By the Great Horn Spoon!

As the Lady Wilma skirts the coast of Patagonia, the crew readies for the stormy passage around Cape Horn. Praiseworthy dismisses their tales of catastrophic shipwrecks off the Horn as mere “yarns.” But more troubling, to Jack, are their tales of ships that took a shortcut through the deadly Strait of Magellan in southern Chile—a tortuous route that requires perfect seamanship, and luck, to navigate safely. Praiseworthy, “surprised to find [adventure] decidedly to his liking,” looks forward to seeing “the furious tip of the continent” (53). He tells Jack that, shortly before reaching the Horn, they will pass Tierra del Fuego, the “Land of Fire,” an archipelago named after the many fires built by Indigenous peoples to keep themselves and their flocks warm.

A storm suddenly hits the Lady Wilma and batters the boat for 37 days. During this time, land is only visible once. Finally, the sun comes out, and Mountain Jim says they are now in the Pacific Ocean. Soon, a shout is heard: The Sea Raven has been sighted behind them. Jack and Praiseworthy are thrilled, but also baffled. When Jack mentions that he never did catch sight of the fires of Tierra del Fuego, the butler’s face lights up. A few words with the grinning Captain Swain confirm his suspicion: The Lady Wilma never rounded Cape Horn at all. Instead, without telling his passengers, Captain Swain diverted the ship through the Strait of Magellan, with the sole aim of pulling ahead of the Sea Raven.

As Praiseworthy gives Jack a much-needed haircut, a lookout shouts that the Sea Raven has stopped trailing black smoke: The ship’s run out of coal, due to its long, taxing journey around Cape Horn. However, the Lady Wilma’s coal reserves are also low, and the wind has died down.

Eventually, the Lady Wilma’s coal finally runs out. For weeks, the ship languishes, and its fresh water runs low. The passengers pass their days in boredom. Jack asks Praiseworthy if he and his sisters were the reason Aunt Arabella never married. Praiseworthy scoffs at the idea, asserting that Arabella is a “young and beautiful woman” who is merely “waiting for the right gentleman to come along” (63-64).

As days pass, Mr. Azariah Jones’s potatoes begin to spoil in the hold. Jones, who’s invested every cent in them, believes he’s ruined. Praiseworthy suggests that he sell them. The next day, one of the ship’s French passengers, Monsieur Gaunt, announces that he, too, is ruined, because his cargo of grape clippings are dying from lack of water. Unlike Jones, he has money, but no way to buy water: The next port is a thousand miles away, in Peru. After much thinking, Praiseworthy tells Jack that they should at least reimburse Jones for the potatoes they consumed while stowing away in the barrels. Suddenly, Jack is struck with inspiration.

Praiseworthy conveys Jack’s idea to Jones and Gaunt: The latter is advised to buy the former’s potatoes, which are full of water, “like fat raindrops in brown skins,” to serve as pots for the grape vines (67). The arrangement succeeds, and the two men’s fortunes are saved. Soon, the winds rise again, and the Lady Wilma sallies forth into ever-warmer latitudes. Jack spends much of his time exploring the “ratlines” of the ship’s rigging, climbing high above the deck. He’s the first to notice that the Sea Raven is gaining on them. Propelled by new winds and unburdened by heavy cargo, the Sea Raven passes and vanishes into the distance.

At the port of Callao in Peru, Captain Swain learns that the Sea Raven has already come and gone, taking every lump of coal to be had, leaving none for the Lady Wilma. Mining supplies are also in short supply in Callao, at least according to the merchants: Mr. Azariah Jones counts himself lucky to have bought “the last pick and shovel left in town” (72), until Monsieur Gaunt appears with an identical story. Out of gratitude, the two men give their tools and wash pans to Jack and Praiseworthy.

As the Lady Wilma prepares to leave, Praiseworthy brings a parcel, a gift of kidneys for Captain Swain, onto the ship. He is trailed by many cats, a dozen of whom follow him onto the ship before the gangplank can be raised; they quickly make themselves at home on the Lady Wilma. With no coal, the ship must rely on its sails. A gust of wind carries Praiseworthy’s prized bowler overboard. For several days, he is “not quite himself,” hardly feeling like a butler (76). However, Jack somewhat prefers Praiseworthy’s hatless look.

Several weeks later, the Lady Wilma passes the Sea Raven, which is overloaded with coal from Callao. One morning, the winds die again, and the Lady Wilma is becalmed—while the Sea Raven, still loaded with coal, plunges ahead. However, Praiseworthy has the idea to use the lumber in the cargo hold for fuel. As the two ships enter their final sprint, the Sea Raven, with its heavy cargo of coal, can’t keep up with the Lady Wilma, which has been lightened by the burning of lumber. Entering San Francisco Bay, Captain Swain’s ship ekes out a victory. The 15,000-mile journey is finally at an end.