1She was exactly like a British ship of war; naturally, perhaps, since she had been one most of her life until she was sold out of the service. Now, as she came up into the harbour, she could pass without question for a man-o’-war brig except that she flew the Royal Yacht Squadron burgee instead of a commission pendant. Hornblower put down the telescope through which he had been watching, curiously, her progress into Kingston harbour, and referred again to Barbara’s letter, two months old now, which had arrived a fortnight ago.

2My dearest husband [wrote Barbara. She sometimes misused her superlatives; that “dearest,” strictly, implied that she had at least three husbands, even though it also implied that Hornblower rated highest of the three],

3You are shortly going to have a visitor, a Mr. Charles Ramsbottom, a millionaire, who has purchased an old ship of the navy to use as a yacht, which he has named the Bride of Abydos, and in which he proposes to visit the West Indies. He has only lately made his appearance in society, having inherited his father’s fortune—Bradford wool and army clothing contracts! Yet despite this obscure origin he has succeeded in entering into society, perhaps because he is very young, very charming, unmarried, mildly eccentric, and, as I said, a millionaire. I have met him frequently of late, in very good houses, and I recommend him to you, dearest, if for no other reason than that he has won some small portion of my heart by a delightful mixture of deference and interest which I might have found irresistible were I not married to the most irresistible man in the world. He has, indeed, won golden opinions in society, both on the government side and with the opposition, and he might become an important factor in politics should he decide to enter into them. I have no doubt that he will bring you introductions from personages even more influential than your loving wife. . . .

4Hornblower had to read the letter through to the end, although it contained no further reference to Mr. Charles Ramsbottom, but he returned to the opening paragraph. It was the first time he had ever seen this new word “millionaire,” which occurred twice. He disliked it on sight. It was inconceivable that a man should have a million pounds, and presumably not in broad estates but in factories and in stocks and shares, probably with a huge holding in Consols and an immense balance at the bank as well. The existence of millionaires, whether in society or not, was something as distasteful as the word itself now called into existence. And this one had been charming to Barbara—he was not too sure if that really constituted a recommendation. He picked up the telescope again and watched the brig come to an anchor. The rapidity with which she took in sail showed that she carried a large crew. Hornblower, as a commander-in-chief of a squadron and accountable to the niggardly Lords of the Admiralty for every penny expended, knew perfectly well what this sort of thing cost. This Mr. Ramsbottom, to indulge himself in his naval toy, was expending enough money to maintain a thousand families in bread and beer and bacon.

5The brig rounded-to and anchored very neatly indeed; if she had been a vessel included in his command he would have grunted with grudging satisfaction. As it was he grunted with a mixture of envy and derision and turned away to await the inevitable call in the seclusion of Admiralty House.

6When it came he fingered the visiting card with its plain “Mr. Charles Ramsbottom” and found some small satisfaction in deciding that he had at last come across a name more unlovely than his own. But the owner of the name, when he was ushered in, made a better impression. In his very early twenties, he was small and slight and—for what it was worth—strikingly handsome, with black hair and eyes and what could only be described as “chiselled features” deeply tanned after weeks at sea; not at all what might be expected of a Bradford wool manufacturer, while his dark green coat and formal white breeches were in quiet good taste.

7“My wife wrote to me about you, Mr. Ramsbottom,” said Hornblower.

8“That was very kind of Lady Hornblower. But of course she is kindness personified. May I present my letters of introduction from Lord Liverpool and Bishop Wilberforce, my lord?”

9Barbara was perfectly right, then, in predicting that Ramsbottom would win favour with both political parties—here were letters from the Prime Minister himself and a prominent member of the opposition. Hornblower glanced through them, and was conscious of an undernote of cordiality despite their formal wording.

10“Excellent, Mr. Ramsbottom,” said Hornblower. He tried to adopt the tone which he presumed would be adopted by a man who had just read a letter of introduction from the Prime Minister. “Is there any way in which I can be of service to you?”

11“None that I am aware of at present, my lord. I must complete with water and stores, naturally, but my purser is a capable man. I intend to continue my voyage through these charming islands.”

12“Of course,” said Hornblower soothingly. He could not imagine why anyone should voluntarily spend any time in these waters where piracy was still smouldering, nor why anyone should wish to visit countries where malaria and yellow fever were endemic, and where civil war, revolution and massacre claimed even heavier toll.

13“You find the Bride of Abydos a comfortable ship?” asked Hornblower.

14Those eighteen-gun brigs of the Royal Navy were notoriously unpleasant craft, crowded and crank.

