by Michael Aye
Davy and several other mids had passed the examination for lieutenant and now they were all at the Mermaid to celebrate. Now they couldn’t wait for a billet to come open so they’d actually be commissioned. Buck and Earl had pulled Gabe and Markham aside and explained how hard they had drilled Davy. He did not get frustrated; he thought out his answers and did very well.
Then Buck said, “But anyone who could talk two King’s officers into forging such a set of affidavits ought to be a lieutenant.”
“Four,” Markham said.
“Four, what do you mean four?” Buck questioned.
“I mean four officers. You two have known Davy as long as we have so you are as much a part of this as we are.”
“Then it’s five,” Earl said. When the other three looked at him Earl continued, “Don’t forget about his lordship.”
“Humph,” Buck said. “Best we be remembering. Gunnells signed his certificates and as one of the finest masters in the Royal Navy, I’d not question his word.”
“Here, here,” the group replied. “A toast to Gunnells.”
As the merriment was winding down Domingo made his way over to Gabe. “To be a midshipman, is this something anybody can do?”
Amazed at his friend’s inquiry Gabe said, “Yes. Generally there’s a desire on behalf of the boy to have a life at sea. Then the father or guardian seeks a sponsor or perhaps they themselves will apply to a ship’s captain for their son or someone they know to be favorably considered a midshipman. Most often if it’s a relative of an admiral or person of influence; it’s just being able to outfit the lad and provide him with enough of an allowance to live on. I must tell you Domingo that most midshipmen come from families with influence. A few such as Mr. Davy make lieutenant but without influence, to go beyond is almost unheard of.”
“Do you think that I, as a humble merchant, would be able to outfit my son and provide enough allowance long enough so that he could decide if he truly wants to live a life at sea?”
Gabe was not sure how to respond. With what the tavern was now making, Domingo could outfit the boy, but with his Spanish heritage and no influence life would be rough. Even with his father being an admiral, it had been very tough for him at times. Gabe could only imagine how things would be for a Spanish tavern keeper’s son in the Royal Navy. How did you explain to a ‘landsman’ what went on in the midshipmen’s berth? How once signed on, the captain couldn’t interfere least he is accused of favoritism. The lad would have to face up to bullies, poor food and a list of dangers that could take a life in a slip of a second. Not to mention the added dangers of war.
“Are you talking of Alejandro?” Gabe asked.
“Si.”
“Has he ever been at sea?”
Domingo shook his head, “No.”
“How is his education?” Gabe asked.
“It is well, señor. He speaks English and Latin and can do his arithmetic.”
“Can he write well?” Gabe asked.
“Si, señor, he is very smart.”
“How old is he?” Gabe asked.
“He is fourteen.”
“Well,” Gabe said. “He’s older than I was and he’s big and healthy enough to handle the rigors of shipboard life. Is he easy to anger?” Gabe asked.
To this Domingo raised his eyes and said, “Yes, sometimes too quick.”
Well, thought Gabe, what do I do?
“Let me think on it Domingo and if I decide to take him on, I’ll be his sponsor. That may prove helpful at some point.”
As Gabe left the tavern he discussed the situation with Markham.
“I don’t know,” his friend said. “It would be a long shot at best. I’d talk to Dagan and see what he thinks. You know he’s the one who’d know best except maybe his Lordship.”
“Thanks,” Gabe said, “for telling me what I already knew.”
“Well there’s no charge for the obvious,” Markham quipped. “By the way have you seen Nancy lately?”
“Not that I can recall. Last time I saw her she was giving the nurses what for at the hospital for not taking proper care of Sir Raymond.”
As the two friends walked on a thought came to Markham, “You know Gabe, Domingo is liable to lose both his children to the Navy: Nancy to Sir Raymond and Alejandro to SeaWolf. Bet he never expected that before we showed up.”
The day dawned clear and warm with a humid breeze blowing across the anchorage toward the harbour. Gabe was hard to rise as was usual for him. He’d talked with Dagan and decided to allow Alejandro to come aboard for a trial. Dagan had felt it would be good for the boy to see another side of life, even if it was for just a short period.
