(Entering the cabins)
After they made it to another door in the halls, Haddock slowly opened the door to another cabin. From inside, Tintin could hear the sound of loud snoring. Malina surveyed the whole cabin and found that there were rows of bunks. Many of the sailors were loudly sleeping on their beds, while others fell from the swaying motions of the ship.
"Okay, now that is a hazard," Malina whispered. "Swinging bunks. Very dangerous." "Aye," Haddock said. "Right there." He pointed to a sailor. "Mr. Jaggerman, top bunk in the center," he whispered. "Careful mates, he's a restless sleeper on account of the tragic loss of his eyelids."
Tintin turned to Haddock. "He lost his eyelids?" He asked. "Aye lad, that was a card game to remember," Haddock said, chuckling at the memory. "Oh, you two really had to be there!" "That's gross," Malina said. "Cutting someone's eyelids. That's disgusting."
She then turned to Tintin. "You go first," she said, thrusting Tintin inside. Tintin then snuck into the cabin, with Snowy trotting beside his heels. Not wanting to lose him, Malina eventually went inside as well. Haddock stayed outside the cabin. "You're not coming, Captain?" Malina asked.
"I'd do this myself," Haddock said, "but you and that lad have a lighter tread and less chance of waking the boys." "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tintin asked. Haddock nodded. "You've nothing to worry about," he said. "Provided they all stay asleep."
"You two make so much as a squeak, and you get us all killed," Malina grumbled as Tintin was preparing to climb the bunks. "I'll keep my lips sealed...Miss Ravenwood," Tintin whispered, his teeth clenched. From outside, Haddock tried to communicate with them. "I wouldn't get close to Mr. Hobbs," he whispered as Tintin carried Snowy up to another bunk. "He's very handy with a razor." In one bunk, a man was snoring loudly, holding a razor in his clenched fist.
"Oh, and I'd steer clear of Mr. Gitch," Haddock whispered to Tintin. In another bunk, a man was sleeping heavily as a live rat squealed and tried to escape the man's tight fist. "Why should this guy be our problem?" Malina asked. "Sacked as a shepherd on account of his...'animal husbandry,'" Haddock whispered to Tintin.
As Tintin finally managed to reach the top bunk on the right, he extended his arm, hoping to reach the keys. Haddock held his breath in anticipation. Unfortunately, Tintin's hand wasn't long enough to reach it, and he fell back. Haddock threw his hands up in frustration. "Ugh, you idiot," Malina mumbled. "Use your dog!"
Tintin almost felt his blood boil after hearing Malina whisper that. But she did have a point. Grabbing Snowy by his waist, Tintin then extended Snowy toward the keys. From outside, Haddock peered in. "Get the keys," Tintin whispered to Snowy. Snowy began sniffing the keys, until his nose caught a whiff of a sandwich underneath the weight of the sailor. Tintin grew desperate. "Not the sandwich!" Tintin hissed. "The keys!"
Snowy didn't listen. Instead, he chomped down on the sandwich and knocking over a plastic shark model, causing Tintin to fall off the top bunks. This eventually caused the other sleeping sailors to fall off their bunks, including the one holding the keys. Luckily, he landed on a middle bunk. Tintin then tried to reach for the keys. But then, the fake shark fell, toppling Tintin, and the heavy sailors on top of him.
Malina held her breath as Snowy pranced atop the pile of sleeping sailors. At that moment, Tintin's hand shot up, holding the keys! Haddock began to cheer wildly as he applauded. Malina then removed each sailor off of Tintin long enough for him to catch his breath. "Who's the idiot now?" Tintin asked, panting. "Okay, okay. You're pretty good on your feet," Malina said. "Kudos to that."
Haddock still would not erase the goofy grin on his face as he relived that moment over in his mind. Tintin then gave the keys to Haddock as the three returned to the locked door. "You're a brave lad, Tintin," Haddock said, smiling. "And you too, Malina. My heart was in my mouth. Don't mind telling ya. That is, if it was my heart. Judging by my stomach, it could've been anythin'—"
"Hurry up, Captain!" Tintin exclaimed impatiently. "No time to lose!" "Yes, Captain. Do hurry yourself; we're in a bit of a time crunch here," Malina said much more gently.
Haddock then opened the door with boisterous grandeur. "Bingo!" He exclaimed. The door had opened to reveal a storage room full of bottles of whiskey. Some hung in nets suspended by ropes, while the rest lined the shelves. "Just the necessities, of course," Haddock said, entering the room. It was not long before Haddock had stuffed his jacket full of bottles. Picking up the last one, Haddock gave it a smooch. "To the lifeboats!" He declared as he strode off, pride in his face.
Meanwhile, Tintin had raised an eyebrow at this situation. "How does he tolerate that stuff?" Tintin wondered aloud. "Trust me, Mr. Tintin," Malina told him. "You do not wanna know."
...
Outside, the other sailors and crew members of the Karaboudjan were busy fixing up a seaplane and wondering of a possible way to recapture their prisoners. "Ease it in!" One sailor shouted.
"Put your backs into it!"
"Hold her there, steady now!"
One sailor approached a crew member and began to ask if he had seen the prisoners. "Any sign of him, Jumbo?" The crew member had asked the burly sailor. "Nothing yet," the sailor, who may have been Jumbo, had answered. "Watch yourself. The boss says he's a handful. Same as that prissy excuse of a mistress."
