The white headbands were effective and showed up well. Now the French were bursting over by the mainchains; a dozen or more had reached the deck and he saw a group of Junos dash into the middle of them. They were being held off along the larboard side, but more were pouring at the same two places on the starboard side.
'More'n a hundred o' them to starboard,' Southwick growled.
Ramage still felt chilled although the fear was going. He began rubbing at the scar on his brow but found the white band in his way. How many Frenchmen were down there? The two masses of men moved like clumps of seaweed in a swirling current. There were few pistol and musket shots now; just the clang of cutlass against cutlass and the screams of men cut down. Slowly the two groups were melting into one. The Junos were holding their own the rest of the way aft along the starboard side and all along the larboard side, but the group of Frenchmen was growing as more men poured over the bulwark.
There was no chance of the Junos holding them there: the men covering that section must have been killed or wounded. Down in the schooner someone was directing the boarders, sending up more men wherever they would be most effective. They had found the weak spot along the Juno's side and were quick to exploit it. If another twenty Frenchmen got on board the Juno she might be overwhelmed.
'Southwick, take the conn,' he yelled, 'You Tritons, follow me!'
Before he could move, wrenching at his sword and holding a pistol in his left hand, there was a shout of protest from Southwick: "Tis not for you to fight off boarders, sir! You handle the ship! Follow me, men!'
Before Ramage could stop him the old man, sword whirling over his head, ran to the quarterdeck ladder, bellowing: 'Junos, come on, m'lads, cut 'em to pieces!'
Jackson and Stafford were close behind him, yelling their heads off, and the rest of the seamen followed. A startled and angry Ramage found himself on the quarterdeck with only the four men at the wheel and the quartermaster. He thrust the pistol back in his belt, thought better of it and sheathed his sword instead. He took out the second pistol, cocked them both and ran to the starboard side. The schooner's taffrail was below and five yards forward, and he could just make out men grouped round the binnacle. In the flash of a musket shot fired from the schooner's deck he saw that two of the men were wearing uniform. They were staring up at the Juno's mainchains.
He aimed carefully at one of the men and fired. Though the flash blinded him momentarily he thought he saw the man fall. Hurriedly switching pistols, he saw the second uniformed man crouching over the first, who had fallen to the deck. Again he aimed carefully, cursing the excitement that made his hand tremble like a leaf in the breeze. He held his breath for a moment and fired again, and saw the second man collapse.
With luck they were the captain and first lieutenant, though whether their loss would make any difference now he did not know. He should have put Marine sharpshooters round the quarterdeck, but he had forgotten. He ran to the quarterdeck rail and looked forward. Along the larboard side there was fighting on the deck but the only Frenchmen who had managed to get on board were being dealt with. To starboard the group of Frenchmen on the Juno's deck was being broken up: men without white headbands were running in all directions, bolting, trying to find somewhere to hide from flashing cutlasses and jabbing pikes.
He saw Southwick's white hair in the midst of the mêlée; even above the din he could hear the old man yelling encouragement as he swept left and right with his great sword. Paolo's small figure was beside him wielding a cutlass and screaming excitedly in high-pitched Italian. Ramage could distinguish a scream of blasphemy that would have made a hardened Neapolitan brigand blench.
He stood helpless at the quarterdeck rail, separated from the fighting and holding two empty pistols. Dare he leave the quartermaster to cover the quarterdeck? He looked back along the larboard side again and was surprised to see that there was now very little movement. Men with white headbands were back on the hammock nettings - damnation, not just on the nettings but going over the ship's side, down into the schooner, with Aitken standing at the break of the gangway waving his sword and leading the men! There were bodies lying all round the guns but he was thankful to see that only a few of them wore the white headbands.
On the starboard side Southwick's men were slowly breaking up the group of Frenchmen. He saw two French turn and bolt back to the bulwarks, obviously trying to jump back on board the schooner. A third man followed, and then three more.
Further aft, only a few yards away from him, Wagstaffe was standing up in the hammock nettings surrounded by Junos and a moment later he vanished from sight and the nettings cleared of men. Ramage ran to the side and looked down, watching Wagstaffe lead his men aft along the schooner's deck. More Junos were dropping down and suddenly a group of French appeared, scrambling over the nettings from the frigate's deck, some falling in their haste, and tumbling down to the schooner. A moment later Southwick was standing on the nettings above them, his sword waving. He leapt down on to the schooner's deck, followed by a dozen or more men with white headbands.
Except for sprawled figures, the Juno's decks were now clear. Ramage ran from one side to the other frantically trying to distinguish what was going on in the darkness. From the deck of the schooner to larboard he could hear Aitken's voice, the Scots accent very strong, shouting orders, not yells of encouragement. The Marine Lieutenant was bellowing at his men to form up aft. Well, he thought grimly, that schooner is secured. He ran back to the starboard side in time to see Southwick leading his men in a rush aft to a knot of Frenchmen who were standing with their backs to the taffrail. There was shouting, though he could not distinguish the words, but Southwick had paused. Now he could see Frenchmen throwing down their swords and pikes in surrender.
His knees were shaky, his hands trembling, his stomach queasy. He wanted to giggle, and he wanted to talk to someone. He only just stopped himself from clapping the quartermaster on the back. Three minutes ago he had been afraid he had failed and that the Juno would be taken.
Benson, waving a cutlass, was trying to catch his attention. 'Message from Mr Aitken, sir: he -' the boy realized he was gabbling and made an effort to keep his voice even. 'Mr Aitken's respects, sir, and the schooner to larboard is secured.'
'Very well, Benson,' Ramage said. 'My compliments to Mr Aitken, and ask him to report to me as soon as he finds it convenient'
The boy ran off, and Ramage hoped he would remember the exact wording: Aitken would appreciate the 'convenient'. Then Jackson was standing in front of him, white band askew, the blade of his cutlass dark. 'Mr Wagstaffe has the schooner to starboard under command, sir, but he said to tell you it'll be half an hour before he's ready to get under way.'
Ramage laughed, a laugh which nearly got out of control. 'Very well, Jackson, my compliments to Mr Wagstaffe and tell him to let me know how many prisoners he has.'
'The French captain and the first lieutenant are dead, sir; we found 'em lying together by the binnacle. She's called La Mutine and was manned by French seamen with soldiers for boarders.'
As the American hurried forward again, Ramage realized he was still clutching his empty pistols and jammed them into the band of his breeches. They had proved accurate enough, although they were only as effective as the man that held them, and he had used them too late. If he had thought of picking off the two officers a few minutes earlier ... if, if, if ... Always, after an action, came the ifs, and before dawn he would have thought of plenty more. If he had done this he would have saved a dozen men's lives at the starboard mainchains; if he had done that he would have saved a dozen more to larboard. Mistakes he had made - no Marine sharpshooters for example - and probably some which would become apparent within the next few hours. Mistakes that only he might know about, but which had killed men unnecessarily . . .