broken-down sailors kept aboard.
Kydd lifted his pen. It was all very necessary, but quill-driving was no work for a seaman. His eyes glazed, but then a round of shouting and cheers broke in.
'Dick!' called McCarthy, one of the delegates sent to Spithead to get the true lay.
Parker emerged from an inner cabin. Kydd was puzzled that he did not appear more enthusiastic.
More men crowded in. 'We done it! 'S all over!' Their elation was unrestrained. 'Got th' pardon an' all, the lot! Th' fuckin' telegraph was right, Black Dick did it f'r us!'
The deck above resounded with the thump of feet as the news spread. A wave of relief spread over Kydd, until he remembered the pardon - the wording would be critical.
'Have you any proof with you?' Parker said edgily.
McCarthy lifted a sea-bag and emptied a pile of printed matter on the desk, some still smeared with printer's ink. 'An' we have one th't Black Dick hisself clapped his scratch on.' Evidently pleased with himself, he added, 'S' now I goes below an' I lays claim ter a week's grog.'
Parker sifted quickly through the papers, and straightened. 'It does seem we have something, I believe,' he said, but the intensity of his expression did not relax. 'The Parliament committee meets here in this cabin this afternoon.'
'No, it don't!' chortled a seaman. 'We meets at th' Chequers, an' after, we kicks up a bobs-a-dyin' as will have 'em talkin' fer ever.'
'Meetin' comes ter order!' bawled Davis, a broad grin belying his ferocity. Red faces and loud talk around the table showed that perhaps the celebration had been a litde early in starting.
Parker had the papers in a neat pile before him, and waited with impatience. The meeting settled down and, with a frosty look to each side, he began: 'You elected me president of the delegates because you trusted me to see through the knavish tricks of the Admiralty. I have to tell you today, I mean to honour that trust.' He picked up a paper. 'This,' he said, dangling it as though it were soiled, 'is what they intend for us. It's all here, and plain to any who have any schooling in law whatsoever. They've been forced to agree on certain points, only by the steadfast courage of our brothers in Spithead, but it's trickery.'
'Why so?' came a shout.
Parker smiled wolfishly. 'For anything to have any meaning, a rise in wages, a full pardon, everything, it has to have the force of Parliament, evidence to the world that for a surety things are to be changed. This means an Act of Parliament! Now, if you inspect this document carefully, you will see that the instrument they choose to promulgate these concessions is an order-in-council, which as you may recollect retains its force for only a year and a day. So, at the end of this time?'
An angry muttering swelled. 'Show us th' paper!' snarled Hulme, the delegate from Director, who had no patience with his more moderate colleagues. Parker ignored him, and placed it neatly out of sight under the pile.
'But the worst is to come.' He paused dramatically. 'I'm speaking of the pardon.' Kydd went cold. 'Our precious pardon! Without this to protect us, then everyone here seated today stands to dance at the yardarm within the month. Agreed?'
His words were met with a stony silence. 'Very well.
See here ...' he tapped a column in a printed broadsheet. ''... George R' - that's the King - 'Whereas, upon the representation of our Lords-commissioners of our Admiralty, respecting the proceedings of the seamen ...' It goes on, but we are interested in one thing only — the date. This pardon is dated the eleventh of May. Therefore, it cannot possibly cover any actions after that date — and our rising was. We're not covered in any whit by this pardon. It's a scrap of paper only, and we must prepare for—'
His words were drowned in a breaking wave of anger. Men used to the open sea were quite unfitted for pettifogging wordplay. Some turned on the committee, preferring to believe that this was a slip of the pen that could easily be altered later, others cursed the stupidity that had led them this far.
'Still!' Davis roared. 'Shut yer noise, y' mumpin' lubbers, 'n' listen!'
The meeting, now cold sober, turned once more to Parker. 'So. You will ask me why they do this. It's simple, and so predictable. Have you not noticed? In Spithead they have Admiral Howe to meet the delegates personally. The First Lord, Earl Spencer, he sees fit to make the journey all the way from London to treat with them, and in the end, according to Brother McCarthy, the admiral then has a rousing good
