His hail excited little interest, or none: grog was to be served out the moment the mast was secured and the yard across. Willing hands, well ahead of orders, were busy with the two pair of shrouds, the stoppings on the yard; impatient men were waiting in the crosstrees ready to clap on the braces. However, Jack and his first lieutenant looked attentively at the hazy ships, looming unnaturally large some four miles ahead and growing rapidly clearer as the frigate sailed towards them - she was making five knots already on the steady north-?east wind.
‘Who is that old-?fashioned fellow who carries his mizentopmast staysail under the maintop?’ said Stourton. ‘I believe I can make out two more behind them. I am astonished they should have come up with us so soon; after all .
‘Stourton - Stourton,’ cried Jack, ‘it is Linois. Haul your wind! Hard a-?port, hard over. Let fall the maincourse, there. Strike the pendant. Forestaysail: maintopgallant. Marines, Marines, there: clap on to the mainbrace. Bear a hand, bear a hand. Mr Etherege, stir up your men.’
Babbington came running aft to report the foreroyalyard across, and the frigate’s sudden turn, coinciding with a heavy roll, threw him off his balance: he fell sprawling at his captain’s feet. ‘Butcher!’ cried Jack, ‘Mr Babbington, this is carrying a proper deference too far.’
‘Yard across, sir, if you please,’ said Babbington: and seeing the wild glee on Jack’s face, the mad brilliance of his eye, he presumed on their old acquaintance to say, ‘Sir, what’s afoot?’
‘Linois is afoot,’ said Jack, with a grin. ‘Mr Stourton, backstays to that mast at once, and preventers. Do not let them set up the shrouds too taut; we must not have it wrung. All stuns’ls and kites into the tops. Give her what sail she can carry. And then I believe you may prepare to clear for action. ‘Slinging his glass, he ran up the masthead like a boy. The Surprise had spun round on her heel; she was now steadying on her course, close-? hauled and heading north, leaning far over to larboard as the sail increased upon her and her bow-?wave began to fling the water wide. The Frenchmen were fading a little in the haze, but he could see the nearest signalling. Both had been sailing on a course designed to intercept the Surprise - they had seen him first - and now they were following his turn in chase. They would never fetch his wake unless they tacked, however; they had been too far ahead for that. Beyond them he could make out a larger ship: another farther to the south-?west, and something indistinct on the blurred horizon - perhaps a brig. These three were still sailing large, and clearly the whole squadron had been in line abreast, strung out to sweep twenty miles of sea; and they were standing directly for the path the slow China fleet would traverse next day. Thunder had been grumbling and crashing since the morning, and now in the midst of a distant peal there was the sound of a gun. The Admiral, no doubt, calling in his leeward ships. ‘Mr Stourton,’ he called, ‘Dutch ensign and two or three hoists of the first signal-?flags that come to hand, with a gun to windward - two guns. ‘The French frigates were cracking on: topgallant stay-?sails appeared, outer jib, jib of jibs. They were throwing up a fine bow-?wave, and the first was making perhaps eight knots, the second nine; but the distance was drawing out, and that would never do - his very first concern was to find out what he had to deal with. Below him the deck was like an ant-?hill disturbed; and he could hear the crash of the carpenters’ mallets below as the cabin bulkheads came down. It would be some minutes before the apparent confusion resolved itself into a trim, severe pattern, a clean sweep fore and aft, the guns cast loose, their crews standing by them, every man at his station, sentries at the hatchways, damp fearnought screens rigged over the magazines, wet sand strewn over the decks. The men had been through these motions hundreds of times, but never in earnest: how would they behave in action? Pretty well, no doubt: most men did, in this kind of action, if they were properly led: and the Surprises were a decent set of men; a little over-?eager with their shot at first, perhaps, but that could be dealt with how much powder was there filled? Twenty rounds apiece was yesterday’s report, and plenty of wads: Hales was a good conscientious gunner. He would be as busy as a bee at this moment, down there in the powder-?room.
This drawing away would never do. He would give them another two minutes and then take his measures. The second frigate had passed the first. She was almost certainly the thirty-?six gun Semillante, with twelve-? pounders on her maindeck: the Surprise could take her on. He moved out on to the yardarm for a better view, for they lay on his quarter and it was difficult to count the gun-?ports. Yes, she was the S?millante; and the heavy frigate behind her was the Belle Poule, forty, with eighteen-?pounders - a very tough nut to crack, if she was well handled. He watched them dispassionately. Yes, they were well-?handled: both somewhat crank, probably from want of stores; and both slow, of course; they must be trailing a great curtain of weed, after so many months in this milk-?warm water, and they were making heavy weather of it. Beautiful ships, however, and their people obviously knew their duty -S?millante sheeted home her foretopmast staysail in a flash. In his opinion Belle Poule would do better with less canvas abroad; her foretopgallant seemed to be pressing her down; but no doubt her captain knew her trim best.
Braithwaite appeared, snorting. ‘Mr Stourton’s duty, sir, and the ship is cleared for action. Do you choose he should beat to quarters, sir?’
‘No, Mr Braithwaite,’ said Jack, considering: there was no question of action yet awhile, and it would be a pity to keep the men standing about. ‘No. But pray tell him I should like sail to be discreetly reduced. Come up the bowlines a trifle and give the sheets half a fathom or so -nothing obvious, you understand me. And the old number three foretopsail is to be bent to a hawser and veered out of the lee sternport.’
‘Aye, aye, sir,’ said Braithwaite, and vanished. A few moments later the frigate’s speed began to slacken; and as the strain came on to the drag-?sail, opening like a parachute beneath the surface, it dropped further still.
Stephen and the chaplain stood at the taffrail, staring over the larboard quarter. ‘I am afraid they are coming closer,’ said Mr White. ‘I can distinctly see the men on the front of the nearer one: and even on the ship behind. See, they fire a gun! And a flag appears! Your glass, if you please. Why, it is the English flag! I congratulate you, Dr Maturin; I congratulate you on our deliverance: I confess I had apprehended a very real danger, a most unpleasant situation. Ha, ha, ha! They are our friends!’
‘Haud crede colori,’ said Stephen. ‘Cast your eyes aloft, my dear sir.’
Mr White looked up at the mizen-?peak, where a tricolour streamed out bravely. ‘It is the French flag,’ he cried. ‘No. The Dutch. We are sailing under false colours! Can such things be?’
‘So are they,’ said Stephen. ‘They seek to amuse us; we seek to amuse them. The iniquity is evenly divided. It is an accepted convention, I find, like bidding the servant - ‘A shot from the S?millante’s bow-?chaser threw up a plume of water a little way from the frigate’s stern, and the parson started back. ‘- say you are not at home, when in fact you are eating muffin by your fire and do not choose to be disturbed.’
‘I often did so,’ said Mr White, whose face had grown strangely mottled. ‘God forgive me. And now here I am in the midst of battle. I never thought such a thing could happen - I am a man of peace. However, I must not give a bad example.’
A ball, striking the top of a wave, ricocheted on to the quarterdeck by way of the neatly piled hammocks. It fell with a harmless dump and two midshipmen darted for it, struggled briefly until the stronger wrested it away and wrapped it lovingly in his jacket. ‘Good heavens,’ cried Mr White. ‘To fire great iron balls at people you have never even spoken to - barbarity is come again.’
‘Will you take a turn, sir?’ asked Stephen.