15“Comfortable enough, my lord, thank you,” answered Ramsbottom. “I lightened her by changing the armament; she mounts only twelve guns now—two long sixes and ten carronades, twenty-four-pounders instead of thirty-two-pounders.”

16“So you could still deal with a pirate?”

17“Oh yes indeed, my lord. And with the reduction in weight on deck—a full ten tons—and modifications in her sail plan I have made a seaworthy craft of her, I believe and hope.”

18“I’m sure you have, Mr. Ramsbottom,” said Hornblower. It was likely enough; the brigs of war were naturally crammed with guns and warlike stores to the limit of stability and human endurance, so that a moderate reduction in dead weight might produce profound results in comfort and handiness.

19“It would give me the greatest pleasure,” went on Mr. Ramsbottom, “if I could induce your lordship to visit me on board. It would indeed be an honour, and would gratify my crew. Perhaps I could even persuade your lordship to dine on board?”

20“We can discuss that after you have dined with me, Mr. Ramsbottom,” replied Hornblower, remembering his manners and his obligation to invite to dinner any bearer of a reasonable introduction.

21“You are most kind, my lord,” said Mr. Ramsbottom. “I must, of course, present my introductions to His Excellency at the earliest opportunity.”

22There was something quite winning about Mr. Ramsbottom’s smile as he said this, an awareness and a tolerance of the rules of social etiquette. A visitor to Jamaica would normally be bound to pay his respects first to the Governor, but Ramsbottom was no ordinary visitor; as captain of a ship, his first call was due to the naval authorities, to Hornblower, in fact. A trivial point, as his smile implied, but, etiquette being etiquette, trivial points demanded strict attention.

23By the time Ramsbottom took his leave he had made a very good impression on the reluctant Hornblower. He had talked sensibly about ships and the sea; he was easy and natural in his manner, and not in the least like Lord Byron, who was probably more responsible than anyone else for the growing fad for yachting among the wealthy. Hornblower was even prepared to forgive him for having “won some small portion” of Barbara’s heart. And in the course of his several days’ stay in Jamaica Hornblower really came to like the young man, especially after having lost two pounds to him in a desperate tussle at whist and then winning ten pounds back in another tussle where admittedly Ramsbottom encountered a run of bad luck. Jamaican society gave Ramsbottom a warm welcome; even the Governor looked on him with approval, and the Governor’s wife, Lady Hooper, was loud in her praises of his excellent manners and considerate ways.

24“I wouldn’t have expected it of a Bradford manufacturer’s son,” said Hooper grudgingly.

25“Are you dining on board the Bride of Abydos, sir?” asked Hornblower.

26“I am going there to dinner,” answered Hooper, who enjoyed food, “but seeing that it is only a yacht I have little hope of dining.”

27Hornblower arrived on board early, at Ramsbottom’s suggestion, so as to have time to inspect the vessel. He was received in navy fashion with sideboys attending the side and a long flourish on boatswain’s pipes as he stepped on board. He looked keenly about him even while he shook Ramsbottom’s hand. He could not have said he was not in a King’s ship, as his eye took in the gleaming white deck, the ropes coiled in perfect symmetry, the gleaming trophy of pikes and cutlasses against the bulkhead, the brass winking in the sunshine, the disciplined orderly crew in blue jumpers and white trousers.

28“May I present my officers, my lord?” asked Ramsbottom.

29They were two half-pay lieutenants, hard-bitten men; as Hornblower shook their hands he told himself that if it had not been for a dozen strokes of luck he himself might still be a lieutenant, perhaps eking out his half-pay by serving in a rich man’s yacht. As Ramsbottom led him forward he recognized one of the hands standing at attention by a gun.

30“You were with me in the Renown, out here in 1800,” he said.

31“Yes, sir, my lord, so I was, sir.” The man grinned with uneasy pleasure as he shyly took Hornblower’s outstretched hand. “And Charlie Kemp, sir, my lord, over there, sir, ’e was with you in the Baltic. And Bill Cummings, up on the fo’c’sle, ’e was foretopman in the Lydia round the Horn with you, sir, my lord.”

32“Glad to see you again,” said Hornblower. That was true, but he was equally glad that he had not been under the necessity of remembering names. He moved on.

33“You seem to have a navy crew, Mr. Ramsbottom,” he remarked.

34“Yes, my lord. They are nearly all man-o’-warsmen.”

35In these years of peace and depression it would be easy enough to recruit a crew, thought Hornblower. Ramsbottom might be considered to be doing a public service in providing easy employment for these men who had deserved well of their country. Listening to the sharp orders given as the crew were put through their paces, Hornblower could not suppress a smile. It was a harmless enough fad, he supposed, for Ramsbottom to indulge himself in playing at commanding a ship of war.

