A Busy Season (The Duty and Destiny Series, Book 8)

by Andrew Wareham

  "Send them aboard as soon as you may, sir. I have but a pair of midshipmen, and one of them little better than the village idiot! I could make use of five or six more rather than two, but they will make a good start."

  Fortescue fiddled with the pens on his desk for a moment, clearly choosing his words so that he would not cause offence.

  "What is your opinion of family, Sir Frederick? Are you persuaded that one must be of birth to aspire to a place as an officer?"

  "I have taken more than one young man of ability from the lower–deck and set him into a wardroom, sir. On occasion I have had him learn the way of speech of the gentry first. One must, perhaps, bear in mind that Lord Nelson is said to speak with a Norfolk drawl and that Captain Cook kept some of the dialect of the colliers until his sad end. With such examples, who am I to demand that one must imitate a gentleman to tread a ship's deck?"

  "A very good point, Sir Frederick. You and I both know that promotion is easier for being seen, and heard, to be a gentleman, but men of ability should not be kept down for that cause. There is a merchant on the island, a London man by origin, or so his speech says, come here from somewhere just two years ago and settled into trade to his advantage and ours. He is rich. He is no gentleman. He has a second son of thirteen or so years. His elder boy is a man grown and I suspect of an earlier marriage. There are daughters as well, but they obviously do not concern us; they will not go to sea. The boy, Marco by name, is a bright young fellow and wishes to follow a career, the sea appealing to him. He has his father's way of speech in English, and is fluent in other tongues as well, I am told."

  "We know nothing of the father, sir?"

  "Nothing at all, Sir Frederick. He might have been a renegade, a slaver, a pirate even - but he has wealth and is settled here and is a force for the good. He pays wages to perhaps one hundred men and spends his money on the island. He has had a mansion built and is erecting warehouses, much to the benefit of those who earn a wage laying masonry or working wood. He has a small boatyard which he wishes to expand, to become a docks and repair yard."

  "Malta needs him, it would seem, sir, and we should attempt to please him. I would wish to speak to the boy first, of course, and then to his father, but I have a place for him unless he is impossible."

  "Thank you, Sir Frederick. I will arrange for the boy to come to this office in the morning."

  "Marco Cowen, Sir Frederick. I wish to go to sea, sir, as a midshipman, if it is possible."

  The words were right but the accent was slurred, ugly to Frederick's ears; that did not matter, if he was willing to learn. He was a likely looking lad - middle height and already showing a breadth of shoulder, the earnest of a powerful physique. He could make a seaman, if he was willing.

  "A midshipman must learn to hand, reef and steer, Mr Cowen. He must also mind his book, learning his navigation and much of the science of seamanship. Can you sit over a book, sir, tired and perhaps hungry as well, but forcing the effort needed? I found it damned hard, I will tell you!"

  "I can do what I must, sir."

  "That is all I ask of you, Mr Cowen. Six years as a mid, sir - the lowest of the low and not always fairly treated. Can you live with men you regard as your inferiors shouting at you and giving you orders?"

  "Not easily, sir. But I wish to become an officer, in the navy, sir."

  "Good. That desire must always be at the front of your mind - it is the reason why you will tolerate much of abuse, and occasional stupidity. I wish to speak with your father first - I like always to meet the family of my midshipmen - but I believe you will do well on my ship. Two stipulations, however, both to aid you in your progress. It is as well to fit in, Mr Cowen, and to that end Marco should become Mark; the boys in the gunroom may mock a foreign sounding name and it is better that you should not fight them all, or not too often, at least. Secondly, you should change your way of speech; promotion as a lieutenant comes more easily to those who speak with the King's English accent. It is foolish, I know, but I can assure you that it will aid you in future years."

  "I will do it, sir. My father has told me many a time that I must work for my living - and to work is to do the things I do not like as well as those that I do."

  "Your father is a wise man, Mr Cowen. When may I speak to him?"

  "I will ask him to come to the ship today, sir, if I may."

