Dudley Pope - Ramage And The Rebels

'Beat to quarters, Mr Wagstaffe.'

Already the deck was clearing of men: they had heard the lookouts' hail and were snatching up their pieces of cloth and rousing their sleeping mates and making their way to their quarters for action. The gunner was running up from below to ask for the key to the magazine and Bowen, the surgeon, who had apparently been dozing on the fo'c'sle, was hurrying below to set out his instruments.

Ramage looked out over the larboard bow, balancing himself on the breech of the aftermost 12 - pounder gun. It took a few moments to spot the fleck again. Flecks, rather, because there were definitely two ships, though they'd seemed closer together when first he saw them.

And whatever they were, it was important to keep up to windward.

'Mr Wagstaffe, steer hard on the wind; man the lee braces and tend the weather ones ... get those fore - tacks close down . . . Let's have those yards braced sharp up!'

Ramage stopped himself: there were plenty more instructions for getting the Calypso steering as fast and as close to the wind as possible, to cut off the distant ships' escape if they were enemy, but Wagstaffe knew them all, and any moment Aitken would be on deck.

Ah, there was the Marine drummer striding up and down, whirling his drumsticks with a flourish that sent men to quarters, and already several had anticipated the order and were rigging head pumps and running up on deck with buckets of sand while others were casting loose the guns.

'Mr Wagstaffe, make to the Creole "Sail in sight" and give the bearing.'

Southwick gestured astern, and Ramage saw La Creole was already hauling her wind to get into the Calypso's wake, and at that moment three hoists of signal flags broke out.

'Should never trust young lieutenants with the signal book,' Southwick muttered, 'and Lacey must have seen Orsini going aloft!'

Wagstaffe had his telescope to his eye and began reading off the signals. '350 - I have discovered a strange fleet. . . 366 - The strange ships lye - by, and 115 - The ship is ready for action.' 'Acknowledge,' Ramage said, and winked at Southwick. 'He trumped our ace, don't you think?'

Southwick grinned ruefully. 'It's the way you've trained him, sir. He's picked up some of your habits. A rod for your own back!'

By now the lookout at die mainmast - head was hailing again, passing on Orsini's reports. 'Deck there . . . two ships, sir, both lying - to. One - the nearest, Mr Orsini says - is a merchant ship. The other is smaller . . . fore and aft rigged ... much less freeboard, big sweep to her sheer . . .'

Wagstaffe acknowledged, but a few moments later the lookout was hailing again. 'Deck there ... the smaller ship's a schooner and she's getting under way. The merchant ship's backing and filling as though there's no one at the helm, so Mr Orsini says, sir.'

From the moment the lookout had shouted down, '. . . both lying - to . . .' Ramage had known what was going to follow, and he turned to Aitken, who had just hurried up, buckling on his sword, and told him: 'Fine on the larboard bow, a privateer schooner has caught a merchant ship. She sighted us just as we saw her, and now she's getting under way.'

The masthead lookout hailed again: 'Deck there! Schooner's steering a couple of points to starboard of our course, sir, but the merchant ship's swung so everything's aback.'

Ramage saw Baker and Kenton hurry up to the quarterdeck and report to Aitken, who came up and said formally: The ship's company at quarters, sir: do you want the guns loaded and run out?'

'Not for the time being.'

And here was Jackson with his sword and a pistol. Ramage turned while Jackson clipped on the slings of the scabbard, and then took the pistol and clipped it into his waistbelt Now Southwick was reporting the wind freshening, and yet another glance showed La Creole was in the same position in the frigate's wake, heeling more now. There was no chance, Ramage realized bitterly, of her overhauling that privateer schooner out ahead of them. It would be dark in six hours.

and the old saying that 'a stem chase is a long chase' was very true. And he was not going to risk splitting his tiny force at this stage.

Yet such was the contradictory nature of men, if he had told them that they would soon be going into action, with the inevitable corollary that some of them would be killed and others would be badly wounded and maimed for life, so that Bowen would have to saw off limbs with the patients biting a piece of wood and befuddled with rum to help them bear the pain, they would have cheered him. Instead he would soon be telling them that unless something entirely unforeseen happened, there would be no action today, and they would groan with genuine disappointment.

'Deck there I The schooner has tacked up to the nor' east, sir.'

And in half an hour, Ramage thought bitterly, she'll tack again, gradually working herself well up to windward, knowing no square - rigged ship like a frigate could get near her and sure that no schooner so far to leeward would ever catch her up. By nightfall she'll be out of sight, and the Calypso's log will note that she was 'last seen in the south - east quadrant'.

By now, as the Calypso worked her way to windward, occasional spray flying over the fo'c'sle like a heavy shower of rain, the merchant ship's hull was beginning to lift over the curvature of the earth, the line of her deck just now visible in the telescope but the rest of her hull still below the horizon. Ramage saw that she was heading eastward, all her sails aback, and even as he watched she began to pay off and swing round, the wind pressing on backed jibs.

Had the schooner taken everyone on board prisoner? Was the ship abandoned? Curious that no one was attempting to trim her sails or furl them. Now she was making a stem board, one which risked wrenching off her rudder if the men at the wheel did not stop it spinning. There was, of course, another explanation, and he tried to avoid thinking about it; he would soon know.

'Mr Aitken, we'll need one boat, possibly two, so have them ready for hoisting out. Six Marines for each boat and a dozen extra seamen. And tell Mr Bowen to be ready with a bag of instruments, because he'll be going over.'

The first lieutenant stared at him, and then realized the significance of the reference to Bowen, because it was unlikely the merchant ship had been in action against the privateer. As he gave the orders he watched the distant merchant ship slowly turning, like a swan's feather on a pond, turning and drifting in the breeze.

Now Rennick was giving orders to his Marines while men ran to prepare the boats for hoisting out, and Jackson said to Ramage: 'Shall I get your boat cloak, sir?'

He had a light cloak, intended only for use in the Tropics, to keep the spray off his uniform, and there was enough of a sea to ensure a wet row to the merchant ship. He shook his head. 'I shan't be going over.'

The American coxswain's face fell. A visit to a merchant ship just out from England usually meant the gift of newspapers and often some tasty snacks like cheeses. Ramage said: 'You had better take Mr Baker.'

Aitken, overhearing the conversation, turned expectantly, but Ramage said: 'Send Kenton with one boat and Baker with the other and Rennick had better divide his Marines. And make sure the surgeon's mate goes with Bowen.'

'You think it will be as bad as that, sir?'

Ramage watched the merchant ship's sails fill for a few moments as she turned slowly in the wind. 'Yes, it'll be as bad as that.'

It was, in fact, far worse. As the Calypso approached Ramage saw that the merchant ship was low in the water and obviously settling, and Ramage wasted no time in bringing the frigate up to windward, backing the foretopsail and hoisting out the two boats, giving Baker orders that he was to board first and give any necessary orders to Kenton in the second boat.