doubts. He instinctively felt that he had encountered a sinister conspiracy. Although the purpose of this conspiracy was not clear, it was not impossible to say that the defendant Brush was the victim of this conspiracy. This suspicion was intensified when he returned to Semling and learned how the preliminary hearing had progressed.The defendants were detained for a total of twenty days, and the interrogation still went nowhere.No accomplice was found.None of the witnesses definitively identified the prisoner either.The charge against him was still that he had disguised himself and possessed a portrait of a woman bearing Radko's name.

Previous conjectures, if confirmed by new facts.Of course it will be very valuable, but if it is limited to these points without development, it will not make much sense.After all, perhaps he had good reason for disguising himself and preserving the portrait. In this state of mind, Dragos easily felt sympathy for the accused.Therefore, Dragosh could not help but be deeply moved by Radko. Radko was in a situation where even the closest friend should have to be apologetic, but he gave Dragosh so naively. trust. Besides, could he combine this kind of compassion with his duty, and return to his original position on the fishing boat.If Elijah.Brush is really called Radko, and this Radko is really a bad guy, so Carl.Wasn't Dragosh in the same boat with him, secretly pursuing his accomplice?On the contrary, if he is really innocent, follow his boat, maybe he can catch the real criminal, because the last Sarka incident proved that there is something strange about it.

Although the analysis of the matter is a bit peculiar, it is not completely illogical.Furthermore, Radko's grief-stricken appearance, his superhuman courage in order to complete the amazing escape, especially the heroic and simple qualities he showed in rescuing the drowning Dragos last time, also seem to illustrate What, Dragosh's life was given by this unfortunate man.But at this moment, he was standing in front of him, gasping for breath, with blood dripping from his hands, and sweat dripping from his thin face.Can I repay kindness with grievances and send him to hell again?Detectives can't do that.

bring it on!The detective said curtly, in answer to the deserters cheering his name, while pulling him toward the river. During the last eight days the two traveling companions had spoken little, and Radko was always silent, concentrating all his energies on rowing the boat to gain speed. It took Dragos some thought to extract from Radko little by little the unexplainable encounters he had had with the detective after they parted ways at the Fork of the Ipoli.Radko told how he was inexplicably detained on an unfamiliar barge, and after escaping, he was held in Semlin Prison for several days.Those who insisted that they had seen him in the area between Budapest and Semling were lying.Because during this journey, he has been held in a barge with his hands and feet bound.

After listening to this story, Carl.Dragosh's original thoughts developed more clearly, and he couldn't help but connect the damage done to Brush with the meddling of Sarka's criminal-like figure.There was no doubt that the fisherman had been a nuisance to someone, and had been the free target of this strange enemy, whose physical features seemed to closely match the real bandit leader. Dragosh's reasoning was getting closer and closer to the truth. Although it was too late to test, at least he felt that his previous suspicions were becoming less and less credible. However, he had no intention of leaving the fishing boat and returning to start other investigations again.The detective's sense of smell told him that the course was correct and that the fisherman might be innocent.But in one way or another he was involved in the Danube gangster incident.In addition, the upper reaches of the Danube were peaceful, and the occurrence of several consecutive cases proved that the criminals were originally going down the river, at least as far as Semling.From this, it can be speculated that during the period when Bush was in custody, most of the gangsters would continue to flee downstream.

Dragosh's speculation is not wrong at all.Ivan.The bandits of Striga are indeed continuing to approach the Black Sea.He had left Semlin twelve days before the skiff.However, the advantage of these twelve days was slowly weakening, and the distance between the two boats gradually shortened. Radko rowed desperately, and the boat was gaining time day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, and it was unstoppable. Radko had only one goal, Ruse; he had only one thought, Nadya.If he had neglected the steps he had taken in the past to hide his secret identity, it was because he had no desire to take any more.Besides, what's the use of concealing your identity now?After being arrested and escaped from prison, he used Ilya.Could the name Brush be hotter than Serge?Is the name Radko safer?No matter which name he uses, from now on, he can only sneak back to Ruse City in secret, otherwise he will be arrested immediately.

