This is a great story and very original. Submitted by our very own
EmpressWay to go, Julie! th:
“On cold and dark October nights when northwest gales do blow,
You can see the Royal Tar off Coomb’s Point all aglow.”
“The Royal Tar”
Tom Rowe
The Circus Ship
October 20, 1836
St. John’s Harbor, Nova Scotia
Captain Thomas Reed sat in his one bedroom apartment and listened to the horns of the ships leaving St. John’s Harbor. He was not known as a big drinker, but today as he unfolded and folded the letter in his hand, he contemplated a fifth glass of whisky. The words stayed the same no matter how many times his blood-shot eyes read them. Whether he wanted to believe it or not, the letter never changed and no amount of whiskey would make it. He knew he was sailing out in the morning, and the decision was solely on his shoulders whether or not the ship that he was in charge of would ever see the Maine coast.
The Royal Tar was not the most sought after ship for passage, but she was sturdy being only six months old. She was named for King William IV of England and was built by Tom & Magregor of Glasgow ship builders in St. John, New Brunswick. Being 164 feet bow to stern with a 24 foot beam, she was one of the finest passenger paddle wheels of the day. Captain Reed loved the Royal Tar and took great pride in his crew. In the short time she had been sailing the Atlantic route, primarily through the Bay of Fundy to Penobscot Bay, she had made a name for herself in speed. Moreover, passengers were completely satisfied sailing on the Royal Tar.
Her cargo for this trip was quite colorful. It was the close of the season for “Dexters Locomotive Museum and Burgess’ Collection of Serpents and Birds”, a highly successful circus that had been touring Canada for the past few months. There was not a finer form of entertainment around, and the show had enjoyed a season of sold out performances as all who viewed it deemed it one of “the greatest spectacles on Earth”. This show would book passage home on the Royal Tar. The cargo included several lions, a Bengal tiger, a gnu, Arabian horses, assorted lizards, snakes, two pelicans, two camels, monkeys, and Mogul the elephant. For entertainment purposes, the circus’s brass band would be on boards as well as 106 passengers.
At 8:00 AM, Captain Reed slowly walked up the landing into the harbor’s main office.
“Morning, Tom.” Frank smiled. Frank Gibson had worked at St. John’s harbor for thirty years. He was one of the few people, besides other ship captains, to address them by their first names. “Beautiful day to cast off isn’t it!”
“Sure is, Frank. Did my passenger and cargo list change at all?” Captain Reed asked.
“No sir and we have a problem. The circus elephant Mogul is too big to fit in any of the cargo holds. The crew was hoping you would allow him to stay here and be transported on the Majestic Sun tomorrow morning.”
“What did Burgess say about that?” Reed inquired.
“He wasn’t too happy and said if Mogul doesn’t sail, nobody with the circus sails.”
“I’ll have a talk with Burgess and see what can be done,” Reed replied.
Burgess was looking over the circus animals when Reed walked up behind him.
“How are you, Burgess,” Reed asked.
“Fine Reed, and yourself?” Burgess replied.
“Well, a beautiful day to sail don’t you think?”
“Beautiful day, indeed. Did you get things worked out for Mogul to sail?”
“Yes. They are worked out. Did you get the cage apart?”
“Yes, the one you are looking for has a white stripe down it. Just unscrew the top.”
“Yours is in there already?” Reed asked as he unscrewed the lid.
“Yes, and I told no one.”
“Me neither,” Reed said sliding the letter into the circular tube of steel and sealing it back. “I’ll have my crew load the elephant’s cage below deck in the master cargo hold. And,” Reed said patting Burgess on the back, “in three days we become very rich men.”
“You’re right. We will be. God help both of us.”
“Yes. God help us both,” Reed said.
Burgess grinned slightly and patted Reed on the back.
“See you on the ship, Burgess.”
“See you on the ship, Reed.”
Captain Reed walked back into the harbor office and looked out the window at the Royal Tar, “Tell the crew to remove three of the five lifeboats and put Mogul on the deck, Frank.”
“Sir, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Frank questioned.
Captain Reed turned around and sharply said “Have three of the lifeboats removed and put the damn elephant on the deck! We cast off in one hour.”
An hour later, Captain Reed made his way up the gang plank and eyed his passengers and cargo as the crew smirked and asked him if he had ever sailed on a “zoo ship” before. The playful nature of his crew allowed him to momentarily forget about the letter. The brass band played as the mooring ropes were released and the steamship Royal Tar, now affectionately deemed “The Zoo Ship” set sail out of St. John’s Harbor for Portland, Maine, it was October 21, 1863.
As the steamship paddled through the waters, the pilot’s son noticed, after testing the lower cock, that two of the boilers were getting dry. Not knowing what to do, he mentioned it to his dad who told 2nd engineer in charge, Mr. Marshall. Mr. Marshall, in turn, relayed the concern to Captain Reed who reassured them that everything was fine.
“If the boilers get low, the firemen will take care of them”, Captain Reed replied.
“But Captain, I think…”
“The boilers are fine. They are being taken care of,” Reed said agitated. Mr. Marshall walked up the stairwell – Captain Reed watched him exit with a heavy heart.
As he thought about the white striped bar in the cargo hold, a crew member called him to the bridge to see the weather.
Captain Reed peered at the October sky and knew that a witch was blowing in. The waves shortly built to gale force and he made the decision to seek shelter behind Eastport Harbor on Fox Island. Captain Reed checked the boilers, had them filled a little and when he thought it was safe, pulled anchor to sail again.
After three hours of precious time had been lost, and thinking that the weather had subsided enough to sail again, he pulled anchor from Fox Island to make it to Thomaston, Maine.
As he suspected, the boilers were overheating and a fire had started in the engine room. The smell of smoke hit the crew and they told the Captain there was a problem.
“I’ll check it out,” Captain Reed said as his panicked crew looked on. Alone, he made his way down to the engine room and sealed the doors behind him. He watched the fire develop until eventually it had engulfed the boilers. He returned to the bridge and, with as much excitement as he could muster, told the crew that the blaze had become out of control.
“We must warn the passengers!” the terrified crew said.
“Not yet, don’t cause an unnecessary panic,” replied Reed.
“But Captain…”
“I said no, not yet!”
The passengers were halfway through dinner before Captain Reed told them that they would have to abandon ship.
Panic soon set up amongst the terrified crew members as they remembered that three lifeboats had been removed for Mogul the elephant.