36“You have a most efficient ship and a well-trained crew, Mr. Ramsbottom,” he said.

37“It is a pleasure to hear your lordship say so.”

38“You have seen no service yourself?”

39“None, my lord.”

40There was a certain degree of surprise still to be found in the fact that in this year of 1821 there were grown men, even heads of families, who nevertheless had been too young to see service in the wars that had devastated the world for a whole generation. It made Hornblower feel like a centenarian.

41“Here come further guests, my lord, if you will pardon me.”

42Two planters—Hough and Doggart—and then the Chief Justice of the island. So the arrival of the Governor would make a dinner party of six, three officials and three men in private life. They gathered under the awning, which, stretched across the main boom, shaded the quarterdeck, and watched the reception of His Excellency.

43“Do you think the dinner will come up to the ceremonial?” asked Doggart.

44“Ramsbottom’s purser bought two tons of ice yesterday,” said Hough.

45“At sixpence a pound that bids fair,” commented Doggart.

46Jamaica was the centre of a small trade in ice, brought down from New England in fast schooners. Cut and stored away in deep places during the winter, it was hurried to the Caribbean insulated in a packing of sawdust. At the height of summer it commanded fantastic prices. Hornblower was interested; he was more interested still in the sight of a seaman down in the waist steadily turning a crank. It did not seem a very hard labour, although unremitting. He could not for the life of him think of what function that crank could play in the life of the ship. The guests made their bows to His Excellency, and at his suggestion seated themselves in the comfortable chairs. A steward appeared at once passing round glasses of sherry.

47“Excellent, by George!” exclaimed the Governor after his first cautious sip. “None of your Olorosos, none of your sweet sticky dark sherries.”

48The Governor, by virtue of his reputed royal blood as well as in consequence of his position, could make remarks that well might appear rude in another man. But the sherry was indeed delightful: pale, dry, infinitely delicate in flavour and bouquet, cool but not chilled. A new sound struck on Hornblower’s ear, and he turned and looked forward. At the foot of the mainmast a small orchestra had struck up, of various stringed instruments whose names he had never bothered to learn except for the fiddle. If it were not for the intrusion of this horrible music there could be nothing more delightful than to sit under an awning on the deck of a well-found ship with the sea breeze just beginning to come in, drinking this excellent sherry. The Governor made a small gesture which brought a fresh glass promptly to him.

49“Ah!” said the Governor. “You keep a good orchestra, Mr. Ramsbottom.”

50It was well known that the royal family inherited a taste for music.

51“I must thank Your Excellency,” said Ramsbottom, and the glasses went round again before he turned an ear to the murmured words of the steward. “Your Excellency, my lord, gentlemen, dinner is served.”

52They filed down the companion; apparently every bulkhead had been taken down in the after part of the ship to make a cabin spacious though low. The carronades on either side struck a subdued warlike note in a scene of luxury, for there were flowers everywhere; the dining table stood in the centre concealed under a glittering linen cloth. Wind scoops at the scuttles helped to deflect the trade wind into the cabin, which, under the double shade of the awning and the deck, was pleasantly cool, but Hornblower’s eye at once caught sight of a couple of strange objects, like small wheels, set in two scuttles and ceaselessly whirling round. Then he knew why the seaman was turning that crank in the waist; he was driving these two wheels, which by some ingenious mechanism propelled currents of air from outside into the cabin, acting like windmill vanes but in the opposite sense.

53Seated at the table in accordance with the courteous indications of their host, the guests awaited the serving of the dinner. The first course made its appearance—two ample dishes set in dishes even more amply filled with cracked ice. The inner dishes held a grey granular substance.

54“Caviare!” exclaimed His Excellency, helping himself liberally after his first astonished stare.

55“I hope it is to your taste, sir,” said Ramsbottom. “And I hope you will accompany it with some of the vodka here. It is the same as is served at the Russian imperial table.”

56Conversation regarding caviare and vodka occupied the attention of all during the first course. The last time Hornblower had tasted the combination was during the defence of Riga in 1812; the experience enabled him to add his quota to the conversation. The next course made its appearance.

57“You gentlemen are accustomed to this dish,” said Ramsbottom, “but I need not apologize for it. It is, I believe, one of the delicacies of the islands.”

58It was flying fish.

59“Certainly no need to apologize when it is served like this,” commented His Excellency. “Your chef de cuisine must be a man of genius.”

60The sauce that came with it had the merest hint of mustard.