  "I would be pleased, were you to do so."

  "Thank you for coming to me, Mr Cowen. I am only in port for a couple of days, sir, and had not the leisure time to visit you. Your son, Marco, sir, seems a sufficiently good prospect to walk my quarterdeck - a bright and strong young man. That said, sir, I cannot guarantee his success. The strongest boy may take a fever or suffer lung sickness. The brightest may simply discover that the sea is not for him, that he cannot endure the life. It is possible that he may return as a passenger on a merchantman, sir. Not, I think, likely, but it could happen."

  "A pity if it should, Sir Frederick, but the doors of my house will be open to him. I will not turn him away."

  "I am glad to hear that, Mr Cowen. I will do my possible for the lad, but he will not get an easy ride, sir, he will become an officer only if he is capable. Uniforms will be a difficulty if he is to come aboard in the next day or two. He might have to purchase in Gibraltar."

  "I have bought already, Sir Frederick, in the hope that the Admiral would be able to find a ship. He is equipped, I believe, as well as most would be. What of money, Sir Frederick?"

  "He must pay into his mess, and that will normally be some twenty-five guineas, allowing the mess senior to buy in foodstuffs at most ports to bulk out the rations. He will need pocket money as well, and I would suggest as much again each year. The easiest way of transferring his allowance to him is to send it to my bankers in England. I will put the cash in his hands, sir and if he is transferred to another ship I will make the arrangements for him."

  "That will be done, Sir Frederick. It is not uncommon, I understand, for the captain to charge a fee for training the boys."

  Cowen was very casual but made it clear that he was willing to put his hand in his pocket if he must.

  "Not my habit, sir. I have been lucky with prize money and so it is easy for me to be self-righteous, but I cannot approve of selling places on the quarterdeck - it smacks a little too much of whoredom!"

  "Far too much so, sir!"

  "A last point, Mr Cowen. Men die at sea. Boys die more frequently, being less strong and not so able to assess danger and keep out of its way. I cannot protect him as I might wish - we shall sail in danger's way and you may never see him again, sir."

  "It is a dangerous profession, sir."

  A dozen Greek seamen came aboard as volunteers, young men who had small chance of ever buying their own fishing boat in the ordinary way of things and fancied the chance of a little prize money and of sailing to far waters for a few years. All had grown up on their father's or uncle's boat and were immediately rated ordinary rather than landsman.

  "Good men, Mr Gentry, but take care should the occasion arise that we capture a Turk - they will cut a Mussulman's throat with the greatest of delight. There is a long history there, and they are bitter in their hatred."

  The First Lieutenant had heard of such things, but he would have much preferred not to have met them.

  "Sailing orders, Sir Frederick. A return to Gibraltar in effect as there is no traffic for you to convoy. The ships you brought out are to be taken to Egypt under the care of one of my two frigates - she will join the escort for the Levanters on their return. Harriet brig and Bluenose schooner are to remain in your company, Sir Frederick - neither is really of a size to live in these waters. Should they remain here then sooner or later they would be taken and then the word would go out that cruisers of the Royal Navy had fallen victim to whoever it might be, much to our detriment. Both can be of use acting as eyes to a fleet or smaller squadron, but they are not fit to be let out on their own."

  "Little boys and girls in fac
t, sir."

  "Just that, Sir Frederick, and you must hold their hands so that the bogey-man shall not catch them!"

  Frederick laughed delightedly - an admiral's joke must always receive its due.

  "Your orders are worded to give you considerable leeway in your choice of course, Sir Frederick, and they positively encourage you to discover such intelligence as you may of activity on the coasts of Sicily and the Balearic Islands."

  In other words, a cruise in all but name, and Admiral Fortescue in for one of the eighths as the originator of Frederick's orders. Well and good; there was much to be said for a hungry admiral. Two eighths of a prize was far better than three eighths of nothing.