There is an unwritten law of the sea that states in moments of crisis women and children first, then male passengers, then the crew of a ship. This unwritten law has been put to the test for hundreds of years and only the most courageous and dedicated sailors obey it; courage among the crew of the Royal Tar on this night would reveal another unwritten law to rear its ugly head – “every man for himself.”
Fire was enveloping the Royal Tar in a deadly inferno when Burgess ran up to Captain Reed. “Reed, what is happening? This wasn’t supposed to happen like this!”
“Burgess. Relax. Just get in the lifeboat,” Reed replied calmly.
“We removed three of the damned life boats, and if I’m not mistaken, that is your crew rowing away with the one, and that only leaves one! What about the women? What about the children? You told me no one would get hurt!”
“Don’t make me tell you again! Get in the lifeboat. You’ll be fine,” Reed said pulling Burgess by the arm.
“No, I can’t do this! This is wrong! I want my animals!”
“This is no time to get a conscience! For the last time, get in the boat!”
Burgess whipped out of Reed’s grip and backed toward the rails. “I’m sorry, I just can’t do this. Tell Phineas I’m sorry.”
“Burgess! No!” Reed shouted running over to the rail, but it was too late. Burgess had fallen into the open arms of the icy Atlantic.
The crew members in the first lifeboat made shore four hours later; all were unharmed.
Captain Reed held control of the last remaining lifeboat, and as he spotted the revenue cutter Veto, ordered two crew members to row towards her. In panic and sheer terror, the men refused until Captain Reed threatened to throw any man who did not obey overboard.
Captain Dyer of the Veto was in shock to see the Royal Tar all ablaze. He steered toward the stern in an attempt to rescue the screaming survivors. The flames danced around his ship, but being loaded with a cargo of gunpowder, Dyer pulled his ship away from the Royal Tar rescuing only forty souls.
In all, thirty-two crew and passengers perished that night. None of the animals survived, and as Captain Reed watched the Royal Tar sail away to the open arms of the sea, he thought how his new life as Harbor Master in Saint John would be. For the sea never lets go of those captains without a price and an emblazoned memory; he wondered if the $700 he would receive for his heroic work during the fire was going to be enough to forget, in his mind, “The Greatest Spectacle on Earth”.
Youthful Optimism
Monday, June 26, 1972
Maple Ridge Estates, Madisonville, Louisiana
“Come on John, is this the best you can do?” I smiled holding up the water-logged little boat that had been buried in the Tchefuncte River behind our house for three days.
“Next time, Joan, I won’t put a roll of pennies in the keel to make it easy. The next one will have a scattered debris field and the ship will be wooden” John winked.
“Scatter whatever debris field you want, I’ll find your ship in one week!” I shot back.
“Really? One week?” John grinned handing me my next project.
I unfolded the sheet and started absorbing my clues.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, step right up and get ready to view the greatest underwater show on Earth!”
“Wait, you want me to find a circus?” I said quizzically.
“Keep reading, Joan” Ben said with a devilish grin.
“Let it Snow, let it Snow, let it Snow.”
“OK, so I’m looking for a circus that sank in the middle of winter. Great John.”
“I think you, Ben, and Alice have some work to do so I’ll leave you alone” John said laughing as he walked in the house.
I ran next door and found Alice sitting at her kitchen table working on a paper. I handed her the note and she looked at me puzzled.
“This is the weirdest one John has ever come up with, Joan” Alice said rolling her eyes.
“I know, isn’t it great? I told him we’d find her in one week!”
“One week! Are you nuts! Does Ben know about this one yet?”
“No, I’m fixin’ to go over there now.”
“I’m coming with you. One week, geesh Joan, who do you think we are, NUMA employees?”
“Not yet, but who knows, someday down the road...”
“Yea, right, and maybe one day someone will find the Titanic,” Alice sarcastically giggled.
When we arrived at Ben’s house, we walked straight to the back knowing he would be tinkering with his dad’s fishing boat.
“Ben, you are never going to get that old motor fixed,” I said grinning at his grease stained fingers.
“Of course I will. I’m waiting on a part that should be here next week,” he smiled.
“Well, speaking of a week, look what Joan got us roped into!” Alice interjected.
I handed Ben the clues and he just stared at them. After a minute, he folded the note back up and squinted at me through the hot Louisiana sun.
“One week, Joan, have you completely gone insane? Never mind, don’t answer that,” Ben said shaking his head.
“The only circus I know is the Barnum and Bailey circus, and as far as I know, it’s still alive and kicking as the greatest show on Earth,” Alice said in her best ringmaster voice.
We all had a good laugh at it, but deep down we knew we would decipher John’s clues come hell or high water.
Ben and Alice are my best friends. We have grown up together and have been finding my older brother John’s planted shipwrecks since we were four. John is eight years older than me, and for fun, he would bury Alice’s and my dolls in the yard and then draw us childish maps to locate them. John’s clues were so cryptic that after he graduated from Louisiana State University with a doctorate in maritime law, he was quickly snatched up by the National Underwater Marine Agency, or NUMA, to help them decipher clues to possible locations of missing ships and airplanes. Although most of his work kept him involved in the vehicles of the World Wars, he had a certain fascination with the odds and ends of the sea, primarily the sunken ships the world forgot about. It was this fascination of John’s that would bind Ben, Alice, and me for life.
A Fire Rekindled
May 16, 1980
The Chimes restaurant, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
“Well, well, well. Dr. Joan Smith, Dr. Ben Shoal, and Dr. Alice Rhobicheaux,” John grinned at us walking toward the table.
“Hey John, we were fixin’ to order another pitcher of Dixie beer. Pull up a chair,” I said hugging him. “Where’s Julie, I thought she was coming too?”
“She is. She’s picking up a couple of our coworkers at the airport. But I have something for the three of you,” he said throwing a box on the table.
We eyed it and began removing the paper, cutting the tape and staring at three old red hardbound books; each one had our names engraved on them along with a tiny engraved elephant. There was an envelope within each of our books that we took out and read silently.
Dr. Joan Smith
I want to congratulate you on receiving your Ph.D. in Marine Zoology. NUMA has no doubt brought on board a fine employee. I understand that eight years ago you told John that you would find his ship amongst the clues, and to my knowledge, you, Ben, and Alice have been unsuccessful. It is my wish now that you start the search again. This should get you started.
Sincerely,
“The Flying Santa”
P.S. John and Julie could use all the help they can get. The only thing they seem to find year after year is the Albany.