61“ ’Ock or champagne, my lord?” murmured a voice in Hornblower’s ear. Hornblower had already heard the Governor answer the same question with “I’ll try the hock first.” The champagne was dry and insidiously delicate, an ideal companion for the food. The great eaters of antiquity, Nero or Vitellius or Lucullus, had never known what it was like to partake of champagne and flying fish.

62“You’ll be living differently from this soon, Hornblower,” said His Excellency.

63“No doubt about that, sir.”

64Ramsbottom, between them, looked a polite inquiry.

65“Your lordship’s going to sea?”

66“Next week,” replied Hornblower. “I take my squadron to sea for exercises before the coming of the hurricane season.”

67“Of course that would be necessary to maintain efficiency,” agreed Ramsbottom. “The exercises will last for long?”

68“A couple of weeks or more,” said Hornblower. “I have to keep my men accustomed to hardtack and salt pork and water from the cask.”

69“And yourself too,” chuckled the Governor.

70“Myself too,” agreed Hornblower ruefully.

71“And you take your whole squadron, my lord?” asked Ramsbottom.

72“All I can. I work ’em hard to try to make no exceptions.”

73“A good rule, I should think,” said Ramsbottom.

74The soup that followed the flying fish was a fiery mulligatawny, well adapted to West Indian palates.

75“Good!” was the Governor’s brief comment after his first spoonful. The champagne went round again and conversation became livelier and livelier, and Ramsbottom deftly kept it going.

76“What news from the mainland, sir?” he asked the Governor. “This fellow Bolívar—is he making any progress?”

77“He fights on,” answered the Governor. “But Spain hurries out reinforcements whenever her own troubles permit. The government at Caracas is looking for the arrival of more at this moment, I believe. Then they may be able to conquer the plains and drive him out again. You know he was a refugee here in this very island a few years ago?”

78“Indeed, sir?”

79All the guests at the table were interested in the desperate civil war that was being fought on the mainland. Massacre and murder, blind heroism and devoted self-sacrifice, loyalty to the King and thirst for independence—all these were to be found in Venezuela; war and pestilence were laying waste the fertile plains and depopulating the crowded cities.

80“How will the Spaniards stand now that Maracaibo has revolted, Hornblower?” asked the Governor.

81“It’s not a serious loss, sir. As long as they have the use of La Guaira their sea communications remain open—the roads are so bad that Caracas has always made use of La Guaira to preserve contact with the outside world; it’s only an open roadstead but it provides good anchorage.”

82“Has Maracaibo revolted, Your Excellency?” asked Ramsbottom mildly.

83“The news came this morning. A feather in Bolívar’s cap after his recent defeats. His army must have been growing disheartened.”

84“His army, sir?” This was the Chief Justice speaking. “Half his men are British infantry.”

85Hornblower knew that to be true. British veterans formed the backbone of Bolívar’s army. The llaneros—the men of the Venezuelan plains—supplied him with a brilliant cavalry, but not with the material for permanent conquest.

86“Even British infantry could grow disheartened in a hopeless cause,” said the Governor solemnly. “The Spaniards control most of the coast—ask the Admiral here.”

87“That’s so,” agreed Hornblower. “They’ve made it hard for Bolívar’s privateers.”

88“I hope you’re not going to venture into that turmoil, Mr. Ramsbottom,” said the Governor.

89“They’ll make short work of you if you do,” added the Chief Justice. “The Dons will tolerate no interference. They’ll snatch you up and you’ll languish in a Spanish prison for years before we can extricate you from King Ferdinand’s clutches. Unless jail fever carries you off first. Or they hang you as a pirate.”

90“I have certainly no intention of venturing near the mainland,” said Ramsbottom. “At least not while this war continues. It is a pity, because Venezuela was my mother’s country, and it would give me pleasure to visit it.”

91“Your mother’s country, Mr. Ramsbottom?” asked the Governor.

92“Yes, sir. My mother was a Venezuelan lady. There I would be Carlos Ramsbottom y Santoña.”

93“Most interesting,” remarked the Governor.

94And more grotesque than Horatio Hornblower. It was significant of the world-wide interests of British commerce that a Bradford woollen manufacturer should have a Venezuelan mother. At any rate it accounted for Ramsbottom’s dark, almost swarthy, good looks.

95“I can very well wait until peace is settled one way or the other,” said Ramsbottom off-handedly. “There will be other voyages to make. Meanwhile, sir, let me call your attention to this dish here.”

96The main course had now arrived on the table, roast chickens and a leg of pork as well as the dish that Ramsbottom indicated. What lay in it was concealed by poached eggs covering the surface.

