the fine hairs at the back of his neck rise.
'Sweet Sir Henry, I pray you to have mercy on an old shipmate.'
'Sam Bowles.' Hal tried to keep his voice level. 'You have enough innocent blood on your conscience to float a frigate.'
'You do me injustice, good Sir Henry. I am a poor wretch driven by the storms and gales of life, noble Sir Henry. I never wanted to do no man harm.'
'I will deal with him in the morning. Chain him to the mainmast and put two good men to guard him,' Hal ordered Big Daniel. 'Make sure that this time he does not eel his way out of our hands and cheat us once again of the vengeance that we so richly deserve.'
He watched in the lantern light as they shackled Sam Bowles to the foot of the mainmast and two of the crew stood over him with drawn cutlasses.
'My little brother Peter was one of those you drowned,' the older of the two guards told Sam Bowles. 'I beg you for any excuse to stick this blade through your belly.'
Hal left Daniel in charge of the deck and, taking Sukeena with him, went below to the main cabin. She would not rest until she had bathed and bandaged his cuts and wounds, although none were serious enough to cause her alarm. When she had finished, Hal led her through into the small cabin next door. 'You will be able to rest here undisturbed,' he told her, lifted her onto the bunk and, though she protested, covered her with a woollen blanket.
'There are wounded men that need my help, 'she said. 'Your unborn son and I need you more,' he told her finfily, and pushed her head down gently. She sighed and was almost immediately asleep.
He returned to the main cabin and sat down at Llewellyn's desk. In the centre of the mahogany top lay a great black leather-covered Bible. During all his captivity Hal had been denied access to the book. He opened the front cover, and read the inscription, written in a bold sloping hand. 'Christopher Llewellyn esq, Born 16th October in the year of grace 1621.'
Below it was another, fresher inscription. 'Consecrated as a Nautonnier Knight of the Temple of the Order of St. George and the Holy Grail 2nd August 1643.'
Knowing that the man who had captained this ship before him was a brother Knight gave Hal a deep purpose and pleasure. For an hour he turned the pages of the Bible and reread the familiar and inspiring passages by which his father had taught him to steer his course through life. At last he closed it, stood up and began to search the cabin for the ship's books and documents. He soon discovered the iron strong-box below the bunk. When he could not find the key he called Aboli to help him. They forced open the lid and Hal sent Aboli away. He sat the rest of the night at Llewellyn's desk, studying the ship's books and papers in the lantern light. He was so absorbed by his reading that when Aboli came down to fetch him, an hour after the sun had risen, he looked up in surprise. 'What time is it, Aboli?'
'Two bells in the morning watch. The men are asking to see you, Captain.'
Hal stood up from the desk, stretching and rubbing his eyes, then crossed to the door of the cabin where Sukeena still slept.
'It would be best if you spoke to the new men as soon as you can, Gundwane,'Aboli said, behind him.
'Yes, you are right.' Hal turned back to him.
'Daniel and I have already told them who you are, but you must convince them now to sail under your command. If they refuse to accept you as their new captain, there is little we can do. There are thirty-four of them, and only six of us.'
Hal went to the small mirror on the bulkhead above the jug and basin of the toilet stand. When he saw his reflection he started with amazement. 'Sweet heavens, Aboli, I look such a pirate that I do not even trust myself.'
Sukeena must have been listening, for she appeared suddenly in the doorway with the blanket draped over her shoulders.
'Tell them we will come in a minute, Aboli, when I have made the best of his appearance,' she said.
When Hal and Sukeena stepped out onto the deck together, the men gathered in the ship's waist stared at them with astonishment. The transformation was extraordinary. Hal was freshly shaved and dressed in simple but clean clothing from Llewellyn's locker. Sukeena's hair was combed, oiled and plaited and she had fashioned a long skirt from one of the cabin's velvet drapes and wrapped it around her girlish waist and hips. They made an extraordinary couple, the tall young Englishman and the oriental beauty.
Hal left Sukeena at the companionway and strode out in front of the men. 'I am Henry Courtney. I am an Englishman, as you are. I am a sailor, as you are.'