He had made up his mind, and during these eight days, he just kept his head buried in his journey and had no intention of admiring the scenery on both sides of the river.All he noticed was that the boat had sailed past the white city of Belgrade, which sat on top of the hills.The Konark Palace on the top of the hill overlooks the whole city, and the suburbs of the city by the river are the distribution centers for bulk commodities.The reason why he noticed Belgrade was because it was the border of Serbia, Izar.Mr. Rona's influence cannot extend here. After this, Radko never looked across the bank again. He did not see Semendria, the ancient capital of Serbia, famous for its viticulture, which surrounded the city;Bury the dragon's body in this cave; he did not look at Orshok, the banks of the river downstream of which had once been the two provinces of the Ottoman Empire, between which the Danube ran, and which were later separated. became an independent kingdom; he did not see the Iron Gate, which is a famous canyon belt, the cliffs on both sides are like knives and axes, pierce the sky, and the Danube rushes through it, surging, hitting the dense rocks in the river bed, and the waves splash; He did not see Vidin, the first important town in Bulgaria he passed through; he did not see Nicopoli, nor Sistova, the other two important towns in Bulgaria that he had to pass through upstream of Ruse. He preferred to sail along the banks of the Serbian river.He felt that it was safer here, and sure enough, he was not checked by the police all the way through the iron gate. The first trouble came in Orshova when a boat from the Danube police came and ordered the fishing boats to stop.Radko was terribly worried, and while he was ordered to stop the voyage, he pondered in his mind how to answer their necessary questioning. But they didn't even ask a single question, and at Dragos' word, the squad leader bowed respectfully and stopped the search. It was astonishing that a citizen of Viennese should be able to dispose of the power of the state at will, but the navigator did not even think about it, but congratulated himself that he had passed this test so successfully, and that there was something in his favor. The absolute power of the human body is at work as it should be.Therefore, he was not surprised, but only impatient, to see the policeman talking endlessly with his passenger. The police organization of the Danube also honored Izar.Mr. Rohner (who was furious at the defendant's escape) and Carl.Dragos ordered the Danube to be on guard.A monitoring post was set up at intervals, and ships traveling on the river had to pass through this series of checkpoints. Among them, the Orshova station was the most important. The river here was very narrow and easy to check, so no boat could After careful inspection, it is impossible to pass here. After Dragos asked some information from his subordinates, he felt very unhappy because he knew two pieces of news.First, these strict inspections were fruitless; second, a new case occurred in Romania two days ago, a rather serious theft, committed at the mouth of the Girel River, almost exactly in the Bulgarian city of Rehova on the opposite side. In this way, the Danube gang has successfully slipped through the net. This group of robbers is not only in the habit of looting not only gold and silver, but also valuables of all kinds. Therefore, their stolen goods must have been of considerable size.But every ship was carefully inspected, and no trace of stolen goods was found, which is really incredible. However, it does. The bandit's methods are so clever, Dragos can't help being stunned.However, it must be acknowledged that the criminal movements of the gangsters show that they are fleeing downstream. The only conclusion that can be drawn from these facts is that action must be taken quickly. The time and place of the most recent crime suggest that the perpetrator was less than three hundred kilometers ahead, according to the time of Brush's imprisonment, that is, the Danube. It can be inferred that the speed of the bandits in the river basin took the opportunity to travel, and their speed was only about half of the speed of the small fishing boats.So it's not impossible to catch them. So the boat didn't wait any longer, and went on sailing immediately.In the early hours of October 6, the boat had already entered the Bulgarian border.Before that, Radko sailed as close to the right bank as possible. From now on, he will try to sail as close to the Romanian river bank as possible; but starting from Lom︱Paranka, there is a series of swamps about eight to ten kilometers wide so that the boat cannot get too close to the river bank. Since entering the Bulgarian waters, although Radko is still very focused on rowing, the scene on the Danube makes him feel a little uneasy.Many small motorboats, as well as torpedo boats and even gunboats, sailed up and down the river under the Ottoman flag.The Turkish Government, anticipating that it would be at war with Russia in less than a year, has therefore prepared for the rainy day by starting to monitor the Danube now, and will soon form a real fleet. There were risks either way, but the navigators preferred to avoid the Turkish ships, even if it would fall into the hands of the Romanian authorities.Mister Jaeger might be able to protect him, as he had done last time in Orshova. However, the time did not come when the passengers could be tested again, and the last part of the voyage passed without incident.About four o'clock in the afternoon on October 10, the fishing boat finally approached the city of Ruse; it was just on the opposite bank, faintly visible.The navigator steered the boat to the middle of the river, and then, for the first time in many days, stopped rowing and dropped the anchor into the bottom of the river. What's the matter?Dragosh asked in surprise. I have arrived.Radko answered succinctly. Where are you?But we haven't reached the Black Sea yet. I lied to you, Monsieur Jaeger, Radko told him bluntly that I never intended to go to the Black Sea. ah!The detective suddenly realized that his vigilance was raised again. Yes, I wanted to stop at Ruse when I set off.We have arrived. In which direction to Ruse City? Well, there it is.The navigator pointed to the houses lined with cities in the distance. If so, why don't we go? Because we couldn't go until after dark, I was wanted, hunted.If I went during the day, I might be caught as soon as I took the first step! Having said that, the situation seems a bit complicated, and it seems that Dragos was right in his original suspicion. Just like in Semlin, Dragosh muttered under his breath. As at Semlin, Radko agreed, flatly, but not for the same reason, I'm a man of integrity.Mr Jager. I don't doubt that, Mr. Brush, though one's reasons for fearing arrest are not always any better. I have done nothing wrong, Mr. Jaeger, argued Radeko calmly, and please forgive me for not telling you my reasons.I once swore to keep my secret, and I will keep it. Dragos made a gesture of extreme indifference and accepted the other party's attitude.Then the navigator continued: Mr. Jaeger, I believe you are unwilling to interfere in my affairs. If you are willing, I will send you to Romania, so that you can avoid the danger that I will face. How long are you planning to stay in Ruse?Dragos didn't answer him directly, but asked a question. I don't know, said Radko, if things go my way, I'll be back on board by daylight tomorrow, and then I won't be alone; if things don't go well, then I don't know what to do . I'm with you to the end, Mr. Brush.Dragos confessed firmly. Whatever you want!After Radko finished this sentence, he didn't say anything more. After nightfall, Radko took up the oars again and sailed towards the Bulgarian river bank.He anchored a little downstream from the last row of houses in the city.At this time, the night was already very dark. Radko's body and mind have already flown to the destination, and his every move is like a sleepwalker.His movements were crisp and precise, and without hesitation he did what had to be done and what had to be done, oblivious to everything around him or noticing that his traveling companion slipped away at anchor. In the cabin went.The outside world seemed completely lost to him, only his dream remained, and this dream, even in the dark, still shone brightly, and this dream was his home, his Nadya!What else in the world is there but Nadya? As soon as the bow of the boat touched the bank, he jumped on the bank, fastened the cable firmly, and walked away at a fast pace. Almost at the same time, Dragos got out of the cabin.He didn't waste a minute, but with his strong, thin figure and clumsy, slow manner, he was a copy of a Hungarian peasant. Who could have guessed that he was a police detective? He also jumped ashore, followed in the footsteps of the navigator, and followed again.