97“A made dish?” asked the Governor doubtfully. His tone indicated that at this stage of the dinner he looked rather for a substantial roast.

98“Please try it, sir,” said Ramsbottom coaxingly.

99The Governor helped himself and tasted cautiously.

100“Pleasant enough,” he decided. “What is it?”

101“A ragout of preserved beef,” answered Ramsbottom. “Can I persuade you gentlemen to try it? My lord?”

102At least it was something new; it was like nothing Hornblower had ever tasted before—certainly not in the least like the beef preserved in brine which he had eaten for twenty years.

103“Extremely good,” said Hornblower. “How is it preserved?”

104Ramsbottom made a gesture to the waiting steward, who laid a square box, apparently of iron, upon the table. It weighed heavy in Hornblower’s hand.

105“Glass serves equally well,” explained Ramsbottom, “but it is not as convenient on shipboard.”

106The steward was now at work upon the iron box with a stout knife. He cut it open and prized back the top and offered it for inspection.

107“A tinned box,” went on Ramsbottom, “sealed at a high temperature. I venture to suggest that this new method will make a noticeable difference to the food supply on shipboard. This beef can be eaten cold on removal from the box, or it can be hashed as you have it here.”

108“And the poached egg?” asked the Governor.

109“That was the inspiration of my cook, sir.”

110Discussion of this new invention—and of the excellent Burgundy served with this course—distracted attention from the troubles of Venezuela, and even from Ramsbottom’s Venezuelan mother. Conversation became general, and somewhat disjointed as the wine flowed. Hornblower had drunk as much as he desired, and, with his habitual dislike of excess, contrived to avoid drinking more. It was noticeable that Ramsbottom remained sober as well, cool and quiet-voiced, while the other faces grew redder and redder, and the cabin echoed to the roaring toasts and the bursts of inconsequential song. Hornblower guessed that his host was now finding the evening as tedious as he himself found it. He was glad when at last His Excellency rose, supporting himself by the table, to take his leave.

111“A damned good dinner,” he said. “And you’re a damned good host, Ramsbottom. Wish there were more like you.”

112Hornblower shook hands.

113“It was very good of you to come, my lord,” said Ramsbottom. “I regret that I must take this opportunity to say good-bye to your lordship.”

114“You are sailing soon?”

115“In a couple of days, I expect, my lord. I trust you will find your squadron exercises satisfactory.”

116“Thank you very much. Where will you head for now?”

117“I shall beat back through the Windward Channel, my lord. Perhaps I shall see something of the Bahamas.”

118“Be careful of your navigation there. I must wish you good luck and a pleasant voyage. I shall write to my wife and tell her of your visit.”

119“Please give Lady Hornblower my best wishes and respects, my lord.”

120Ramsbottom’s good manners persisted to the end; he remembered to send round his cards “Pour prendre congé” before he left, and mothers of unmarried daughters much regretted his leaving. Hornblower saw the Bride of Abydos in the early dawn reaching to the eastward to round Morant Point with the land breeze, and then forgot about her in the bustle of taking his squadron to sea for exercises.

121It never failed to raise a wry smile on his face when he looked about him at “His Majesty’s Ships and Vessels in the West Indies” under his command. In wartime he would have had a powerful fleet; now he had three small frigates and a motley collection of brigs and schooners. But they would serve his purpose; in his scheme the frigates became three-deckers and the brigs seventy-fours and the schooners frigates. He had a van, a centre, and a rear; he cruised in formation ready to meet the enemy, with rasping reprimands soaring up his signal halliards when any ship failed to keep station; he cleared for action and he turned by divisions into fighting line ahead; he tacked to double on the imaginary enemy’s line. In pitch darkness he would burn blue lights with the signal “Enemy in sight” so that a score of captains and a thousand seamen came tumbling from their beds to deal with the non-existent foe.

122Without warning he would hang out a signal putting the most junior lieutenants in command of their respective ships, and then he would plunge into intricate manoeuvres calculated to turn the anxious substantive captains, looking helplessly on, grey with anxiety—but those junior lieutenants might some day be commanding ships of the line in a battle on which the destiny of England might depend, and it was necessary to steel their nerves and accustom them to handle ships in dangerous situations. In the middle of sail drill he would signal “Flagship on fire. All boats away.” He called for landing parties to storm non-existent batteries on some harmless uninhabited cay, and he inspected those landing parties once they were on shore, to the last flint in the last pistol, and treated excuses with a disregard that made men grind their teeth in exasperation. He set his captains to plan and execute cutting-out expeditions, and he commented mordantly on the arrangements for defence and the methods of attack. He paired off his ships to fight single-ship duels, sighting each other on the horizon and approaching ready to fire the vital opening broadside; he took advantage of calms to set his men to work towing and sweeping in desperate attempts to overtake the ship ahead. He worked his crews until they were ready to drop, and then he devised further tasks for them to prove to them that they still had one more effort left in them, so that it was doubtful whether “Old Horny” was mentioned more often with curses or with admiration.