Dagan had told Gabe, “If Domingo convinces some other captain to take the boy aboard, whether it is a merchant or naval vessel the chance of the boy coming home in less than a year would be doubtful. This way if in a few days he decides this is not what he wants, he can slip anchor and go ashore. If he takes to the sea you can sign him on.”
Dagan had also recommended he spend some time with Davy while he was still a middy. “Let the two talk man to man so to speak,” Dagan had said.
Gabe had sent word to Domingo for the boy to be ready this morning and Gabe would send for him.
“I’ll go,” Dagan had volunteered, “and on the way back we’ll stop and visit on the Swan for a while. I’ll see if Markham’s anymore chipper in the morning than you.”
“Take Lum with you,” Gabe said. “We need several things for the pantry and have him check my store of cigars before he leaves.”
“I’ll tend to the tobacco,” Dagan replied. “I’ll get us some good hand-rolled Virginia leaf cigars.”
Gabe hadn’t missed the “us” in Dagan’s comment. “You enjoy your evening visits with the Virginians I take it.”
“Yes,” was Dagan’s only response.
“Gil tells me Colonel Manning’s wife has a sister, a recently widowed sister. Does she add to the pleasure you enjoy during your visits?”
“She doesn’t take away from it,” Dagan replied matter-of-factly.
“Was I going to be told about this lady?” Gabe asked with a grin.
“It appears you’ve already been told.”
“Is there a possible future relationship?” Gabe continued, realizing Dagan seemed a bit uncomfortable with the conversation.
“There’s always a possible future,” Dagan answered. “Now finish getting dressed and drink your coffee before it gets cold. Damned if you ain’t worse at rising now than you used to be. All that hooting with the owls keeps you from soaring with the eagles.”
Gabe had been working at his desk for the better part of the morning. Dagan had not returned so he was either still ashore or on Swan. The groan of a ship is something a sailor hears daily and learns to tune it out. However, the groans were becoming more frequent and the sounds of timbers creaking as waves were lapping at the side of the hull could be heard. As Gabe rose from his chair to go topside he could feel the slight heave of the deck as SeaWolf tugged at her mooring. A dark cloud blotted the sun from view and the sky had an ominous look.
Lieutenant Lavery was quickly at Gabe’s side and said, “General signal from flag, sir, put to sea.”
“Any sight of Dagan?” Gabe asked.
“Yes sir, he and a lad went aboard Swan about a quarter hour ago.”
“Damn,” Gabe swore.
The wind had picked up till it shook the shrouds. The normal greenish tint to the sea had now turned an angry blue.
Gunnells and Jackson were now present and the master declared, “We’re in for a blow.”
Taking a look toward Swan, Gabe still saw no sign of Dagan. “Damn,” he swore again.
“Sir,” this from Jackson, “Merlin’s getting underway.”
“Very well,” Gabe replied. “Put to sea, Mr. Jackson. Let’s see if we can outrun this tempest.”
Then as the officer went about getting underway, Gabe took one last look toward Swan. Where are you Dagan, wh
ere are you? he wondered.
Chapter Twenty-Three
SeaWolf followed Warrior and Merlin out of the anchorage with Swan directly behind. The smaller Rose and Audacity would be safe inside the harbour. There’d not been time to do anything with Defiant, the captured Indiaman.
Just as SeaWolf got underway what felt like an endless gust of wind seemed to pick up the ship by the stern and drive her forward. Gabe ordered lifelines strung between the mast and ropes tied around the helmsman.
“Put two men on the wheel,” Gabe ordered, “and have all the men not on watch go below.”
The rain had now started and visibility had diminished. Gabe felt it better to have the men below out of the wind and rain until they were needed. He’d change the watch in two hours to keep the men fresh. Walking aft, Gabe had to time his steps to keep from loosing his footing due to the violent pitching and rolling of the ship. Once at the taffrail he raised his glass but was unable to find the Swan. Did she take another tack? he wondered.
The seas were rising and the wind now howled. Every wave seemed to be larger than the previous one with the waves pushing and lifting the stern so that the bow dipped down before the wave slipped from beneath the ship. The sea continued to grow and Gabe stared, fascinated by the phosphorescent water that gushed from the turbulent waves. The wind had risen until it cracked, groaned, roared and howled.