“The Flying Santa – Edward Snow,” I said. “Very clever John. Let it Snow, let it Snow, let it Snow.” I re-read the letter and thought about the promise I made long ago to John. As it turned out, Ben, Alice and I never found John’s hidden ship. Instead, we only found a very dirty and stained toy elephant embedded in the Tchefuncte’s far bank by the light house.
“Joan, Alice, look at page 99,” Ben said not even looking up.
Like robots, we flipped to page 99 entitled, “The Loss of the Royal Tar”. Alice grabbed my arm – all I could get out was “I see it, I see it!”
We closed the book and looked at John who was sipping on his beer.
“The Royal Tar, a circus ship, very clever John. Is this our first NUMA assignment?” I said grinning ear to ear.
“Are you kidding? You three couldn’t even find the toy, what makes you think you can find the real ship?”
“Easy, we’ll just look for the elephant!” Alice smirked.
“Sorry, Alice, the elephant has already been found,” John replied back. “But seriously, of course not. I might let you three have it later, much later. Find the toy ship I hid eight years ago and I’ll let you go after the real thing!”
I downed my glass and winked at John. “This is the ship you and Julie have been looking for all these years.”
“Bingo lil’ sis!”
“Well, if not the Tar, what will be our first assignment with NUMA?”
“You three will be involved in the search for the CSS Arkansas, CSS Louisiana, and CSS Manassas.”
“The civil war clads? They are supposed to be around Baton Rouge off the Mississippi River, right? That should be easy,” Ben shrugged downing his beer.
John grabbed the pitcher, refilled his glass and looked at the three of us with eyes as blue as mine. “If there is only one thing you three remember, it should be this. You will never find a ship until she decides she wants to be found. She will take hold of you and will stay with you like a good bad dream until every waking moment is spent thinking about her. Only then will she…”
“Goodness John! Do you ever stop talking?” Julie smiled walking up to our table.
Only Ben had the strength to get up and give her a big hug and shake hands with the two NUMA employees that were with her. Alice and I could only stare opened mouth at the men Julie had brought, to the point of our embarrassment. Julie sensed this and hugged both of us tightly.
As everyone sat down, our waitress came over and asked if we needed more to drink.
“Another pitcher of Dixie,” Ben smiled.
“And for you three?” the waitress asked Julie.
“Blackened Voodoo in a bottle here,” Julie said.
“Do you have Sauza?” said one of the NUMA employees.
“Sure do,” the waitress blushed.
“My Italian friend and I will have Sauza on the rocks with salt and lime, and two Dixie Beers. Thanks.”
“Hey guys, glad you could make it! This is Ben, Alice and my sister Joan. Show them how much fun looking for shipwrecks will be!” John laughed.
“Yes, please do,” Alice said, never taking her eyes off the stocky Italian and never blushing.
I on the other hand, did the blushing for both of us. “I’m sorry. Alice forgets she’s a scholar sometimes! We are in fact at a disadvantage, for you two know who we are and we never caught your names.” Although I was speaking to both of them, I couldn’t help but stare into the opaline green eyes of the man sitting next to the stocky Italian.
Julie smirked a little and almost spit out her beer in the process. Evidently, I wasn’t the first woman who had undressed this man with just my eyes.
“Sorry girls,” stated Julie. “Alice, Joan – meet NUMA’s special project directors, Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino.”
“Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino?!” Ben said. “Not the same Dirk and Al that fought against the Bougainville vessel Buras using the Stonewall Jackson steamboat?”
“One and the same,” Al said nodding.
“So why are you looking for the Civil War ironclads?” Ben asked.
“Well, to take a vacation really.” Al said. “It’s a hard job having to save Dirk’s ass year after year and I’m here to convince him that ironclads sink in the water and not above it.”
“What does that mean?” Alice inquired still staring at Al.
“Oh, a crazy notion Dirk has about an ironclad that is lost in the Sahara desert.”
“Not a crazy notion! It did and is still there.” Dirk grinned. He locked eyes with me and smiling said, “Ships have a bad habit of losing their way. More times than not, they can turn up thousands of miles from their intended destinations. Clues to finding wrecks are usually scarce and only when you allow yourself to look beyond the mind’s eye and beyond the written facts will they appear.”
“Is that true?” I asked.
“No, Dirk’s full of it. They are usually staring you right in the face and most people don’t see it.” Al leaned close to me and said, “Dirk never misses a chance to impress a beautiful lady.”
Dirk elbowed Al and shot me a smile that was full of the straightest, whitest teeth I had ever seen.
“Well, Dirk Pitt,” I said taking another drink of my beer, “job well done! I’m impressed.”
John and Julie stared at each other and rolled their eyes. “Well,” Julie said, “we are going back home. I’m tired and it’s a long drive. Do you think you can show Dirk and Al around town?”
“Not me,” Ben yawned, “I know when I’m a fifth wheel. I’m catching a ride back with the two of you.”
“No luck, Ben,” John said. “Julie and I are taking you to the River Rose to meet Rudi Gunn, the ship’s engineer, and he’ll walk you through how to use her equipment.”
“Well ladies,” Dirk said as he and Al stood up, “shall we?”
“Only if you ride with me, and Al rides with Alice,” I said.
“Why not all together?” Al asked.
Alice grinned, “Because we both drive two seaters!”
I gave everyone a big hug and joined Dirk who was staring at my car.
“Now this is a beauty!” Dirk beamed.
“Really,” I laughed, “what is it?”
“For one thing, this is yours. You and John share the same passion for sport cars,” he winked. “And what it is, is a 1979 BMW M1. Zero to sixty in 5.6 seconds, 3.5 liter straight six engine, 277 horsepower at 6500 RPMs, and 243 pounds of torque at 5000 RPMs. They only made 450 of these cars.”
“What, may I ask, do you drive?”
He smiled taking my keys, “Nothing as new as this.”
“Are you sure you can handle her?” I said sitting in the passenger’s seat. The engine roared to life as he adjusted the seat for his 6’3” frame.
“I think so,” he purred. “Now, why don’t you tell me about this dirty plastic elephant hanging on the mirror?”
“Oh – Ben, Alice and I found it buried on the banks of the Tchefuncte light house. It was one of John’s clues to a toy shipwreck of his we never found. Ben, Alice and I must have dug 200 holes around that lighthouse looking for the little ship.”
“Did you guys ever look in the lighthouse?”
I stared at him wide eyed and a huge grin came over my face. The idea was so simple – I was kicking myself for not thinking of it.
