Chapter 33Our plan was to steam overnight to Zamboanga, where we would take on more coal for the one-thousand-mile voyage back to Manila. All that changed, however, when I was called to the chart room by Captain Chunky.
“I have a proposition for you, Mr. Battles. I received a cable from the Nomad’s owner asking if we might make a detour on the return voyage to Manila.”
I looked at him. “We have a sick man on board. Is the owner aware of that?”
“He is. But Doctor de la Vega has been attending to Mr. Messner and says he has made a rapid recovery.”
“Where does he want us to make this detour?”
“Saigon. We have a contract to pick up three hundred tons of rubber and deliver it to Manila.”
That caught me by surprise. Saigon. I had been thinking of traveling there anyway, and this would allo
