practically been holding their crews at pistol-point. When they heard that Dobkin, Cox, and the rest were not with us, they hoisted anchor within an hour. We would meet in the Saint Blaise Islands to decide what to do next.
Before we got there, however, Capt. Harker joined us in his sloop, the Princess. Novia and I watched him board the Weald and speculated a good deal on what news he might bring-a sport in which we were soon joined by Boucher. When I saw signal flags being run up the mizzen of the Weald, I felt certain the signal was to be 'All Captains.' When the flags were shaken out, however, it was only 'Capt. Chris' who was asked to join Capt. Burt.
To head off a row I took Novia with me, and Capt. Burt made no objection. TWO DAYS, AND I have written nothing. My passport came, but no one is answering the telephone at the Cuban consulate in New York. None of the airlines I have called is offering service to Havana yet. Nor would I wish to try to make my way to the airport through this snow, to be entirely honest; mono service is not to be relied upon in weather as cold as we have had.
Before I write any more, I ought to explain that I have been generally called Capt. Chris or Fr. Chris because of the length and difficulty of my last name. Few know it, and fewer can pronounce it correctly. As for spelling out my name in signal flags, there is not a signalman in the world who would not abbreviate it.
After mass today, I went trolling for some pirate Web sites and found several. One offered a short biography of a Capt. Cos or Kruss, believed to have been Dutch or German. It was not until I read that he had disappeared after sailing from Havana alone in a small craft that I realized that I was 'Capt. Cos,' although the detail that Cos was said to have made his wife his chief lieutenant should have alerted me. When the four of us were seated in Capt. Burt's cabin, he said, 'You two have met Captain Harker before, I know. I left him at Long Bay to speed the bigger vessels to me, and he's done well. I've already given him his company's share of what we got at Portobello and Santa Maria. That was little enough, I'm afraid.'
Harker nodded. 'Not what we were hoping for, but bad luck can't last forever.'
'Exactly. Forgive me now, Hal. I'm goin' to repeat a few things you've already heard.
'Chris, you know what I planned earlier. Maracaibo's a different article from that damned Portobello. Or Santa Maria, either. Portobello may be the most disease-ridden town in the world. Maracaibo's healthy. Portobello's a coastal place. Because it is, the good cits feel exposed and are forever demandin' more protection from the Spanish Crown. Maracaibo's an inland port, at the tail end of the Gulf of Venezuela. Think of jolly old London, up the Thames from the sea. Better still, think of Santa Maria, miles and miles up its river from the Gulf of Saint Michael.'
I nodded.
'You say Maracaibo is not like.' Novia looked worn and tired, as all of us except for Harker did. 'How is different?'
'Santa Maria's little more than a fishing village, Senora. Maracaibo's a city, larger than Portobello and Santa Maria combined.'
'A rich city,' Harker added.
Novia shrugged. 'Ver es creer.' I doubt that either Capt. Burt or Harker understood her.
'A damnation rich city. The cacao trade alone…' Burt shook his head. 'Great fortunes have been made in that. More are bein' made every day. Besides that, the land behind Maracaibo's prime cattle country. Hides, tallow, and dried and salt beef flow like water through the city, tons of 'em.'
'What is cacao?' I asked. 'I've never heard of it.'
Novia grinned. 'We say chocolate, Crisoforo. What is your English word?'
Capt. Burt answered for me. 'Pretty much the same, Senora-chocolate.' He turned to me. 'Chocolate's made from cacao beans, and they say the best beans in the world are grown in Venezuela.'
'About this I do not know,' Novia told him. 'Three things only, I know. Of these primero, my first, is that chocolate costs silver in Coruna, where it is drunk at the tables of the most rich. Segundo, my second, is that this Maracaibo has been warned of us. Tercero, my third, is that Crisoforo and I have only marineros sufficient for the work of our sails. Because I know these three things, I listen and listen. But I do not believe.'
Capt. Burt smiled. I could not see his hands, but I suspected that he was rubbing them together. 'Everythin' you say is true, Senora. As to the price of chocolate, I can only set my seal to your own assessment. It's awfully valuable. Because it is, great sums reach Maracaibo. As to the second-'
Harker interrupted him. 'Can we trust her, Captain? She's Spanish.'
'I'd trust her,' Capt. Burt said slowly, 'as far as I'd trust any man I know.'
I said, 'You can certainly trust Novia-and me-enough to tell us we'll be going back to Port Royal to refit and fill our ship's companies.'
'I won't lie to either of you.' Capt. Burt smiled again. 'We're not. I mean to recruit among the logwood cutters of Campeche and the Cimaroons of Honduras.'
Novia looked sidelong at me, and when I did not speak asked, 'They are good marineros there, Capitan?'
'They ain't seamen at all, Senora. You and Chris will have to train 'em. Which you'll do, I know, and first rate.'
'They're good fighting men,' Harker added.
Captain Burt nodded. 'That takes care of your third point, Senora. As for your second, I'm fortunate to have a captain who speaks Spanish so well that he can pass as a Spaniard.'
He turned to me, and I would swear his eyes twinkled. 'I mean to send him to Maracaibo ahead of us to take the lay of the land.'
'No! You cannot!' Novia jumped to her feet, knocking over her chair.
I made her sit down again and said, 'Yes, he can. I'll go, of course, Captain.'
'Knew you would, Chris.' Capt. Burt cleared his throat. 'Somethin' was said about trustin' a while back. Just to show you two how much I trust you both, I'm goin' to tell you somethin' more. Mum's the word on this. Do you recollect the Spanish pinnace? The one that scared us out of Portobello?'
We nodded.
'Well, shipmates, the captain of that pinnace is sittin' at this table with us this very minute.'
I do not know whether Novia's jaw dropped, but I am sure mine did.
Capt. Burt's laughter filled the cabin. 'Hal flew Spanish colors, thinkin' there might be a galleon or two about. A good sensible precaution, I call it.'
'This you knew, Capitan?'
'Not at first, Senora. I came flash only after I'd talked to Hal here. But think, now. Leaky ships, most shot up a bit by that fort. Foul bottoms on some of 'em. Small crews. But got out without seein' so much as the topsails of a galleon, and why didn't the pinnace shadow us? It's what they do, usually, Senora. Take station 'tween you and the galleons, where the galleons will see their signals.'
I said, 'Now that you know, shouldn't you send the ships back to Portobello?'
'I will, Chris. Trust me for that. But not yet. Not till they're in better shape, and there's been time for the crews to shake off their fevers. Only tell me now, you were with us, and the senora, too. Is Dobkin comin' back? Honest, now.'
'He could,' I said. 'There's a chance.' Somehow I felt that if I said no, I would be dooming him and all the Sabina men who had gone with him.
'Odds, Chris?'
'Ten to one, maybe.'
Capt. Burt grunted. 'You're more generous than Bram Burt would've been, let me tell you. My ten doubloons to your one, hey? If we don't see him within a year, or hear that he got out alive, you'll owe me your one. If we do, I'll owe you my ten. Bet?'
'Bet,' I said. 'But I've another question-one that has nothing to do with Dobkin. Can I ask it?'
'Fire away.'
'It may be for Captain Harker, really. More for him than for you. Where's Lesage?'
Capt. Burt nodded. 'That's for Hal, right enough. All I know is what he's told me. Hal?'
Novia said, 'We spoke to you at the Long Bay. You say you must wait for this Lesage, but we must go. Now you are come. What has befallen him?'
'An unshipped rudder, madam. No more than that. We set out in company. The second day, it was. He signaled me to proceed with all speed, saying he would follow when practicable. He's senior to me, madam, so I