“OK beautiful,” Dirk said when we got to Stadium Road, “got a place where we can open this baby up?”
Still euphoric, I looked at the road. “Take a right, and go straight to River Road, turn left and let her go.”
Please, Not the Albany Again
Monday, September 24, 1984
NUMA Headquarters
Washington, DC, USA
“Hey Joan, you ready for a good one?” John said walking into my office throwing a folder on my desk.
“Sure, do I have to give you all the credit when I find her?” I smirked not yet opening the file.
“Hey, you, Ben, and Alice had just signed on to NUMA when the three of you located the Civil War ironclads, that’s why none of you got the credit. You’ve all come along way since then and you have the pictures on your wall to prove it. I promise you, if the three of you find this one, you can write your own story about her. If you need help, I have someone finishing up on another project that can fly out. And Joan, I know you’re good, but this girl has been elusive. Take all the help you can, here are your contacts.”
“Dirk and Al want to help? I thought they were still in Texas working on the Alexandria library recovery” I asked quizzically.
“If you need them, call them. And that tattered and torn book you keep in the top drawer of your desk – it might be time to re-read it.” John said seriously.
I saw the ship and stared in disbelief, “You are letting me go after the Tar? But John, I thought this was your and Julie’s baby? Why aren’t you coming with us?”
“Because, little sis, the weather in Africa is beautiful this time of year!”
“Ah,” I winked. So Sandecker gave you and Julie time off and now you’re going back to try and find the Waratah, right?”
“I can’t lie. My other favorite folklore and legend!”
We both laughed. I moved from behind my desk and gave John a big hug. “Good luck you two.” I smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
“You too, sis,” he smiled. He started to walk away but then turned back around. “What are you going to do if you find what you’re looking for?”
I leaned back in my chair, crossed my arms and shrugged. “Tell the world I guess. It didn’t hurt Abraham Lincoln’s reputation when Dirk and Al found him after 130 years in the Sahara Desert. No,” I slowly shook my head, “if we find the Royal Tar, I have a feeling the show will go on.”
John walked out and my mind was going in a hundred different directions. I quickly picked up the phone and a warm voice answered “Mirah here.”
“Mirah, this is Joan. Can you find out all you can about a steamboat called the Ceres?”
“Barnum’s old steamboat?” Mirah asked.
“Yes, I want to know how she sank and when. Ben, Alice and I are flying out today. Call me on the Star Search number 254-832-8753 *7.”
“No problem Joan. Give me two days and I’ll call you.”
“Oh, and Mirah, one more thing. Find out what you can about Saddleback Ledge lighthouse.”
As I boarded the ocean finder Star Search, that conversation with Dirk in my BMW about the lighthouse played itself out for the hundredth time in my head. The only thing I was sure of was that Ben, Alice and I would find the Royal Tar, or as it was known around the Isle of Haut, “The Zoo Ship” or “Circus Ship”, just to prove I was right about her sinking.
I knew a September sail wouldn’t leave much time for searching for the Royal Tar, but Ben, Alice and I were willing to work ourselves day and night if that’s what it took. Ben set up the proton magnetometer and I set up to run grids 4 square miles east of Fox Island, or as it’s now known, North Haven. I was hoping, although she was a wooden ship, to pick up on the iron in the animal cages and the boilers on board.
“So we’re looking for the Circus Ship, right?” Ben said releasing line for the cable.
“Yeah, that’s right,” I said staring at maps.
“Where’s John?”
“Out looking for another folklore and legend.”
“Legend? The Royal Tar? Come on, Joan, nobody knows about this ship and as colorful as the cargo was, it still didn’t stay in anyone’s mind when she sailed off, in a blaze I might add, into the waiting arms of the Atlantic.”
“Yeah,” Alice interjected, “well it didn’t stop people from wanting to find the chest full of gold she ‘was carrying’. Of course every ship that sinks was loaded with gold and silver, right?” Ben and I both chuckled at this.
“You still believe P.T. Barnum had a hand in it, don’t you?”
“You know I do, Ben, and once I find the Captain’s safe and the letter – the rest of the world will too. Set up our side-scan sonar to run grids 1 square mile east and south, and set up LORAN starting at 69.3° longitude and 44.4° latitude. JANE is ready if we find an anomaly, right?”
JANE, short for “Just Another Nautical Expedition”, is our ROV. Since it is probable the Tar lies in more than 350 feet of water, our dive crew was not on board for this trip.
Wednesday, September 26
After two days of running patterns, the magnetometer fluctuated.
“Joan, I have something!” Ben exclaimed.
“Please, not the Albany again! That ship’s been a thorn in my brother’s side.”
“No, this one is around 150, maybe 160 feet bow to stern. What was the Tar?”
“No luck Ben. The Tar was 164 feet, but she couldn’t be that intact.”
“I don’t know Joan, it’s a stretch but, if the boilers exploded, then it could have split the ship apart. Even in gale force winds, I can’t see the water drowning the flames.”
“How many boilers can you tell?”
“That’s the funny thing. I count three and none of them could have been used on the Tar or the Albany, for that matter.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
“If I’m reading these graphs right, these are Oval Donkey boilers, mostly found on American Paddle Wheeler steamers, like the Arctic, the Lexington, and…”
“And the Ceres,” I interjected.
“…And the Ceres,” Ben nodded. “Paddle Wheelers built in Canada used a cylindrical Scotch type boiler. Those types of boilers gave engineers easy access to the furnace doors, but because their feed pipes were so low and the safety valve too high up, any leaks that developed would cause the boiler to rapidly heat up, catch fire, and eventually explode.”
“Hold on, Ben. I need to make a phone call.”
The winds were kicking up and the Star Search rocked heavily in the Atlantic waves. I could not get anything but static on the ship to shore phone, so Ben, Alice and I thought it would be a good idea to call it a night and head into the safe harbor at the tip of southeast Vinalhaven.
We settled in at a local diner to grab some coffee and study the maps. “I just don’t understand it, why would the Ceres boilers be off the coast of Fox Island, Ben?”
“I don’t know Joan, and we don’t even know if they are from the Ceres. But if so, Barnum found a ship to drop them there. Now how or why, I couldn’t even begin to tell you.”
“He sure went to a lot of trouble, don’t you think?” Alice said.
A waiter, who looked to be in his late 50’s, dropped off three cups of coffee and stared at our maps. “You three looking for the Circus Ship, I imagine?”
We all stared at him, our cups halfway raised to our mouths. “You’ve heard of her?” Alice asked.