Gunnells approached Gabe wiping his eyes. There appeared to be no fear in the old master’s face. “She’s a fair tempest,” he hollered trying to be heard above the wind, “but it ain’t no hurricane. Running with the wind we should out sail this by dawn.”
Looking at the enormous height of the waves Gabe hoped the master was right. He too had been in worse conditions, a hurricane in fact with winds over sixty knots. Still he was apprehensive, the morrow couldn’t come quick enough for him.
The dawn came slowly as clouded skies still blocked the sun’s rays. Throughout the night Gabe had stood with Gunnells keeping an eye on the wheel, the mast, the sails and the guns waiting for something to go wrong. It hadn’t. Now the two were sleepy, hungry and near exhaustion.
“Could have been worse,” Gunnells joked. “We could have been in the North Atlantic and we’d be near frozen.”
Gabe was thankful they weren’t. He was also thankful the master’s predictions had come true and moderate weather had greeted the dawn.
Caleb came on deck and said, “Looks like it’s clearing up.”
“Aye,” Gabe answered. “Many injuries?”
“Not unless you count Mr. Jewells.”
“What happened to him?” Gabe asked.
“He fell when the ship took a roll and busted his lip on a bottle.”
Gabe was afraid to ask a bottle of what.
Up forward a lookout called, “Sails fine on the larboard bow.”
Jackson who’d gone below to get some coffee had returned on deck.
Seeing him Gabe ordered, “Send a man aloft now that the wind has moderated.”
“Aye, sir.”
Then taking his glass Gabe again looked aft but still no sign of the Swan. Be with them God, he silently prayed. Lum had come on deck and seeing the troubled look on Gabe’s face tried to comfort him.
“They’s be alright, cap’n. Dat Captain Markham is near bout as good a cap’n as you is and wid Mr. Dagan a heppin they’s gonna be fine. Ain’t no doubt in old Lum’s mind. Shucks they problee already eating breakfast and wondering what’s foh supper. Nah suh, don’t you worry none. Da Lawd ain’t gonna let nuthin’ happen to ’em.” Lum’s ranting did make Gabe feel better.
“Mr. Jackson.”
“Aye, sir.”
“I think I’ll go below and break my fast. Call me if any further sails are sighted.”
“Aye, captain.”
By noon the skies were clear and Lord Anthony’s squadron of ships drove fast through the swells that only a few hours before had been a raging sea. The ships were on a nor’nor’easterly heading. Men were airing out their hammocks as the general signal to pass “make and mend” had been given throughout the squadron.
Gunnells being the old tarpaulin that he was had hinted to Gabe it wouldn’t hurt to “slice the main brace” after the blow they’d been through. It was a common to allow an extra ration of grog after weathering a storm. It served as a good pick-me-up for the crew.
I should have thought of it Gabe realized but his mind was not on SeaWolf but on the ship he didn’t see. He’d had a sinking feeling ever since they’d left Saint Augustine as the storm had blasted down.
“Maybe Markham had decided to make for the harbour,” Jackson said.
“I don’t think so,” Gabe replied, “Markham would have tried to keep station on the flag.”
Markham and Gabe had spent too many years together. First as midshipmen, then lieutenants; and finally commanding their own ships in the same squadron to not know how the other would think. No, Markham would not chance crossing a shallow bar to possibly find shelter in a harbour when he could put to sea and run as the squadron had done. No, wherever they were, they’d be together, Markham, Dagan and Davy. But not for a minute did Gabe think they’d be in port.
SeaWolf sailed to leeward of the flagship and the Florida coast was visible. It looked much more hospitable today than it did yesterday in the crashing surf and rain. Was Dagan out there somewhere? If he was, he’d have Markham with him as well as Alejandro. Damn, Gabe thought, was the boy on the Swan? What kind of frightful experience was it for a boy to have to face a storm the first time he ever set foot on a ship? Well, if he survived and that didn’t scare him away, nothing would. Gabe instructed the lookouts to keep a sharp eye on the coast as well as the horizon. They may have run ashore.
The sun was like a fire in the sky and was starting to settle over the horizon. They were approaching the anchorage and Gabe’s worst fears seem to be realized when the lookout called down, “There she be. There be the Swan, hove up on the island.”
