'Ah, Mr. Napier. Time on your hands? We'll have to change that!'
It was Lieutenant Squire, big, powerful, and always apparently at ease. Old for his rank, but most officers were, who had made the longer passage by the lower deck. He looked like somebody, Napier thought, as if the solitary epaulette was perched on his shoulder by accident.
'Ready when you say the word, sir.'
'The cutter's coming aboard now. 'He waved his fist to the nearest party of men and grinned broadly. 'You take charge.
You have to begin some day!'
Napier did not move. He had watched the process several times, and he knew the order of things. But the cutter was a large boat, the maid of all work. It could load and carry stores, land parties of armed seamen and marines, shift a complete anchor for kedging the ship from one part of an anchorage to another. He found his brain was suddenly quite clear, and his nerves were steady. Or carry a poor murdered sailor ashore for burial.
'Haul taut, lads! Marry the falls! 'He could hear the slither of cordage, the slap of feet, blocks taking the strain. But his mouth was dry as dust.
Ill
Another voice. 'Hoist away, handsomely, lads! 'It was his own.
A hand brushed his arm as if in passing.
'Well done, young Napier. I've got it now!'
The great shadow, black against the sky, as the cutter swung evenly up and across the deck. He felt droplets of sea water splash his face and throat like shards of ice.
'Avast hauling! Secure those lines! Jump to it!'
Napier turned. The cutter's crew were leaping down to the tier, lines hauled into position and secured. Even the boat's coxswain, Fitzgerald, a tough seaman who hailed from Donegal Bay, was beaming with satisfaction, or relief.
Squire was already studying another list, but he looked up from it and said briefly, 'Just remember. It gets harder!'
Napier saw Huxley grinning over at him and waving both fists in congratulation. Some one yelled, 'The Frenchie's shortenin ''er cable, sir!'
'Man the capstan, lively there!'
Napier saw the boatswain's mate, Fowler, lash out with his starter at one of the young hands, then strike the man across the shoulder even as he threw his weight on the nearest bar. He could see blood on the bare skin from the force of the blow. He glanced uncertainly at Squire, but the lieutenant had turned to watch the French frigate.
Doesn't he care? Napier stared aloft, but the sun blinded him. He had seen the topmen spread out along those yards, canvas billowing and punching between them.
Squire had hurried to his station in the eyes of the ship, and when Napier joined him above the cathead the wet cable was already jerking inboard like some endless serpent. One of the forecastle hands paused for breath and shouted, 'The Frenchie's aweigh! Onward'll show her a clean pair of heels when she makes a run for it, eh, lads?'
Pride and, Napier thought, animosity too. Maybe that was why they did not use the other frigate's name. She might be a prize, but she was still one of their own.
The shrill of more calls, and Guthrie's voice carrying above them all.
'Anchor's aweigh!'
He saw Squire watching the glistening cable as it brought the anchor firmly to the cathead. He could feel the deck moving, and caught a glimpse of other ships, still at anchor, apparently shifting their bearings without a stitch of canvas spread.
Hotham had dragged off his hat and was waving it wildly in the wind, his voice lost in the din of canvas and rigging. If the clergyman could see his son now…
Squire was looking across at him.
'My respects to the Captain. Tell him, all secure!'
Napier hurried aft, dodging braces, halliards and running figures aware of nothing but the task in hand. He saw Monteith shouting to some men clawing their way up the weather shrouds, still dwarfed against the Rock, although he knew Onward must be well clear of the anchorage.
Monteith exclaimed, 'Are they damned well deaf?'
Guthrie ignored him and repeated the same order, which they heard without effort. Monteith swung away, gesturing irritably to some one else. Guthrie spared Napier a quick glance and muttered, 'You'm learnin 'today!'
The ship was under way, upper deck already clearing of cordage and tackle, men still climbing aloft as more canvas was spread.
Napier waited below the quarterdeck rail as the marines of the afterguard clumped away from the mizzen braces, somehow keeping in step.
Lieutenant Vincent called to him, 'Speak up!'
'IЦ I was told to report toЦ'
Two men ran between them, and another limped past, a bloody rag tied around one knee.
Then, suddenly, the captain was there, looking down at him.
'I saw the signal. 'They could have been alone. 'It was smartly done, and in half the time. 'Some one was trying to attract his attention, and the big double wheel was going over again. How many times, how many decisions, until each link in the chain of command was answering as one? 'You did well, David. I am proud of you.'
Julyan the sailing master had joined him now. There was no more time.
Napier dropped lightly to the deck, and might have caught his scarred leg against a stanchion. But he felt nothing.
'Mr. Squire wants you, double-quick!'
He hurried toward the forecastle again, braced for the next task. Squire was waiting.
'Muster some waisters to clear up this deck, and get all loose gear stowed and ready for rounds. 'His eyes moved swiftly across the starboard bow. 'We don't want our French friends picking any holes in our coats! 'He was smiling, but serious enough.
Napier hastened to a ladder and hesitated, one foot in midair as he stared aft toward the quarterdeck.
The captain was no longer in sight amongst the figures busy at halliards and braces. But his words remained very clear in Napier's mind. With him.
9. Articles of War
The chart room door closed, and Julyan the master touched his hat in apology.
'I'm a bit adrift, sir. 'He peered over his shoulder. 'I had to be certain of a couple of things. But they know where I am.'
Adam said, 'Find a place for yourself. I'll not keep you long.'
Three lieutenants and Guthrie the boatswain left little room beyond the table, with its array of charts and reference books.
'We should make a landfall today, later in the dog watches, if the wind stays kind to us. 'He tapped the open log. 'And these observations prove to be accurate. '
He saw Julyan smile, and felt the tension dissipate. 'I have made a rough plan of the anchorage and the approaches, from what little information we have of them.'
He saw Squire nod. He would have had plenty of hazardous moments during his surveying voyages. A lead- and-line and a lot of luck, as one old hand had described it.
Adam looked at each of them in turn. 'We shall remain in company with Nautilus until she is received without unrest or opposition, as is anticipated. We will take no unnecessary risks.'