“Only because of the elephant that washed up across the water over there on Brimstone Island. My great-great-grandfather was there when it happened. Said it was the saddest site he ever saw,” he said as his eyes drifted off in thought. “One of the captains that actually rescued the folks off the Circus Ship was the keeper of Brown’s Head lighthouse for about twenty years. Quiet man I heard he was, but he built a lot of things on this island, donated lots of things around here, he sure did. Quite resourceful too; with his own hands, he picked up and recycled all the old animal cages that washed ashore with the carcasses. Said he didn’t want the children to see ‘em. Hell, we could never prove it, but a bunch of folks back then, and some old folks still today, believe he paid for the ‘First Water’ lighthouse,” he said winking
“Never heard of it,” Alice said.
“Yeah, folks around here call it that. Everyone else knows it as…”
“The Saddleback Ledge lighthouse,” I mumbled.
“So you’ve heard of it, pretty lady,” our waiter said as Ben and Alice stared at me. “Desolate little lighthouse. She was built three years after the Circus Ship sank. It’s the first lighthouse boats see when they come into the islands. The one thing nobody ever understood was why it was built without a foghorn,” he said scratching his chin. “I’m sorry kids. I’m just rambling on. I’m sure none of this means a thing to you. But it is funny – those two men in the booth across the way, can’t really see them from here, have been asking about the Circus Ship too for the past couple of days. Well anyways, can I get you some minced meat pie to go with your coffee? My wife makes the best around.”
“No thanks, just the check please,” I said.
“No need, it’s on the house. Nice to see youngsters like you interested in the Circus Ship. Nobody else seems to be.”
We left a tip and walked over to a booth where the two men sat. Alice lit up and ran over to cover Al with kisses.
Dirk was deeply inhaling a piece of minced meat pie. He winked at me and seductively said pointing the fork at the pie, “This minced meat is to die for!”
“What are you two doing here? I never called you,” I said.
“Well, Mirah has been trying to get in touch with you guys because she found some information about the Ceres that you might want to know. And Texas is still too damn hot this time of year! So, Al and I volunteered to bring you the information.”
“Well, what is it?” I said.
“Well, my little Cajun, she found out the Ceres sunk on October 18, 1862.”
“Wow Dirk, even I knew that! Why are you here?!” I said sarcastically.
“Because what you don’t know is she sank because her boilers exploded, and what’s even funnier, is that no one knows what happened to the boilers,” Dirk grinned taking another bite of pie.
“Wait, how can you know that?” Ben asked.
“Rudi has the proton magnetometer graphs with him aboard the Star Search. Go take a look for yourself,” Dirk told Ben.
“If Rudi is on the Star Search, how did you get here?” Alice asked.
“Helicopter, my love,” Al said. “We figured you already had a ship – we didn’t need one!”
Dirk just looked at Al, “Did you just say ‘my lo…’?”
“Wait, that still doesn’t explain why you are here,” I said crossing my arms.
Dirk looked back at me. “Let’s just say your elephant piqued my interest, so Al and I decided to come ask some questions. And I bet you three are getting ready to go to Saddleback lighthouse, so we are here to make sure you get there safely.”
“Why wouldn’t we get there safely?” I asked.
“Have you ever ridden in a bosun’s chair?”
“A what?” Alice asked.
“You’ll see. It’s the only way to get on the rock where the lighthouse is,” Al said.
“Wait,” I said. “Have you been there already?”
Dirk put the fork down and stood up seeing the deflated look in my eyes. He put one hand under my chin and I felt my blue eyes melt into his green.
“Joan, this is your ship. You, John, and Julie have spent countless hours searching and dreaming of this moment. I know your theory about Barnum and the Tar; I’ve read your copy of Barnum’s autobiography. You were the fresh eyes John and Julie needed. We all know your beliefs and we still think you’re full of it!”
I laughed a little at this.
“Seriously,” Dirk continued, “people spend their whole lives looking for ships they’ll never find. I think you’ll get lucky this time.”
I laid my head on his chest and breathed deeply. After a minute, I looked up and said, “John always said a ship will never be found until she wants to be found.”
Dirk looked around the table and said, “Well, I think I hear her calling your name.”
Our waiter came up to the table with a box and a bag full of food.
“What’s that for?” I asked Dirk as he paid the bill.
“Well, Rudi is hungry, and the box, well, the minced meat is to die for.”
Our waiter walked us to the door and said, “I hope you kids find what you’re looking for.”
Dirk shook his hand and said, “Thanks to you, we may have.”
I stared at them thinking how alike they looked. If it was not for our waiter’s graying hair and goatee, they could be twins. I’m sure in another life they could be father and son.
As the waiter watched us walk way, Alice turned to Al and said, “That guy was a really good waiter.”
Al looped his hand around her waist, “Waiter? That guy owns The Attic In!”
“Attic In?” I said glancing behind me at the sign. “Shouldn’t that be spelled with two Ns?”
Dirk and Al grinned at each other and said nothing.
Lion and Tigers and Bars, Oh My!
Wednesday night near Vinalhaven, Maine
We boarded the Star Search, and Ben, who left The Attic In early to help Rudi prepare for the trip to Saddleback lighthouse, ran up to me and gave me a big kiss before handing me several sheets of paper. “Read these Joan. Mirah sent them with Rudi.”
“Are these the papers about the Ceres?” I asked.
“No, the Ceres isn’t important right now, and it may not play a role in this at all. It’s about her former owner, Saddleback Ledge, and Captain Dyer.”
I read the contents as Dirk, Al, and Alice peered over my shoulder. “Dirk, this is it! The Tar and my letter are here! Look at this… Saddleback was built in 1839.”
“OK,” Al said, “What does that mean?”
I pulled out my copy of P.T. Barnum’s autobiography and flipped to page 334. “See here,” pointing to the text, “on the steamboat Ceres, Barnum made a quarter disappear. When he went in the next morning to get a shave, his barber on the boat asked him if he’d sold his soul to the devil. Barnum replied by saying, ‘Oh yes, we agreed for nine years and I haved served three of them already.’ Saddleback lighthouse was built three years after the Tar sank. And here,” I said flipping to page 209, “’Proler’ my ‘ex’ associate was a fine looking man, of plausible manners, but he proved himself a scamp of ‘the first water’.” I looked at everyone as I was pointing at the passage. “Why go into so much detail about a person? Barnum’s not talking about a person. When you put ‘Proler’ and ‘ex’ together, you’ll see it’s an anagram that spells ‘explorer’. Barnum’s not talking about a person; he’s talking about the Royal Tar.”
