'Good… very good. If you've no prior engagements sup with me tonight.'
'My pleasure,' Gabe replied. 'I'll bring Lum and let him play you a tune on his fiddle. He is becoming very good with it.'
'Good, see you then. Now, I must go fill in our Governor, else he'll send a messenger requesting my presence. He'll not be happy about those troops getting ashore.'
Well, I could give a tinker's damn what he thinks, Gabe thought but kept his silence. Politicians were quick to make war and quick to criticize but rarely did they have to suffer the hardships the fighting men did, be they soldier or sailor. Damme, I'll be glad when this war is over.
The days and weeks that followed the battle with Barracuda were filled with monotonous patrols. Anthony had stretched his patrol area as far north as Charlestown and south to Havana. A few smaller privateers were taken but nothing was heard of the ghost ship. The Florida weather held true with hot days, frequent afternoon showers and warm humid nights.
The social activities paled in comparison to those experienced on Antigua. Still the governor had been gracious with invitations to Anthony's officers when an occasion did arise. Unlike the mostly British presence on Antigua, Saint Augustine was a very mixed bag culturally. Anthony had met a Minorcan priest, Father Pedro Camps, who was a very interesting man. He had started a book of records in which he kept births, deaths and marriages for the entire Minorcan community.
Anthony also met Reverend John Kennedy who was the schoolmaster of east Florida. He was a very educated Barracuda
man who never seemed to tire when talking of arithmetic, Latin or Greek. Anthony had allowed the good reverend aboard Warrior so that he might add a rudimentary knowledge of a sailor's life to his vast knowledge.
Of all of Saint Augustine 's inhabitants, Anthony found he enjoyed spending time with some of the paroled prisoners of war the most. A few had their slaves with them and once their parole had been obtained, roamed freely about the city. Most of these were from Virginia, a few of which knew Dagan's Uncle Andre.
Anthony spent many a night enjoying a good southern meal and listening to the talk of raising good Virginia tobacco and fine horses.
When not at sea Dagan spent considerable time with his uncle's friends learning more about the country where Andre chose to settle down. One night when Dagan and Lord Anthony were walking back to the waterfront Dagan remarked, 'Is it not ironic that the people we enjoy the most are the ones we are at war with?'
Anthony nodded in agreement but his mind was on his wife and child, as of yet an unseen child. Sitting at the dinner table with the Colonial family and listening to the chatter had caused him to be morose.
Damn this war, he thought, I wish it were over. Gabe could marry Faith and I could go be with my wife and daughter. But what of Dagan, he suddenly thought. What would become of him after the war was over? Would he want to move to Virginia to be close to his family or would he stay close to Gabe? What about Maria, Gabe's mother and Dagan's sister? Would she want to be with the family or stay in the house she'd shared with his and Gabe's father? So much that needed deciding, he thought. So much.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Work had been started on the captured Indiaman to make her ready for sea and was now near being completed. Gabe had been right. Once cleaned up and repaired she proved to be a good ship. Without any official approval the men had taken to addressing the ship as Defiant, as Gabe had suggested.
Now that she was once again seaworthy Anthony faced another challenge. How to man her? Sir Raymond had improved enough to be moved from SeaWolf to the hospital at Saint Augustine but it would be a long time before he had recovered to the point he was fit for duty.
Anthony knew Stephen Earl was his only viable option to command her but whom would he put on Merlin: Earl's first lieutenant or Gabe? Gabe was ready for the next step up the ladder of promotion but then what about SeaWolf. Well, for now it was a moot point, because he didn't have enough crew to man the vessel, even with Neptune 's crew available.
Thinking of this caused Anthony to think of the lieutenant's exam. Mainly it made him think of Mr.
Davy. It was rare Gabe would approach him or try to influence him in anyway. But lately there had been hints dropped that Davy was ready to be made lieutenant.
'He's not yet eighteen,' Anthony had argued.
'Neither were we,' Gabe responded, 'and he has twice the experience I had at that age.'
'What about the six years aboard ship rule?' Anthony had mentioned. 'Davy's only got four.'
'That's just since Drakkar,' Bart interjected, obviously an ally to the scheme. 'Seems to me yew be's forgettin' them two years wot he was on board Recourse.'
'He wasn't aboard Recourse,' Anthony said somewhat sarcastically.
'See I tolds yew, yew be gettin' forgetful.' It was a common ploy to carry a name on the ship's books when the person had never set foot aboard in order to accumulate sea time, but to claim to be on board and your name not be on the rolls! Anthony had however relented ever so slightly as he did agree with Gabe and Bart. If anyone was ready for lieutenant it was Davy. Besides we're at war. Some consideration had to be allowed for this.
'Bring me his affidavits and if they look plausible I'll allow him to sit for the examination.' Then looking at Gabe, Anthony said, 'If anybody can round up a forged set of documents I guess Bart will know who he is.' Then without thinking Gabe said, 'Bart and Gunnells already have them.'
Seeing the look of disbelief on his brother's face Gabe made a hasty departure but not before Anthony had commented, 'We'll all be on the beach if you two keep it up.'
'Don't yew forget about Dagan,' Bart said.
'Dagan, aye Dagan.'
'See I told yew, yew be gettin' forgetful. Yew know iffen we's on the beach Dagan will be there with us.'
'Damn your hide,' Anthony bellowed but he was speaking to an empty doorway.Davy and several other mids had passed the examination for lieutenant and now they were all at the Mermaid to celebrate. Now they couldn't wait for a billet to come open so they'd actually be commissioned. Buck and Earl had pulled Gabe and Markham aside and explained how hard they had drilled Davy. He did not get frustrated; he thought out his answers and did very well.
Then Buck said, 'But anyone who could talk two King's officers into forging such a set of affidavits ought to be a lieutenant.'
'Four,' Markham said.
'Four, what do you mean four?' Buck questioned.
'I mean four officers. You two have known Davy as long as we have so you are as much a part of this as we are.'
'Then it's five,' Earl said. When the other three looked at him Earl continued, 'Don't forget about his lordship.'
'Humph,' Buck said. 'Best we be remembering.
Gunnells signed his certificates and as one of the finest masters in the Royal Navy, I'd not question his word.'
'Here, here,' the group replied. 'A toast to Gunnells.'
As the merriment was winding down Domingo made his way over to Gabe. 'To be a midshipman, is this something anybody can do?'
Amazed at his friend's inquiry Gabe said, 'Yes.
Generally there's a desire on behalf of the boy to have a life at sea. Then the father or guardian seeks a sponsor or perhaps they themselves will apply to a ship's captain for their son or someone they know to be favorably considered a midshipman. Most often if it's a relative of an admiral or person of influence; it's just being able to outfit the lad and provide him with enough of an allowance to live on. I must tell you Domingo that most
midshipmen come from families with influence. A few such as Mr. Davy make lieutenant but without influence, to go beyond is almost unheard of.'
