“Then we know all we need to know,” said Sharpe.
“I must try and catch him,” said Hornblower. “Call all hands, Mr Harcourt.”
“Aye aye, My Lord.”
After the automatic reply Harcourt opened his mouth again to speak, but he could make no sound come from it.
“I remember,” said Hornblower, his cup of unhappiness filling to the brim. “I said I would not need the hands before morning.”
“Yes, My Lord. But they’ll not be far. I’ll send along the waterfront and find ‘em. I’ll have ‘em back here in an hour.”
“Thank you, Mr Harcourt. Do your best. Mr Sharpe, we shall need to be towed as far as the Pass. Will you send and order a steam tug for us?”
Sharpe looked over at the dark man who had brought in the bearskin cap.
“Doubt if there’ll be one before noon,” said the dark man. “Daring took two — and I know now why she did. The President Madison‘s laid up. Toueur‘s gone up to Baton Rouge with flat boats. Ecrevisse — the one that brought this ship up — went down again in the afternoon. I think Temeraire‘s on her way up. We might be able to get her to turn round as soon as she arrives. And that’s all there are.”
“Noon,” said Hornblower. “Thirteen hours’ start. Daring‘ll be at sea before we leave here.”
“And she’s one of the fastest ships built,” said Sharpe. “She logged fifteen knots when she was being chased by Tenedos during the war.”
“What’s the Mexican port where she’ll take the soldiers on board?”
“It’s only a village on a lagoon, Corpus Christi, My Lord. Five hundred miles and a fair wind.”
Hornblower could picture the Daring, with her beautiful lines and enormous spread of canvas, booming along before the trade wind. The little Crab in whose cabin he stood was not intended for fast ocean runs. She had been built and rigged small and handy, to work in and out of obscure inlets, doing the police work of the West Indian archipelago. On the run to Corpus Christi Daring would certainly gain several hours, a day or more, perhaps, to add to the twelve hours’ lead she already enjoyed. It would not take long to march or to ferry five hundred disciplined men on board, and then she would sail again. Where? Hornblower’s weary brain baulked at the contemplation of the immensely complex political situation in the lands within easy run of Corpus Christi. If he could guess, he might be able to anticipate Daring’s arrival at the danger point; if he merely pursued her to Corpus Christi he would almost certainly arrive there to find her already gone, soldiers and all, having vanished out into the trackless sea on whatever errand of mischief she meditated.
“Daring‘s an American ship, My Lord,” said Sharpe, to add to his troubles.
That was an important point, a very important point. Daring had an ostensibly legal errand, and she flew the Stars and Stripes. He could think of no excuse for taking her into port for examination. His instructions had been very strict regarding his treatment of the American flag. No more than nine years ago America had gone boldly to war against the greatest maritime power in the world on account of the Royal Navy’s attitude towards the American mercantile marine.
“She’s armed, and she’ll be full of men, My Lord,” said Gerard.
That was another important point, and a very positive point at that. With her twelve-pounders and five hundred disciplined soldiers — and her large American crew as well — she could laugh at anything Crab could threaten with her six-pounders and her crew of sixteen. Daring would be within her rights to refuse to obey any signals from Crab, and Crab could do nothing to compel obedience. Shoot away a spar? Not so easy with a six-pounder, and even if no one were to be killed by accident there would be a terrible diplomatic storm if he were to fire on the Stars and Stripes. Could he shadow her, so at least to be on hand when her real purpose was revealed? No; impossible. Anywhere out at sea Daring had only to spread her wings to a fair wind to leave Crab below the horizon in an afternoon, and then Daring could resume her true course un-pursued.
Sweating in the stifling night, Hornblower felt like a lassoed wild animal. At every moment some fresh coil was being wound about him to render him more helpless. He was tempted, like a wild animal, to lose all self control, to lapse into mad panic, to fling away all his strength in an explosion of rage. He had sometimes seen, during his long professional career, senior officers giving vent to explosions of that sort. But it would not help. He looked round at the circle of faces in the lamplight; the faces wore the sober expressions of men who were witnessing a failure, men who were aware that they were in the presence of an Admiral who had made a woeful hash of the first important business he had encountered. That in itself could drive him insane with fury.
Pride came to help him. He would not sink to human weaknesses in the sight of these men.
“I shall sail in any case,” he said, coldly, “as soon as I have a crew and a steam tug.”
“May I ask what Your Lordship intends to do?” asked Sharpe.
Hornblower had to think quickly to make a reasonable answer to this question; he had no idea. All he knew was that he was not going to give up without a struggle; no crisis was ever alleviated by wasting time.
“I shall employ what time I have here in the composition of orders for my squadron,” he said. “My flag-lieutenant will write them at my dictation, and I shall ask you, Mr Sharpe, to undertake the distribution of them by all the means you find available.”
“Very good, My Lord.”
Hornblower remembered at that moment something he should have done already. It was not too late; this part of his duty he must still carry out. And it would at least disguise the anguish he felt.
“Mr Harcourt,” he said. “I have to commend you greatly on the excellent way in which you executed my orders. You carried out the task of observing Daring in most exemplary fashion. You can be sure I shall call the attention of Their Lordships to your behaviour.”
“Thank you, My Lord.”
“And this man Jones,” went on Hornblower. “No seaman could have acted with more intelligence. You made a good selection, Mr Harcourt, and Jones justified it. I have it in mind to reward him. I can give him an acting rating and confirm it as soon as possible.”
“Thank you, My Lord. He has been rated before and disrated.”
“Drink? Is that why he was denied shore leave?”
“I’m afraid so, My Lord.”
“Then what do you recommend?”
Harcourt was at a loss.
“You could say to his face what you’ve already said to me, My Lord. You could shake his hand —”
Hornblower laughed.
“And be known through the Navy as the meanest Admiral who ever flew a flag? No. A golden guinea at least. Two guineas. I’ll give them to him myself, and I shall request you to give him three days’ leave as soon as we see Kingston again. Let him have his debauch, if that is the only way in which we can reward him. I have to consider the feelings of the whole squadron.”
“Aye aye, My Lord.”
“Now, Mr Gerard, I’ll begin the writing of those orders.”
It was indeed noon before Crab cast off and was taken in tow by the tug Temeraire; it was significant of Hornblower’s state of mind that he never gave a thought to the implication of that glorious name. The interval before sailing, all the long, stifling morning, was taken up by the dictation of orders, to be dispersed to every ship of his squadron. An infinity of copies was necessary. Sharpe would send them under seal by every British ship leaving New Orleans for the West Indies, in the hope that should one of them encounter a King’s ship his orders would be passed on without the delay of being sent to Kingston and then transmitted through official channels. Every ship of the West India squadron was to keep a sharp lookout for the American ship Daring. Every ship was to enquire her business, and was to ascertain, if possible, whether Daring had troops on board; but (Hornblower sweated more feverishly than ever as he worded this) captains of HM’s vessels were reminded of that passage in the Commander-in-Chief’s original instructions regarding behaviour towards the American flag. If troops were not on board an effort was to be made to ascertain where they had been landed; if they were, Daring was to be kept in sight until they should be landed. Captains were to exercise a wide discretion regarding any interference with Daring‘s operations.