“Joan, I’ve known you since we were kids, and this doesn’t make any sense at all. Are you sure about this?” Alice asked.
“Let me finish! Our waiter mentioned that the locals call Saddleback lighthouse the ‘first water’. After Proler, Barnum goes on and mentions that ‘the details of discovery would possess little interest to the reader’. I think Barnum’s right. If we can find the Tar, we would find nothing on it! But the lighthouse is a different story! I want to explore the First Water lighthouse.”
“You know something,” Ben said, “I think she’s right. After all, Joan is John’s little sister. She’s had to live with deciphering his clues since we were kids. I think it’s time to cast off and see what a bosun’s chair is all about.”
It was a half hour ride to Saddleback and I took the time to absorb Mirah’s pages. I knew in my heart that the lonely rock of granite upon which the lighthouse sat was the key. The notes Mirah sent describes Saddleback as “one of the most remote and barren of all U.S. lighthouses.” I knew this was my place, but as we approached her, my heart sank. I wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of waves that pounded her as she blinked her light every ten seconds.
I walked over to Dirk shivering through my coat. “Why are we coming here at night?”
“Because the lighthouse is off limits to the public. We don’t want to be seen getting onto it. Come with me now, it’s time to go,” Dirk replied.
We met Al and Alice toward the bow of the ship and I saw Al holding Alice in one hand and tightly clutching a leather seat attached to a thick rope. He saluted Dirk and me before launching off the deck.
“What the hell!” I gasped. “Dirk, I’m not doing that!” I said watching Dirk grab the empty chair as it swung back.
“Oh yes you are! Think of it as a poor man’s amusement ride,” he grinned putting me in.
I grabbed his arm petrified, “Aren’t you riding with me? I mean, Al and Alice went together.”
“Yes, but Alice is only five feet tall – you’re five foot eight, if we break the rope, we’ll find the Royal Tar the hard way, by landing on her as we freeze to death and drown.”
“But, I…”
“Dirk! Joan! Hurry up so Ben and I can run side-scan sonar around the island. We don’t have much time!” Rudi yelled.
I clutched the rope for dear life and waited.
Dirk stared up at the sky pulling the bosun’s seat toward him. “Joan, I think now is the right time to tell you this – what I have to tell you is perfect for the situation at hand.”
I got butterflies and stroked his curly black hair, “What Dirk?”
“Me Tarzan,” he pulled the chair even closer, “You Jane!” and pushed me toward the shore into the waiting arms of Al who snatched me off with one arm. Thirty seconds later Dirk landed right beside us. We watched Ben and Rudi put the Star Search in reverse and throw out the blinking buoy.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Alice said shivering, “We’ve got a letter to find and less than six hours till sunrise.”
The wind and waves that pounded the granite shore were brutal and as we walked inside the lighthouse, we found the atmosphere there not much different.
“My God, how did anyone ever live here?” Alice said.
“I want to know why they would live here,” I said. “Alice, you and Al check upstairs. Dirk and I will probe around the cellars. Hopkins was the first lighthouse keeper here and in the report that Mirah sent, Hopkins stated that there were ‘two storage tanks made of pine wood placed in the cellar, one was tight and the other was leaky.’ I want to see the leaky one.”
I handed Al and Alice the papers to read and Dirk and I headed for the cellar. The tanks were situated low in the ground on the wall facing the boathouse.
“Dirk, look at this.” I opened the first door and peered into a room that hadn’t heard a child laugh in more than half a century. “A crib is still down here.” I reached for the second door, pulled on it, but it resisted. I looked down and saw an old cast iron pad lock. I pushed hard against the door several times and nothing happened. “Come on, damn you, open!” I screamed.
“Back away from the door, Joan.”
I turned around to see Dirk holding a gun level with the pad lock. I stood behind him as he fired two shots at it. The deafening sound echoed within the stoned wall cellar. When I looked at it again, the lock was hanging like a rusty swing with part of its chain missing. I ran over, removed it, and pushed hard against the door again. This time it opened. “Dirk, can you see that? That tank takes up three quarters of this room!” I pointed to a far corner of the tank that had over a hundred iron cylindrical bars lying on it. “Now we know why the padlock was on the outside, because there was never a cover on this tank and that’s why it leaked. Someone needed easy access to throw the bars into here.”
“What do you think they are?” Dirk asked.
“By the smell of rust on them, I would say they were used in the building of this lighthouse, since they were never made to handle the abuse of the Atlantic wind and waves, they merely broke off. Hopkins said this place leaked all the time and the iron bars the lighthouse was built with tended to rust and fall off.”
“So why would he keep them in here?” Dirk asked.
“He never knew they were in here. Captain Dyer did. It was Dyer. He had Parris build the lighthouse for Barnum. Parris is the same architect that built Boston’s Quincy Market and was hired to build this lighthouse. Barnum paid him $15,000 to do it, which was an incredible amount of money back then. I think Dyer knew that Captain Reed had hidden the letter Barnum had written to him somewhere on the Tar so it couldn’t be traced back to him in Canada. So where would be the safest place to hide it?” I said grinning.
“On the bottom of the ocean?” Dirk said.
“Very funny and true, but no. Think lions and tigers and ‘bars’!”
“Oh my!” Dirk laughed.
“Seriously, I think the letter’s in one of these bars.”
“Dirk. Joan. Come quickly! You have to see this!” Alice yelled.
We ran upstairs and saw Al and Alice staring at a blank wall. Confused, Dirk and I just stared with them.
“What do you see?” Alice grinned.
“Really ugly green paint,” Dirk said.
Alice poked him in the side, “Look! Right here! See this area is darker than the rest.”
“OK, so someone hung a painting there.”
“Not just any painting. This one right here – See the photo that Mirah sent?”
“OK, it was a painting of Hopkins,” I said.
“I don’t think so,” Alice replied. “Let me see the cover of your Barnum book.”
“The likeness is uncanny, I have to admit, but why do you think it’s Barnum?”
“Because,” Alice said, “the picture disappeared from here the same year Barnum moved into his new home.”
“Wait, you think the painting is hanging in Iranistan, Barnum’s old house?” I asked.
“Yes I do and I think Dyer’s note from Barnum just might be there too.”
“Speaking of letters,” Dirk commented, “Joan thinks she might have found the one Barnum wrote to Captain Reed. Come down to the cellar with us. We’ll need your help.”