  Midshipman Cowen came aboard with his sea-chest and a large round of strong goats’ cheese - Malta produced very little in the way of foodstuffs and he had had small choice of delicacies for his berth. Midshipmen, fortunately, would eat anything.

  Admiral Fortescue's two boys, Peter and Robin Cripps, also came aboard, their sea-chests carried for them. They were very little chaps but were bearing up bravely and showing a good face as they ventured into their new world. They had been well-trained and both saluted the quarterdeck, as was proper. They had a large ham as an offering to the gunroom, were accepted as the right sort immediately.

  "Three old seamen to take the lads in hand, Mr Gentry - though not too literally one trusts!"

  Gentry was slow to pick up on vulgar allusions, could not understand why the others on the quarterdeck were tittering. He informed Frederick that he had foreseen the necessity and had named three able but elderly men for the duty.

  "Captains of Harriet and Bluenose to dine, if you would be so good, Mr Gentry. I trust you will be able to join us, sir?"

  Such an invitation was a command; it could not possibly be refused.

  "Bosomtwi - three guests today."

  "Yes, sir. Second-best wine, sir. They is only little captains, sir."

  "Not too much, either. I intend to sail at first light."

  "They got to be a bit drunk when they leave, isn't it, sir. Not a good dinner if they go back too much sober!"

  Custom of the Service was sacrosanct, even in the matter of captain's dinners.

  The two captains were anomalous young men, lieutenants in command, entitled to honours of the rank by courtesy but liable, probable, to return to the status of mere junior officers at the end of the particular commission. They tended to be nervous in the company of real captains.

  "Mr Dench, you are well, I trust? Is the invasion scare over that you are no longer required in the Channel, sir?"

  "Not quite, sir, but it was felt that a fast despatch carrier might be of use at Gibraltar. Admiral Clerke seemed to believe that I might be a fraction frail for such service, sir, in the Bay in winter."

  "I would rather use a cutter in those waters, I agree, Mr Dench." He turned to the other officer. "Now, sir, you are Mr Porter, of course, of Harriet."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Have you had her for a long time, Mr Porter? There was some mention of Harriet being present at Toulon."

  "Under the previous captain, sir. He was an enterprising gentleman, so much so that he found himself standing in front of Lord St Vincent, sir."

  "Oh dear! Where is he employed now?"

  "I believe he is an assistant to the Captain of the Dockyard in Antigua, sir."

  "Well... that is better than half-pay, one must say, and it is a posting where a man of initiative can enrich himself quite quickly. Provided he survives the fevers, of course."

  "It is the death of his career, sir."

  "He will quite possibly find himself post-captain at the age of fifty. If he is lucky."

  "Yes, sir."

  They ate, reasonably well, but Frederick regretted the absence of Sid, now resident in the kitchen of whichever house the family was using.

  "If you will pardon business at the table, gentlemen..."

  They displayed no objection at all.

  "We are to sail in the morning, bound eventually to Gibraltar. I am instructed to gather intelligence as we go. It will therefore be necessary to examine the Balearic Islands in some detail, and of course to report on the coast of the Sicilies, as much as we may see of it. Your shallow-draught vessels will perform the great bulk of the inshore work, always placing yourselves so that you are in sight of each other and one of you in signalling distance of Euripides. At night you will form line, as normal. I would much prefer that you signalled too much than too little, gentlemen."

  They assured him they would tell him of everything they saw.

  "Good. If you meet up with merchantmen who can be attempted sensibly, then by all means bring them in. Convoys, you will not touch. There is no sense to snatching just one when a little of patience may enable the three of us to take them all."

  That seemed very wise, the more so when Frederick suggested they should share all prize money, the captains to split their two eighths equally between them whether they were in sight of a capture or not.

  "What of national ships, sir?"

  "Run. Draw them down on Euripides, gentlemen."

  They smiled at that - they would share in the glory of any action that occurred, and would have a chance at the promotions.

  "Harbours or fortified bays, sir?"

  "Report them to me. We will decide on the merits of the individual case."

