Chapter Six #7
“No, sir, I did get tired of being sailmaker’s party, so I never said when I came on board of Magpie, but I been a needleman since I were a little boy.
My mum, she was sempstress to m’lady up at the big ‘ouse. Many and many was the day I sat cross-legged at ‘er side, sewing seams, three rows, neat and tiny and so straight as a die, sir. Curtains wi’ a twenty-foot drop for they big old windows or dresses for m’lady’s daughters, velvet or dimity, ‘twas all one to I. Then I ran off to sea, sir, when mum died and they said I was to go to the parish, and I joined the sailmaker’s party on the old Duke of York, 90, second rate, at the beginning of the American War. ”
“Do it then, John Totton.”
The news and the prize crew were waiting when Magpie made English Harbour, ushering in a little flotilla of brigs, schooners and a lugger.
“Dutch, sir, originally, they tell me – prized and sold and taken by pirates and reappeared again as a Spanish trader – outlandish-looking in these southern waters. It was in a group, sir, in a small port at the north of the Isle of Tobago which don’t seem to appear in our charts, sir.”
Farquhar peered at the chart, raised an eyebrow in query – there needed be an explanation for such a thing – the naval charts were always wholly reliable in established areas.
“It seemed to me, sir, that a battery and small barracks, the beginnings of a fort, had recently been raised there, where a river comes to the sea and the coral reef is broken. There was a small fisher village there already, and maybe a shipyard, a timber yard certainly, so they had built some protection in case of the English coming.”
“Seems a sensible thing to do.”
“Yes, sir. Word had gone out of an English heretic pirate – we took the barquentine in sight of the forts, sir – and the traders had run for protection of the battery. Just a little earthen bank, sir, with a platform for four guns, two twenty-four pounders and a pair of eighteens all that were there yet. Stonework going up for something bigger, been at least a year in the building – you know what the Spanish are like for delay, sir. Too much for us to handle, sir, so we made a show of running away, and came back in the boats in the dark of the moon, Mr Fraser in one – very efficient, too – myself in the other, Jackman holding the ship. Come moonrise we went over the wall from the front, the soldiers left over the back wall as fast as we came in, one seaman dead, half a dozen of Dons, and there we were.”
“You preferred Jackman to stay in the ship?”
“Yes, sir – with no reflection at all on Mr Fraser, he had no experience in action, and I wanted him where I could see him, get the measure of the man. Jackman, I know to be wholly reliable – he would do the right thing with me away. Next time, sir, I stay in the ship, Fraser commands the boats – he will get his chance now that I know I can trust him. Jackman needs another year of naval experience, I think, perhaps two, before he should have his step.”
Farquhar nodded, the explanation accepted. He glanced at Frederick’s written report.
“You stayed two days in the harbour, Captain Harris?”
“Yes, sir – I judged it would take the Spanish that long to react, to decide what to do and then get permission to do it. From all I have been told they are brave fighting men, but take so long making their minds up the battle is decided before they get there.”
“Commonly true – but do not get overconfident, sir – there are exceptions to every rule. You were right to take the chance, though, from what I see here.”
“Yes, sir – seven of the merchantmen were big enough to bring in, so we emptied six smaller into them, and went through the yard, sir, stores always a concern. Only a small yard, sir, but it works a stand of tall, straight hardwood back in the hills – which is why it is there, I suspect. Two dozen straight-grained, seasoned spars, sir, ready to ship out to the naval yards in Spain. They are on the decks of the four brigs, sir.”
Frederick made no mention of the stores that now jam-packed the Magpie’s hold space, of the Spanish powder brought away for practice, the uncovenanted rum in the purser’s lazaretto, the fresh foodstuffs almost all used up in the last week of rich eating.
It was custom, after all, and it would only have been wasted otherwise, when the government stores of the place were burned.
The Admiral chose not to pursue the matter.
“Your barquentine was condemned yesterday, local merchants having formed a syndicate to buy her in and seeing no reason for the court to delay. There is a need for a large ship, it would seem, to run up to the States to buy wheat, and the opportunity was too good to miss. She was, incidentally, carrying emeralds and pearls, found by your man Rogers, possibly worth five thousand in their own right – the agent is sending them to London to sell, will need several months before he has the cash to hand, but thought it the best course, there being no market for such here.”
“I have been lucky, sir – a most fortunate cruise.”
“Ride your luck, Captain Harris – it will not last forever, it never does, so make the most of it. Four days in harbour, sir, before you go out again. Your men must have the chance to spend their money – no doubt the local whores are bracing themselves!”
THE END