We quickly found our way back down to the cellar room with the leaky tank.
“Wow!” Al exclaimed walking into the tank. “This is like a jail break gone bad! Find any bodies yet?”
“No bodies,” I replied, “but I think the letter is inside one of these metal bars. If I’m right, these were used in the circus animal cages.”
“How will we know which one?” Alice asked.
“I don’t know. Just shine your flashlights on them to see if we can find a clue. Let’s get to it. Ben and Rudi will be back in thirty minutes. Not only that, Dirk, look, the tide must be rising. I don’t remember this much water in here,” I said.
Al and Dirk frantically moved the bars out of the water as Alice and I inspected them.
“Ten minutes, ladies, that’s all we have!” Dirk exclaimed.
I pulled out the seventieth bar and saw a streak of white running down it. When Dirk walked over to hand me two more iron bars, he saw the clue as well.
“This is it! This is the one!” I exclaimed jumping up and down.
“Well,” Dirk said, “we need to inspect the rest of them before we leave to be 100 percent sure.”
After five minutes, we finished the last of the 168 bars.
“Nothing, none that looks like this one,” I said panting.
“How could Reed get a note inside an animal’s cage bar?” Alice asked.
“I don’t know, but look at this,” I replied. “It’s the only bar in here with a white stripe and screw-capped ends. Mogul the elephant couldn’t fit in his cage, so the crew had to take the cage apart. Because of his size, the cage was built by screwing two five foot bars together to fit his height. Reed would have had plenty of time to make sure his letter would be safe inside, and to make sure he bolted this one back onto the top of the cage so he could make sure it sank. He never imagined that Dyer would have Parris build this lighthouse using the same bars from the animal cages.”
“That’s because Reed never knew Dyer had a letter,” Alice stated, “but Dyer knew Captain Reed had one.”
“Well, I hate to break up our little tea party, but we need to go,” Al said. “Grab your trophy Joan. We’ll have Ben and Rudi open it on the ship.”
The wind was picking up as we walked toward the hoist that held the bosun’s chair. Ben and Rudi were waiting on deck to catch us.
“I’ll hold the bar. Get in the chair and get ready to go,” Dirk said to me.
We landed safely on the deck of the Star Search with Ben grabbing us off the chair and Rudi swinging it back to shore. Dirk was the last to land, and grinning, showed the rusted metal bar to Ben and Rudi and said, “Gentlemen, I will trade what’s inside this old rusted tube for what you’ve found under the ocean floor.”
“What makes you think we found anything?” Rudi said smiling.
“Because you both have Cheshire cat grins and you’re…”
“And they’re what?” Al asked walking up to stand by Dirk.
“Nothing else, they’re just grinning,” Alice and I said in unison.
“Let’s just say JANE had a rough ride, but she hit the jackpot,” Rudi stated. “JANE brought up pieces of wood that we will send back to NUMA headquarters to have carbon dated and to get the species of tree.”
“Joan, the only concern Rudi and I have is the fact we couldn’t find any iron anomalies to represent the iron in the animal cages,” Ben stated.
“We can help you with that piece of the puzzle,” Al said. “Our old buddy Captain Dyer tried to hide them in the lighthouse. Thanks to Dirk’s Colt .45, we found them all sleeping in one of the cellars.”
“Someone was there? You shot them?” Ben asked.
“No, let’s just say they really knew how to make locks back then,” Dirk smiled. “I hope our little rusted iron friend here opens much easier.”
Ben eyed the container and said, “Rudi, grab me a C-clamp and a pair of pliers.”
“Are you kidding?” Al laughed. “You could fill Lake Mead with WD-40, drop our tube in it for a year and you still wouldn’t be able to unscrew it. Rudi, get me a saw.”
Ben clamped the tube down onto the table leaving three inches hanging over the side.
“Ready boys and girls?” Al said putting the saw on the top of the tube. “This will be like taking candy from a baby.” Al had never been more right. Over a century of bobbing in the water of the cellar had taken a toll on the iron tube. Al worked the saw in a circular pattern around it so to not accidentally cut the paper, if there happened to be one inside. Al completed the last cut and the tip of the container hit the floor and rolled to the corner.
Alice bent down and shown her flashlight into the open end. “Ben, needle-nosed pliers, please.” Ben placed them in her hands and we all moved in closer as she delicately began removing a yellowed piece of paper.
Ben looked at me with his soft brown eyes and put his hand on mine. “Will you be disappointed if you’re wrong?” he asked.
“No,” I said squeezing his hand, “I’ll be devastated if I’m right.”
Alice held the letter in her hands moving it towards the table. “Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce Captain Thomas Reed of the Royal Tar,” as she unfolded the letter.
We read the letter with our eyes almost bulging out of our sockets.
“What the hell?!” Dirk said.
“What the hell is right!” I said. “Alice, did you know about this one?”
“Oh my God, no,” Alice whispered.
I stared at it again and read it aloud:
My Dearest Bailey Burgess,
What a marvelous life it is to be a showman. I can think of no finer life that that of the circus fellow. I have had the honor of touring all over America with my menagerie of exotic animals, European Nightingales, and an array of odd fellows such the likes that have never been known. I am amassing a fortune unlike any showman has ever known, and I can think of no other man I would rather have by my side in these adventures than you. I have insured your beloved animals for a sum of $400 each that will be paid to you, as well as half royalties of the circus for which you will receive not only top billing, but silent partnership. Should you book passage on the Royal Tar, I promise you that your name will make children all over the world smile for ages to come – Imagine “Burgess and Barnum Circus, the Greatest Show on Earth.” The outcome of the Tar will tell me your decision.
Your Servant
Phineas T Barnum
“Wait a minute! That’s a lie!” I said. “Barnum was just starting out and needed help establishing his own traveling circus. Burgess had a lock in the northern market, and Barnum knew it! Alice, look in the tube again. Do you see another piece of paper in there?”
Alice grabbed the flashlight and peered back into the tube. “Ben, release the C-clamp, tilt the tube, and give me the pliers again please.”
“How did you know that?” Dirk asked.
“I wouldn’t have had Al opened the other side of the tube,” I said.
With no words, Alice pulled out the second piece of paper and rolled it out for us to read.
