text: [Themes: Romance, Pirates, maritime, nautical, Historical, island]
  
  > Go downwards
  You half-climb, half-fall, down to the deck.
  
  You can see a mooring winch here.
  
  > pull the lever d.
  It already is.
  
  > pull the lever up
  Raising the lever would release more chain and you might ground the Helena Louise.
  
  > drink the rum
  You take a sip and spit it out, coughing. This is much stronger than ratafia!
  
  > cut the line with the dagger
  The line snaps, and the pyramid collapses into dozens of tumbling casks. Your cask is thrust into the sea, the dagger flying from your hand.
  Sputtering mouthfuls of salt water, you first look around several minutes later.
  
  Lagoon, in the cask
  You are crouched in a cask on the lagoon of St. Sinistra. The crash
  of surf hitting the reefs is quite loud.
  
  > check your inventory
  You have a slab of pork and your reticule (hanging from your wrist). It seems that your reticule contains a leather bottle, a bit of mirror, a cotton frock, a missive, a jewelled brooch, an invitation, smelling salts and a banknote. You are wearing a shirt, breeches, your kid slippers and a linen chemise.
  The current pulls you in towards the island.
  
  > Hello sailor
  Nothing happens here.
  The current pulls you in towards the island.
  
  > wait for a while
  Time passes...
  The current pulls you in towards the island.
  Lagoon, in the cask
  You are crouched in a cask on the lagoon of St. Sinistra. The jungle looms gray-green in the light of the full moon.
  
  > go outside
  Although the lagoon is warm and clear, it is much too deep.
  The current pulls you in towards the island.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes...
  The current pulls you in towards the island. With a scrape, the cask lodges in the sand.
  
  Shallows, in the cask
  You are crouched in the cask in the warm, lapping waves of the shallows. A white sand beach is west of you.
  A skiff nods in the waves, its oars jerking around in the current.
  
  > leave
  Free of your weight, the cask bobs and spins in the current, pulled out into the lagoon. You splash after it, but it is gone.
  
  > go west
  This is a tiny beach, at the base of vine-covered cliffs. To the
  east, the Helena Louise floats serenely on the lagoon.
  Immediately north of you, a rocky staircase is hewn into the cliff.
  
  > examine the vine
  Completely common looking vine.
  
  > go to the north
  Jungle looms around this clipped lawn, a path meandering westward
  into the dense undergrowth. To the east is a folly entangled in blooming jasmine. The way to the beach is obscure, but visible to the southeast. Behind the folly a thorny hedge blocks the cliff view of the sea.
  Music and voices float from the veranda to the north.
  Two men stand whispering in the shadows. You catch an occasional
  word, "Davis dead... girl... Falcon on Sinistra." The men separate, the well-dressed one going into the ballroom as the other slinks into the bushes. You see his face. Crulley!
  
  > go north
  Steps lead south from this white marble veranda to a clipped lawn.
  To the north, beyond a closed glass door, a line of people blocks your view of the ballroom.
  
  > Go north
  The door is closed.
  
  > knock on the door
  Silence answers back.
  
  > go to the west
  The steps lead south.
  
  > go to the west
  Buried in the subtropical undergrowth, you lose all sense of being
  on someone's private estate; jungle seems to extend for miles on all sides of you. A footworn path curves from east to north here, and the vegetation lessens to the northeast.
  
  > go north
  You are on a well-trampled lawn at the side of the house, one low doorway leading in to the east. Gravelled paths lead north and south into the undergrowth.
  
  > go east
  A firepit in the floor smokes badly, fogging up the depths of this large kitchen, somehow not escaping through either the south or west doors.
  A blond woman huddles alone by the fire, as if cold.
  The woman smiles uncertainly, then rushes over. "Are you come from
  the village, boy? Dost know Lord Dimsford?" She sighs at your surprise. "So he sent you -- I am his Lucy. It's been so long since I've seen him. Lafond caught me eavesdropping and now I can't leave the grounds."
  
  She fails to notice you've spoken.
  "I haven't found Lafond's papers, I'm watched too closely. Tell Dimsford that I -- I'm scared, and I want him to come get me. Give this to him -- he'll recognize it." Lucy slides a garter down her leg and holds it out to you.
  
  > wear the garter
  [taking the garter first]
  One doesn't wear a garter over breeches!
  
  > Kiss woman
  "Smooch!"
  
  > kiss you
  "I hardly know you!" she gasps.
  
  > give the banknote to Lucy
  Lucy slaps you hard across the face. "I'm not that sort of girl!"
  
  > kill Lucy
  Relax.
  
  > Go north
  The gravel path is just wide enough for a cart to pass. It bends around the west wing of the house, leading you to...
  
  The front door stands open to the south, light splayed out onto a
  drive stretching north into the jungle. A path leads around the western wing of the house; jutting out from the east wing is a tall hedge.
  
  > Go north
  A rutted drive runs north-south here, from a high spiked gate
  through the jungle to Lafond's mansion. You hide in the bushes nearby. Dragoons, conversing quietly, patrol the other side of the gate.
  
  > Go north
  Dragoons guard the gate.
  
  > check your inventory
  You have a garter, a slab of pork and your reticule (hanging from your wrist). It seems that your reticule contains a leather bottle, a bit of mirror, a cotton frock, a missive, a jewelled brooch, an invitation, smelling salts and a banknote. You are wearing a shirt, breeches, your kid slippers and a linen chemise.
  
  > squeeze the bottle on the pork
  You squeeze three colorless drops onto the slab of pork. A patch of salt dissolves as the laudanum absorbs into the meat.
  
  > take off the clothes
  [in front of the patrol]
  That's not done in polite society.
  
  > Go west
  The underbrush is much too thick to enter.
  
  > take off the clothes
  You strip down to your chemise.
  
  > go north
  Dragoons, conversing quietly, patrol the other side of the gate.
  
  > Go north
  Dragoons guard the gate.
  
  > go south
  The front door stands open to the south, light splayed out onto a
  drive stretching north into the jungle. A path leads around the western wing of the house; jutting out from the east wing is a tall hedge.
  
  > Go west
  The gravel path is just wide enough for a cart to pass. It bends around the west wing of the house, leading you to...
  
  You are on a well-trampled lawn at the side of the house, one low doorway leading in to the east. Gravelled paths lead north and south into the undergrowth.
  
  > go south
  Buried in the subtropical undergrowth, you lose all sense of being
  on someone's private estate; jungle seems to extend for miles on all sides of you. A footworn path curves from east to north here, and the vegetation lessens to the northeast.
  
  > go to the northeast
  You are in a small clearing under the western side of the house.
  Heavy vines creep up the wall past a second floor window, open to the night air. Southwest is an opening in the bushes.
  
  > climb the vines
  In these clothes? You jest.
  
  > climb the vines
  You take a firm grasp on a particularly thick tendril, jerk once to secure it, and scamper up the wall like some huge tropical spider. It is easy to climb through the window.
  
  Lit only with moonlight through the open window, tonight this room
  is serving as a ladies' dressing room. An exit lies to the north. Draped across the bed is a lovely cream colored watered silk gown.
  It looks about your size.
  
  > look at the dress
  [Which dress dost thou mean, the beautiful ball gown or the cotton frock?]
  
  > Gown
  Of cream silk, heavily embroidered on the stiffened skirt and stomacher, the beautiful ball gown is a work of art.
  
  > wear the garter
  You slide the garter up around your thigh.
  
  > Gown
  [taking the beautiful ball gown first]
  The beautiful ball gown fits perfectly, the creamy silk bringing a glow to your cheeks. You comb your hair with your fingers and bite your lips to make them red.