By the time Tintin and the others had reached the far end of the corridors, they finally reached an exit. By then, Captain Haddock had opened another bottle of whiskey. When he opened the door, he found a man outside on the deck, holding a flashlight and gun. "Get back here!" Malina said, pulling the captain back. Tintin then approached the door, grabbing the whiskey bottle from Haddock's hand.
Slowly opening the door with one hand, Tintin raised the bottle high, preparing to hit the thug. However, at the last minute, Haddock took the bottle from Tintin's hand. In an instant, Tintin hit the thug clean with his bare hand. "Ow!" Tintin cried out in pain. "Oh!" He shook his wrist in pain. He then turned and glared at the Captain, who had finished off the bottle. "Come on," Haddock said, motioning for the others to follow.
"Is your hand okay?" Malina asked, gently touching Tintin's affected wrist. "Ooh!" Tintin said, wincing as Malina's fingers gently rubbed his bruised wrist. "No, no. It's fine. I'm okay," Tintin said. He was clearly being annoyed at the Captain's drunken behavior. Malina then took a look at Snowy as he pounced on the downed thug, growling. Smiling, Malina then delivered a kick straight to the thug's butt. "That was for harassing and kidnapping me," Malina whispered.
A few moments later, Tintin, Haddock, and Malina were now approaching the lifeboats. While Malina untied the ropes from the lifeboat, Tintin and Haddock both pushed it toward the edge of the ship. Suddenly, Tintin turned around and gasped. "Get down!" He whispered. He and the others crouched down and hid in the shadows, for they saw two familiar men walking inside.
"It's Allan," Haddock whispered as he pointed to the man that had once been his most devoted first mate. "Wait, is that the bridge?" Tintin asked. "Aye, on the other side of the radio room," Haddock mentioned. "Radio room?" Tintin asked. He came up with a plan. "You two, wait here," he said. "Sound the alarm if anyone comes."
"I'm coming with you," Malina said, grabbing the sleeve of Tintin's sweater. "What? No. I need to do this myself," Tintin said. "You go wait with the Captain." "Are you telling me to go wait for you like I'm some kind of damsel in distress?" Malina asked. "Are you really going to say that to me?" "No, no. I didn't mean to offend you, Miss," Tintin said, holding his hands in defense. "I just don't want you to get harmed. Just go wait with the captain." "I will not wait around, I'm going to accompany you and that's final," Malina said, crossing her arms. "Besides, maybe I can help you intercept a signal."
Tintin sighed in exasperation. Maybe he would need a little help from an expert radio communicator like Malina. "Fine," Tintin said. "You can come." "Thank you," Malina said as she followed Tintin to the radio room. "Be careful, you two," Haddock whispered as the pair left him in charge of the lifeboat.
Tintin and Malina slowly crept through the decks of the ship, with Snowy trotting behind them. As they quietly made their way up the stairs to the upper deck, Tintin motioned for Malina to stay against the wall. Malina held on to Snowy as Tintin peered through the window. Though he kept perfectly hidden, Tintin peered through the window silently. He then tried to make out what Tom and Allan were talking about.
"Message just came through, boss," Tom told Allan. "What's it say?" Allan asked. "Here it is," Tom said as he began to read the message. "'The Milanese Nightingale has landed. Waiting in the wings of action.'"
"Milanese Nightingale?" Tintin asked. He turned to Malina. "No, I don't know what it is," Malina whispered.
"Now pray this cheers him up," Allan said. Finally, the two thugs had left the room. Finally, the coast was clear. Tintin and Malina then entered the room. "Woof, this is hot," Malina said, taking off her leather jacket. "Even worse than a crowded sauna." Tintin then caught a glimpse of Malina's blue kerchief wrapped loosely round her shirt collar. Then he noticed the locket. "That locket is pretty," Tintin said. "Where'd you get it?" "I bought it at the flea market," Malina said, smiling.
While Snowy hopped up on a table and Malina then surveyed the window. "How about I stand guard while you find whatever it is you need?" "Sure!" Tintin said. "Excellent idea!" Tintin then began searching around the desk, until his eye caught a notecard. Picking it up, he read the title. "Bagghar," Tintin read. "What's this?" He then found a brochure of the city on the desk. Picking it up, he began to read it, opening up to a picture of a well-dressed sultan.
"The Sultan of Bagghar," Tintin read, "ruled over by Sheik Omar Ben Salaad, whose love of music and culture is matched only by his love of..." As Tintin turned the page, Tintin's jaw dropped. It was a picture of the Unicorn!
"Great snakes!"
Snowy pricked up his head, his mouth holding the sandwich as a rat was dangling from it. "You found something?" Malina asked. "You bet I did!" Tintin said. Putting the brochure back in his pocket, Tintin then walked over to a map to find the city mentioned in the brochure.
"Bagghar," Tintin muttered as he tried to locate the city. Pointing to a mark on the map, which was marked by a red X, Tintin found the city. "The Port of Bagghar, Morocco." Malina looked out the window. "Still no sign of them," Malina said. "Don't know if it's safe for us to remain here much longer." "We'll leave in a bit," Tintin said. "First, I need to get a message out to someone." Grabbing a set of headphones, Tintin turned on a radio. He then prepared to send out a Morse code message, hoping to get the word out.
He hoped that the message could help in this mission.