My Dearest Thomas Reed,
What a joy and delight that you are to return Dexter’s Locomotive Museum and Burgess Collection of Serpents and Birds back to Maine. I understand that you attempt this during most unfortunate weather, for New England embraces its share this time of year. As for me, the business I am in is a trifle bit tricky and I fear a terrible outcome monetarily to my poor troop and their families. Were some disaster to begat the Royal Tar, I could assure you and yours a lifetime of monies that has not been given to any other Captain before. I have enclosed $500.00 dollars as my will of good faith and this amount, should the beloved Tar meet a tragic end, will be mailed to you each month. Since your safety is of the utmost concern, you will be honored as a hero and the sea will never claim your life nor remember the tragedy.
Dutiful yours,
Phineas T Barnum
Ben stared at me as if I were made of gold. “Joan, you did it! You were right!”
“Oh my God, they never read each other’s letters,” I whispered through honest tears. “Thirty-two people died so the Greatest Show on Earth could be born. So now we know,” I shrugged wiping the tears away, “now we know. Ben, Rudi, get us back to Vinalhaven.”
I stood on the bow of the ship and glared at the silent lighthouse. “Damn you!” I screamed still crying, “Damn you!”
Dirk put his arms around my shoulders and silently stood there with me. My mind was spinning in circles as I debated whether or not to present my findings to the world, a revelation that would scar the world, or at least destroy the reputation of a legendary showman. As the Atlantic slapped the side of our ship, I re-read the letter twenty times. I now knew why the Royal Tar had faded into history, not so much history but oblivion really. Captain Reed never sailed again. He was appointed Harbor Master at Saint John, a position most captains would see as cruel punishment, but Captain Reed would be paid well for this. Captain Howland Dyer of the Cutter Veto became keeper at Brown’s Head light house on Vinalhaven.
Al and Alice had secured all the findings in weather proof containers and brought them to the deck as Rudi and Ben secured the ship to the pylons on the dock. I looked up and saw the turquoise and white HH-65A Dolphin helicopter sitting fifty yards away. A girl with long blonde hair and old faded Levi’s walked toward us.
“Mirah!” I said hugging her tight. “What are you doing here?”
“Rudi and Ben called and told me to fly out and collect the remains and data from a ship that could be your Royal Tar.”
“Well, I have two letters for you to examine also.”
“You were right Joan? You found Reed and Dyer’s letters?”
“No. We found Reed and Burgess’s letters,” I said, my eyes brimming with tears.
“Burgess, that doesn’t make sense,” Mirah said quizzically.
“That’s because the world knows him by his first name – Bailey.”
Mirah turned pale and just stared over my shoulder at Ben, Dirk, and Rudi who were loading the containers into the chopper.
“Alice, Mirah, let’s go!” Al called to them.
“Wait, where are you going?” I asked looking down at my 5’3” green-eyed black-haired best friend.
“Mirah is going to drop Al and me off in Bridgeport, Connecticut,” Alice grinned. “We thought it would be a delightful place to spend our second honeymoon”
“And if we have time, Alice tells me Iranistan is a beautiful house. We’ll have to check it out!” Al said kissing her on the forehead.
“I think we’re going to cast off as well,” Ben said hugging me tightly with his 6’1” frame.
“Wait, where are you and Rudi going?” I asked.
“Well, I’m not really buying the theory on the Ceres boilers,” Rudi replied, “so we’re going to run some more tests and have JANE take some more pictures. After that, I have some friends who live on Fire Island, so Ben and I are going to stay at their house and shuffle through the graphs, maps, and pictures.”
“So, Dirk and I will be going back with Mirah to analyze the letters and wood samples?” I asked.
“No ma’am,” Mirah said. “It will take me a week to run the tests and make the calls. Besides, Alice is the graphologist – she’ll analyze the letters. You could use a break to relax for a few days. It’s been approved – Sandecker doesn’t want to see you for four days!”
I turned to look at Ben and Alice. I could not believe that our decades of friendship had brought us this far. “I love you two so much! Thank you, thank you!” I said kissing both of them.
“Well,” Ben laughed, “thank John for his silly clues to hidden ships and you for your bizarre imagination.”
“So that’s what kept us from being invited to the debutante balls all those years in Maple Ridge,” Alice laughed.
“Seriously, we all need to go,” Ben said handing me a white box. “You’ve waited a long time for this. If you’ve been wondering why John finally let us go look for the Royal Tar, well, this is for you.”
I removed the lid of the box and unwrapped an old plastic paddlewheel toy boat. I opened the envelope and read the note:
Compliments of the Tchefuncte Lighthouse
Love, Ben and Alice
Dirk walked up and grinned, “I wonder where they got the idea to look there?”
“You arranged this little four day vacation with Sandecker, didn’t you?” I smiled.
“I couldn’t leave a beautiful lady on an island by herself for four days, could I? And besides, I happen to know this bed and breakfast that sits right next to a place that serves the best minced meat pie.”
I walked closer to him and kissed him passionately. He is the only man that I would never be able to capture for my own, but I knew I would always be able to phone him on a moment’s notice if I could be lucky enough in this lifetime to find a ship with as much “forgotten” history as my beloved Royal Tar. “OK, Mr. Pitt, I’m yours for four days, but I must tell you, I don’t have any clothes except for what I’m wearing.”
“That’s funny. I don’t either, and I gotta tell you we both smell like rust and salt water.”
“One more thing, we should go tell the owner of ‘The Attic In’ thanks before we shower off,” I said. “Do you by any chance remember his name because he never told Ben, Alice, or myself?”
“Yes, it’s… it’s…” Dirk scratched his head. “Sorry, I’m not good with names.”
“Well good thing for you ‘Smith’ is such a common name,” I winked.
“Wait, I remember. It’s Clyde! No, Conner. No, Curtis. OK, I know it starts with a C!”
The Show Must Go On
Mount Nelson Hotel
Cape Town, South Africa
2 weeks after the Tar discovery
“Dr. Smith, I have a letter for you,” the clerk at the hotel said as John and Julie were getting ready to check out. John opened the letter.
“What does it say?” asked Julie just as John started cheering.
Hi Big Bro – Here is your first clue.
Baby, although I chose this lonely life
It seems it’s stranglin’ me now
All the wild men, big cigars, gigantic car
They’re all laughin’ at the lie
Julie read the note and looked at John as he was still jumping up and down in the lobby like a little kid.
“It’s Three Dog Night’s The Show Must Go On!” John exclaimed.
“OK, The Show Must Go On. I don’t get…” Julie started to say before she realized what the clue meant. “Oh my God, John! Ben, Alice, and our little sister…”
“Yes,” John said giving her a big kiss on the forehead, “they found the Royal Tar!”