'Aye, that you are, Captain,' one said loudly. 'We watched you take a strange ship out through the heads in darkness. You're enough sailor to fill my tankard and give me a warm feel in the guts.'
Another called out, 'I sailed with your father, Sir Francis, on the old Lady Edwina. He was a seaman and fighter, and an honest man to boot.'
Then another cried, 'Last night, by my count, you took down seven of the Buzzard's scum with your own blade. The pup is well bred from the old dog.'
They all began to cheer him so he could not speak for a long while, but at last he held up his hand. 'I tell you straight that I have read Captain Llewellyn's log. I have read the charter he had with the ship's owner, and I know whither the Golden Bough was bound and what was her purpose.' He paused, and looked at their honest, weatherbeaten faces. 'We have a choice, you and I. We can say we were beaten by the Buzzard before we began and sail back home to England.'
They groaned and shouted protests until he held up his hand again.
'Or I can take over Captain Llewellyn's charter and his agreement with the owners of the Golden Bough. On your side, you can sign on with me on the same terms and with the same share of the prize you agreed before. Before you answer me, remember that if you come with me the chances are strong that we will run in with the Buzzard again, and you will have to fight him once more.'
'Lead us to him now, Captain,' one yelled. 'We'll fight him this very day.'
'Nay, lad. We're short-handed and I need to learn to con this ship before we meet the Buzzard again. We will fight the Gull on the day and at the place of my own choosing,' Hal told them grimly. 'On that day we will hoist the Buzzard's head to our masthead and divide up his booty.'
'I'm with you, Captain,' shouted a lanky fair-headed sailor. 'I cannot write my name, but bring me the book and I'll mark a cross so big and black it will fright the devil himself. 'They all roared with fierce laughter.
'Bring the book and let us sign.'
'We're with you. My oath and my mark on it.'
Hal stopped them again. 'You will come one at a time to my cabin, so that I can learn each of your names and shake you by the hand.'
He turned to the rail and pointed back over their stern. 'We have made good our offing.' The African coast lay low and blue along the horizon. 'Get aloft now to make sail and bring the ship around onto her true course for the Great Horn of Africa.'
They swarmed up the shrouds and out along the yards and the canvas billowed out until it shone in the sunlight like a soaring thunderhead.
'What course, Captain?' Ned Tyler called from the helm.
'East by north, Mister Tyler,' Hal replied, and felt the ship surge forward under him, as he turned to watch the wake furrow the blue rollers with a line of flashing foam. he never one of the crew passed the foot of the mainmast where Sam Bowles AW crouched, shackled at hand and foot like a captive ape, they paused to gather saliva and spit at him. Aboli came to Hal in the forenoon watch. 'You must deal with Sam Bowles now. The men are becoming impatient. One of them is going to cheat the rope and stick a knife between his ribs.'
'That will save me a deal of bother.' Hal looked up from the bundle of charts and the book of sailing directions that he had found in Christopher Llewellyn's chest. He knew that his crew would demand a savage revenge on Sam Bowles, and he did not relish what had to be done.
'I will come on deck at once.' He sighed, surrendering at last to Aboli's ruthless persuasion. 'Have the men assembled in the waist.'
He had thought that Sukeena was still in the small cabin that adjoined the powder magazine, which she had turned into a sickbay and in which two of the wounded men still teetered on the edge of life. He hoped that she would stay there, but as he stepped out onto the deck she came to meet him.
'You should go below, Princess,' he told her softly. 'It will not be a sight fitting to your eyes.'
'What concerns you is my concern also. Your father was part of you, so his death touches upon me. I lost my own father in terrible circumstances, but I avenged him. I will stay to see that you avenge your father's death.'
'Very well.' Hal nodded, and called across the deck. 'Bring the prisoner!'
They were forced to drag Sam Bowles to face his accusers, for his legs could barely support him and his tears ran down to mingle with the spittle that the men had ejected into his face.
'I meant no ill,' he pleaded. 'Hear me, shipmates. 'Twos that devil Cumbrae that drove me to it.'
'You laughed as you held my brother's head under the waters of the lagoon, shouted one of the seamen.
As they