123It was a toughened squadron that Hornblower led back to Kingston; but while Clorinda was still working up into the harbour a shore boat came pulling out to her, with on board an aide-de-camp of the Governor’s with a note for Hornblower.

124“Sir Thomas, would you have the kindness to call away my barge?” asked Hornblower.

125There was much apparent need for haste, for the note from Government House said briefly:

126My Lord,

127It is necessary that your lordship should attend here at the earliest possible moment to offer an explanation regarding the situation in Venezuela. Your lordship is therefore requested and required to report to me immediately.

128Augustus Hooper, Governor

129Hornblower naturally had no idea of what had happened in Venezuela for the last two weeks and more. He made no guess while the carriage took him up to Government House at its best pace, and in any case if he had tried he would never have succeeded in coming near to the truth.

130“What is all this, Hornblower?” were the Governor’s opening words to him. “What authority have you for blockading the Venezuelan coast? Why was I not informed?”

131“I’ve done nothing of the sort,” replied Hornblower indignantly.

132“But—Damn it, man, I’ve the proof here. I’ve Dutchmen and Spaniards and half the nations of the earth here all protesting about it.”

133“I assure you, sir, I have taken no action on the Venezuelan coast. I have not been within five hundred miles of it.”

134“Then what does this mean?” shouted the Governor. “Look here at this!”

135He held some papers up with one hand and slapped wildly at them with the other, so that Hornblower had some difficulty in taking them from him. Hornblower was bewildered already; he was more bewildered still as he read. One paper was an official despatch in French, from the Dutch governor of Curaçao; the other was larger and clearer, and he read it first. It was a big sheet of paper with bold writing.

136Whereas [it began] notice has been received by the Lords Commissioners for executing the office of the Lord High Admiral from the Right Honourable Viscount Castlereagh, one of His Britannic Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State, concerning the need to establish a blockade of the Coast of His Most Catholic Majesty’s Dominion of Venezuela, and of the Islands pertaining to the Dominion of His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, namely and to wit Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire,

137Therefore I, Horatio Lord Hornblower, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Rear Admiral of the White Squadron, Commanding His Britannic Majesty’s Ships and Vessels in West Indian Waters,

138Hereby Proclaim that

139The Coast of the Continent of South America from Cartagena to the Dragon’s Mouth and

140The Dutch Islands aforesaid of Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire

141Are now in a state of blockade, and that

142Any vessel of whatever description, whether carrying materials of war or not, found attempting to enter any port, harbour, or roadstead within the Territory so defined, or

143Hovering with the intent to enter any such port, harbour, or roadstead,

144Will be boarded and sent in for adjudication under His Britannic Majesty’s High Court of Admiralty and

145Will be condemned and seized without compensation to owners, freight owners, charterers, captain, or crew.

146Given under my hand this First Day of June 1821,

147Hornblower, Rear Admiral

148Having read this document, Hornblower was able to spare a second glance at the other. It was a vigorous protest from the Dutch governor at Curaçao demanding explanations, apologies, the immediate withdrawal of the blockade, and exemplary compensation. Hornblower stared at Hooper in astonishment.

149“This is in legal form,” he said, indicating the proclamation, “but I never signed it. This is not my signature.”

150“Then—?” spluttered Hooper. “I thought you might be acting under secret orders from London.”

151“Of course not, sir.” Hornblower stared at Hooper for another long second before the explanation came to him. “Ramsbottom!”

152“What do you mean?”

153“He’s been posing as me, or as one of my officers at least. Is the Dutch officer who brought this available?”

154“He’s waiting in the next room. There’s a Spaniard there, too, sent over in a fishing boat by Morillo from La Guaira.”

155“Can we have them in, sir?”

156The Dutchman and the Spaniard were men full of indignation, which was not abated in the least by their presentation to the admiral responsible, in their minds, for this trouble. The Dutchman spoke fluent English, and it was to him that Hornblower first addressed himself.

157“How was this proclamation delivered?” he asked.

158“By one of your ships. By one of your officers.”

159“What ship?”

160“The brig of war Desperate.”

161“I have no such ship. There’s none in the Navy List. Who brought it?”

162“The captain.”

163“Who was he? What was he like?”