  Malta imported wine from most parts of the Mediterranean, generally red and inevitably cheap. It was good enough to persuade the two young men that they had had a proper dinner.

  They sailed, making their salutes and assuming the correct formation, two cables apart in precise line, Euripides, Harriet and Bluenose in order of size and rate.

  The wind was conveniently in the south east; once set there it would often remain constant for weeks. Frederick remembered a previous master arguing that it was similar to the Indian Monsoon, the effects of a colder land mass to the east causing the air to shift out over a slightly warmer sea; he was sure it was very scientific. For the while it sufficed to blow him where he wished to be with a minimum of time spent.

  Gentry and the master packed on sail and pushed Euripides towards a handsome thirteen knots; it was four knots more than Harriet could possibly achieve in any wind. They stripped sail, used the opportunity to discover what was the best balance with the new foremast.

  "Mr Masson, Bluenose to scout at the limit of signalling range, if you would be so good."

  "Aye aye, sir."

  Frederick watched as Masson glanced at the new signalling book and selected his flags, not as quickly as he would have liked. He raised an eyebrow to Gentry, scowling at his side.

  "The boy needs to get the book by rote, Mr Gentry. He is slow."

  "I shall speak to him, sir. I must say I am not at all sure he will ever sit his Board."

  Frederick nodded - the boy would progress to master's mate and there he would remain, unless he migrated to a merchantman. He did not have the makings of a lieutenant.

  "How old is he, Mr Gentry?"

  "He has sixteen years, I think, sir. Five years in a warrant and some two before that as captain's servant. He is the son of the Third Lieutenant before last, who died in Port Royal, leaving the boy to make his way aboard ship. Of his mother I know nothing."

  "Unfortunate! But he has not got the necessary ability of an officer."

  "He is rather dull, sir. He should have been a Marine."

  Bluenose clapped on sail, heeled till her rail was almost awash and carved a straight wake to the horizon, Captain Dent revelling in his freedom.

  "That young man knows how to get the best from his command, sir. Holding a line very tidily."

  "Let us hope he will keep her - I suspect he has a tendency to risk a little too much, too shave the odds a fraction too tightly."

  They crossed the entrance to Port Mahon, peering down the long inlet and observing the port to be almost empty - a far cry from the days of the previous war when it was English and always cra
m-packed with commercial traffic and the navy.

  "A new battery at the point, sir."

  "Spanish, so it may carry enormous guns. I remember off the Trinidad, years ago, before the island was taken, being surprised by a coastal gun of at least ninety pounds. Slow to load, in the nature of things, and not particularly well laid, but nervous-making nonetheless."

  The battery fired, four guns together, threw up a great cloud of powder smoke and tall water spouts within a cable of Euripides.

  "Very poor practice, Mr Gentry!"

  "Rather close, I thought, sir."

  "One on line; two left; one slightly right. But they fired together. Which is which? How can they correct their aim?"

  They could not and the next salvo, nearly four minutes later, was a good three cables short and well off line.

  There was no third attempt, the range having opened too far.

  "I would expect the Spanish commander to flog his gunners as a response to so poor a performance. It will not occur to him to make them practice instead."

  Frederick continued on a westerly bearing till nightfall, assuming that there would be telescopes following the little squadron. He brought them to the north as soon as he was sure they were both out of sight and clear of inconvenient rocks. He came within hail of Bluenose and Harriet in turn, calling to their captains to scout inshore with the dawn, remembering to keep in contact with Euripides at all times.

  Mid-way through the morning watch the lookouts hailed that both were closing, but slowly, as if they were merchantmen, sluggish coasters quietly pottering to their next port.

  "Under observation from the shore and trying to seem innocent. They must have interesting news to convey. Mr Calver, our position, please?"

  "Off Majorca, sir, the largest of the islands. The chart suggests several of rocky coves and small villages around the coast, none of any great size. There is holding ground offshore in any number of locations. A convoy, for example, might flee to any one of them."