Snatching a glass from Jackson’s hand, Gabe rapidly climbed up the shrouds and onto the lookout’s platform. The lookout had been right. It was the Swan, her main mast was gone and she had been driven up and onto Anastasia Island. Several people were gathered around the wreck.
After Gabe made his way from aloft he returned the glass to the first lieutenant. “My apologies, Jem. I should have asked and not just taken your glass. It’s Swan alright,” he continued. She’s been driven ashore and beat to a hopeless wreck. There are people gathered around her. I could make out Dagan but I didn’t see Markham. If you will signal the flagship.”
“Aye,” Jackson replied, surprised at the apology and still more surprised at how much feeling and emotion his captain displayed. Man has a heart, Jackson said to himself. This was more evident when Gabe called to Lavery.
“Call Caleb, then man the gig and we’ll go see about our friends.” Then turning back to Jackson, Gabe ordered, “Take the ship to her anchorage unless otherwise ordered by the flag. I will be back directly.”
“Aye, captain,” was Jackson’s only response.
Lord Anthony had read Markham’s report and could find no fault with his actions. He would attach his findings and recommendations to Markham’s report and hopefully the findings in regards to the loss of HMS Swan would go into some clerk’s file never to be heard of again.
It was surprising how bad Swan was mauled and the Indiaman, Gabe’s Defiant, had hardly been touched. However, he’d come to a decision and he’d put it into motion at dinner this evening. Buck, Earl, Gabe and Markham were to dine with him tonight and after the meal he’d unfold his plan. Silas walked out of the pantry in time to see the admiral smile. Well smile, he should, Silas thought, and after the meeting tonight several others would be smiling and that’s no error. Hopefully, Bart wouldn’t let the cat out of the bag.
It had been a fine meal and now cigars and pipes were being lit as the aroma of mixed tobacco filled the admiral’s dining area. It was the first time since th
e storm that all the officers had gathered together. The only exception was Sir Raymond who was able to sit up now but was far from being fit for duty.
Markham was speaking of the dreadful day when the storm took Swan. “We’d just cleared the anchorage and was tacking astern of SeaWolf when a rogue wind of gale force almost broached the ship. The ship yawed to leeward and then there was a crack not unlike that of a cannon firing and the main mast went by the way. Mast spars, ropes and rigging all over the lee rail pulling us down into the sea. I sent men to clearing the rigging as the ship was listing badly starboard and in danger of being swamped.”
Looking from the wine glass he’d been staring into as he spoke, Markham glanced at Gabe. “Had it not been for Dagan we’d have turned turtle and lost all aboard. However, Dagan had just cut through the last bit of rigging and the mast went over the side. Free from the weight of the downed mast, Swan righted herself only to be caught by a mountainous wave that lifted the ship like a piece of kindling and fairly drove us onto the island. Then if that wasn’t enough, another wave not as big as the last but big enough seem to lift Swan then drop her on the huge stones tearing her bottom clean out. I could feel every crack of the timber like it was tearing my life clean out of my chest.”
“However, after that last wave she was not touched again except by the fierceness of the wind and the blinding rain. It was too rough to venture off the ship so Dagan, the Spanish lad, Davy and I tried to keep dry and warm in my cabin and the crew stayed below in their berths. Towards dawn the winds died down and the rain stopped. It was then with the rising sun I realized my beautiful Swan was nothing but a battered hulk and she’d never see water beneath her keel again.”
All was silent for a moment when Gabe spoke, “I recall the wind, Francis. It fairly slung SeaWolf forward. Had I been a minute longer getting underway I fear SeaWolf may have been setting alongside Swan.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Gentlemen,” Lord Anthony was calling to the officers at the table. “We all share in Captain Markham’s remorse but as with life, in death often a new life is born. I have spent the afternoon with the Governor and with his blessings I’ve decided to purchase the Indiaman…Defiant, for the Navy. You all understand that this has to be approved, but with both the Governor’s and my recommendations I believe Lord Howe will agree. However, until he does the following changes are to be considered temporary. We all know the Admiralty Prize Court can be fickle at times.”
