In the VIP cabin of the Boloskafi, Joseph, after repeatedly confirming that Camellia was no longer in serious trouble, entrusted her to the more skilled Perna and tiptoed out of the cabin.
The captain and others who were waiting at the door immediately saluted him.
Soleil stepped forward and asked, "Your Highness, how is Miss Delvaux's condition?"
"Perna said she's out of danger now," Joseph replied. "Fortunately, we're a hundred kilometers from Paris, and the river water is fairly clean, so an infection shouldn't occur."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, "Ah, thank goodness, thank you, Jesus."
"Had it not been for the warning from the Seven Birds, no one would have noticed someone falling into the water."
"Yes, if she had been found a few minutes later, it might have been too late..."
Joseph turned to Soleil, "Were you the first to see Camellia fall into the water?"
"Yes, Your Highness," Soleil nodded, then roughly described the situation as it happened.
Joseph bowed slightly to her, "On behalf of Camellia, I express our heartfelt gratitude to you."
"It was just a trifling thing I did, Your Highness," Soleil said hurriedly. "In the end, it was your miraculous 'surgery' that saved Miss Delvaux."
Joseph waved his hand and asked another question, "Are you certain that Herrio had no accomplices?"
Soleil was very sure, "Absolutely not, Your Highness. Although the two ships were about half a cable apart at the time, my eyesight is very good, and I could clearly see that there were only the two of them."
One cable is 185 meters. Half a cable is about 93 meters away.
"There are indeed such wicked women in the world."
Joseph frowned and shook his head, then suddenly thought of something, "The Seven Birds was so far away, how did it manage to send the news of Camellia falling into the water to the Boloskafi in time?"
He guessed it might be done with flag signals, but flag signals could only convey a general idea, such as "stop," "turn left," and so on. But he had heard the captain mention that the Seven Birds had indicated the exact location where Camellia had fallen overboard.
Captain Bliss hurriedly explained, "Your Highness, it's a method of communication popular among us riverfolk, capable of conveying clear sentences."
As he spoke, he held up his arms diagonally, "You see, this represents B. And this represents F."
He changed his poses consecutively like a dance, "Your Highness, I just 'said' the words 'bless you.' As long as the gestures are quick enough, an entire sentence can be passed to a ship several cables away in about ten seconds."
Joseph couldn't help but be struck by a lightning bolt of inspiration upon hearing this.
Communication capabilities were incredibly poor during this era. Especially on the battlefield, tens of thousands of troops could be spread out over several kilometers. When a commander issued an order, riders would carry the command to subordinate officers, which could take anywhere from ten minutes if fast, to over half an hour if slow.
But if they could apply this communication method of the boatmen to the battlefield, with a signal station set up at intervals, an order could be passed several kilometers away in just three to five minutes!
Information, on the battlefield, that was a force multiplier.
If both sides' officers spotted a key point on the battlefield at the same time, I could deploy the nearest soldiers through an efficient communication system, and we might already have taken it by the time the opponent's messenger cavalry were still en route.
The more Joseph thought about it, the more he saw the limitless potential of such technology, and he promptly patted Captain Bliss's arm, "You might receive a special bonus from the General Staff in the near future."
Joseph jotted down the idea of a "shipowner communication mode" and then turned to look at Soleil, "By the way, how did you happen to be on the 'Seven Birds'?"
"Because I was a VIP on board."
"Did you buy a ticket for a ship tour?"
Soleil's face immediately flushed red as she stammered, "I, I bet 400 francs on that ship to win. The VIP ticket came with it."
Joseph sighed, "It seems your luck in gambling is not very good... that ship can't win.
"How about this, I give you a bet of 400 francs for 'Boloskafi' to win. Oh, this is one I bought myself, let's call it a token of my gratitude for your rescue of Camellia."
"This is..." Soleil struggled for a moment but finally knelt down and gave a salute, "Thank you, Your Highness. I really need this money to help Mr. Hartky return to his tribe. Oh, as soon as I collect my salary, I will immediately repay you."
"This is a little something from me, there's no need to be polite," Joseph shook his head with a smile, and then curiously asked, "Who is Mr. Hartky?"
"He is an Indian from the Creek Tribe, Your Highness. He and four companions fell into the hands of slavers in England, I rescued them by accident, and now I want to send them back to North America."
Joseph couldn't help but praise, "You truly are a kind-hearted person."
The next day at twilight.
The "Boloskafi" arrived at Le Havre first, anchoring to stay overnight. It had left the closest "Seven Birds" more than 20 kilometers behind.
In this era, there was no navigation equipment, and it was impossible to navigate after dark.
In Camellia's cabin, the rocking of the ship woke Perna, who had been lying beside the Maid's bed, from her sleep.
She sat up and looked around, realizing the ship had stopped and immediately felt a sense of relief.
After a brief sleep, and with the ship no longer swaying, she felt no longer nauseous except for a slight dizziness.
Perna turned to look at Camellia, who was still deep in sleep, and went forward to gently touch her forehead; the fever had completely subsided.
Then she checked the pulse on her wrist, silently counting for a while and nodding slightly, "The recovery is quite good."
She put Camellia's hand back under the blanket, and her gaze inadvertently swept over the latter's lips, which had regained some color. Immediately, the memory of the "kiss" the Crown Prince had bestowed the day before flashed in her mind.
Perna's face turned red in an instant, and she nervously shook her head, "His Highness was only performing a rescue."
She felt a twinge of heartache at the thought that the Crown Prince's "kiss" might have been for her...
"What am I thinking?" she flustered again and glanced at the Maid, then turned to open the door and walked out, head down, as if she were afraid that the sleeping Camellia might sense her thoughts.
However, as soon as Perna gently closed the door, that scene from yesterday haunted her mind relentlessly, impossible to stop.
"No, no, the Crown Prince was performing 'mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.'" She earnestly told herself, "That's a sophisticated medical technique, not a kiss, not at all!"
Wait, she suddenly paused, murmuring softly, "Such advanced medical knowledge, if it could be spread, it could definitely save more lives.
"And as a doctor, not having mastered it, how could I use it to save patients? Yes, this is my mission and responsibility as a doctor!"