164“He was an officer. A commander, with epaulettes.”

165“In uniform?”

166“In full uniform.”

167“Young? Old?”

168“Very young.”

169“Small? Slender? Handsome?”

170“Yes.”

171Hornblower exchanged a glance with Hooper.

172“And this brig, the Desperate. About a hundred and seventy tons, bowsprit steved nearly level, mainmast stepped rather far aft?”

173“Yes.”

174“That settles it, sir,” said Hornblower to Hooper, and, to the Dutchman, “You’ve been fooled, I’m sorry to say. This man was an impostor. This proclamation is a forgery.”

175The Dutchman stamped with annoyance. He was unable to find words to express himself in a foreign tongue for some moments. Finally from his splutterings emerged a name, which he repeated until it was understandable.

176“The Helmond! The Helmond!”

177“What is the Helmond, sir?” asked Hornblower.

178“One of our ships. Your ship—this Desperate—captured her.”

179“A valuable ship?”

180“She had on board the guns for the Spanish army. Two batteries of field artillery, guns, limbers, ammunition, everything.”

181“Piracy!” exclaimed Hooper.

182“It sounds like it,” said Hornblower.

183The Spanish officer had been standing by impatiently, apparently only half understanding the English conversation. Hornblower turned to him, and, after desperately trying to recapture his half-forgotten Spanish, entered upon a limping explanation. The Spaniard replied volubly, so volubly that more than once Hornblower had to ask him to speak more slowly. Ramsbottom had come sailing into La Guaira and had brought his precious proclamation with him. At the merest hint that the British navy was instituting a blockade no ship had dared to stir on the South American coast, except for the Helmond. She had been badly needed. Bolívar was marching on Caracas; a battle was imminent on which depended the entire Spanish control of Venezuela. Morillo and the Spanish army were in need of artillery. Now not only were they left destitute, but with this news it could be taken as certain that those guns, those two batteries of field artillery, were in Bolívar’s hands. The Spanish officer wrung his hands in despair.

184Hornblower translated briefly for the Governor’s benefit, and Hooper shook his head in sympathy.

185“Bolívar has those guns. No doubt about it. Gentlemen, I much regret this occurrence. But I must impress upon you that His Majesty’s government assumes no responsibility for it. If your chiefs took no steps to detect this impostor—”

186That touched off a new explosion. The British government should make sure that no impostor wore its uniform or posed as an officer in its service. It called for all Hooper’s elephantine tact to quiet down the angry officers.

187“If you will permit me to consult with the Admiral, gentlemen, we may reach some satisfactory conclusion.”

188Alone with the Governor again Hornblower struggled with a smile; he had never outgrown his tendency to laugh during a crisis. There was something amusing in the thought that a cocked hat and a pair of epaulettes should change the course of a war; it was a tribute to the power of the navy that a single tiny ship should exert such enormous pressure.

189“Ramsbottom and his Venezuelan mother!” said Hooper. “It’s not merely piracy, it’s high treason. We shall have to hang him.”

190“M’m,” said Hornblower. “He probably holds a privateering commission from Bolívar.”

191“But masquerading as a British officer? Forging official documents?”

192“That was a ruse of war. An American officer deceived the Portuguese authorities in Brazil in much the same way in 1812.”

193“I’ve heard some things about you, too,” added Hooper with a grin.

194“No doubt, sir. In war a belligerent who believes what he’s told is a fool.”

195“But we’re not belligerents.”

196“No, sir. And we’ve suffered no loss. The Dutch and the Spaniards have only themselves to blame.”

197“But Ramsbottom’s a subject of His Majesty.”

198“Quite true, sir. But if he holds a Bolívar’s commission he can do things as an officer of the revolutionary forces which he could not do as a private person.”

199“D’ye mean to suggest we ought to allow him to continue this blockade of his? Nonsense, man.”

200“Of course not, sir. I’ll arrest him, and I’ll send his ship in for adjudication, at the first opportunity. But a friendly power has asked you, sir, the representative of His Majesty, if you have instituted a blockade. You must do everything in your power to demonstrate the truth.”

201“Now for once you’re talking like a sensible man. We must send word at once to Curaçao and Caracas. That will be your immediate duty. You’d better go in person.”

202“Yes, sir. I’ll sail with the land breeze. Have you any further instructions for me, sir?”

203“None whatever. What goes on on the high seas is your affair, not mine. You’re answerable to the Cabinet through the Admiralty. I don’t envy you, frankly.”

204“No doubt I’ll survive, sir. I’ll sail for La Guaira, and send another vessel to Curaçao. Perhaps if Your Excellency were to write official replies to the inquiries addressed to you they would be ready by the time I sail?”

205“I’ll draught ’em now.” The Governor could not repress one further outburst. “This Ramsbottom—and his corned beef and caviare!”

206“He used a sprat to catch a mackerel, Your Excellency,” said Hornblower.

207So it came about that the crew of H.M.S. Clorinda did not spend that night in the debauchery of Kingston as they had expected. Instead they worked until dawn completing with stores and water, so hard that they had no breath to spare to curse the admiral who did these things to them. In the very first light of morning they warped their ship out with the aid of the faint puffs of the land breeze, and Clorinda, her admiral’s flag flying at the mizzen, headed close-hauled to the southeastward on her thousand-mile voyage to La Guaira. She had on board Brigadier General Don Manuel Ruiz, Morillo’s representative, to whom Hornblower had offered a passage back to his headquarters. The man was in a fever to return and put an end to Ramsbottom’s blockade; it was clear that the royal forces in Venezuela were hard pressed. He had no thought for anything else during that voyage. The lovely sunsets meant to him merely that another day had gone by without his reaching his destination. The gallant way in which Clorinda held her course, close-hauled, shouldering the long rollers aside in showers of spray, held no fascination for him, for she was not flying before the wind at her best speed. At noon each day, when the ship’s position was pricked off on the chart, he would look long and despairingly, estimating by eye the further distance to be traversed. He had not had sufficient experience at sea to acquire the knack of resigning himself to the influence of forces beyond human control. When the wind drew southerly and foul, as it did for two days consecutively, he was clearly on the verge of accusing Hornblower of being in league with his enemies, and made no attempt to understand Hornblower’s soothing explanation that on the starboard tack on which Clorinda was compelled to lie they were making easting which might be invaluable in possible later eventualities. He resented the caution of Captain Fell which led to Clorinda’s shortening sail as they entered the dangerous proximity of Grand Cay, and at dawn next day he was climbing the foremast shrouds as high as he dared, looking out for the first sight of the mountains of Venezuela—and even then he did not recognize as land the blue streak which he saw.

208A shore boat came out to them before ever they dropped anchor, and there was an urgent conference on Clorinda’s quarterdeck between Ruiz and the officer it brought out.

209“My general is in Carabobo,” said Ruiz to Hornblower. “A battle is going to be fought. Bolívar is marching on Puerto Cabello, and my general has taken the army to meet him.”

210“Where is Ramsbottom and his ship?”

211Ruiz looked to the arrival for the information.

212“Near Puerto Cabello.”

213That was of course the likeliest place, a hundred miles or less to the westward, a roadstead where supplies might possibly be landed, and an ideal situation for intercepting all communications between Curaçao and La Guaira.

214“Then I shall head for Puerto Cabello,” said Hornblower. “You can accompany me if you wish, Don Manuel. The wind is fair and I’ll land you there quicker than a horse would carry you.”

215Ruiz hesitated for a moment; he knew all about horses and he was suspicious of ships. But the advantage was so obvious that he accepted.

216“Very well then,” said Hornblower. “Sir Thomas, we’ll hoist that anchor again, if you would be so kind. Set a course for Puerto Cabello.”

217Now Clorinda had the lusty trade wind on her quarter, her best point of sailing; she had her studding sails out and every possible stitch of canvas set, and she flew along. A horse at full gallop might go faster, but no horse could do as Clorinda was doing and maintain full speed for hour after hour, nor could any horse ever attain full speed on the mountain tracks of the Maritime Andes. Naturally no amount of speed could satisfy Ruiz. With telescope to his eye he watched the distant coast go by until his weary eye was almost blind, and then he paced about the quarterdeck, trickles of sweat running down his forehead and cheeks as the sun, climbing to its noontide height, blazed vertically down on him. He turned a suspicious eye on Hornblower when the crew of Clorinda poured aloft to take in sail.

218“We are going in to shore now, General,” explained Hornblower soothingly.

219The leadsmen were in the chains as Clorinda headed in towards the roadstead. In the middle of their chant Ruiz suddenly turned to Hornblower and stood rigid, listening to another, more distant, sound.

220“Cannons!” he said.

221Hornblower strained his ears. The faintest, almost imperceptible noise, and then silence, save for the sound of the ship through the water and the bustle of preparing to come to an anchor.

222“Order the ‘Still’ for a moment, if you please, Sir Thomas.”

223Now the leadsmen ceased their chant, and every man in Clorinda stood silent, even though the wind still played through the rigging and the sea chattered alongside. A very distant, flat detonation. Another. Two more.