"He might have wanted to spread the risk, " Aitken pointed out. "A small amount in several vessels."
Ramage laughed dryly. "The three of you are dreaming of gold bars and pieces of eight! "
"Why not, sir?" Wagstaffe asked. "The Dons mine enough gold and silver! "
"Not along the Main. That comes from Peru and they send it up to Panama. And from Mexico, of course, and that is sent out through Vera Cruz."
Wagstaffe looked puzzled. "The Spanish Main, sir - I thought this was where Sir Harry Morgan and the buccaneers were always raiding. Along this coast and beyond Cartagena."
"They raided it, true enough, but as far as I know they usually made their money by ransoming a town's leading citizens. The only time Morgan found a lot of gold was when he marched across the Isthmus to Panama."
"If the Viceroy is so worried about this cargo, sir, " Aitken said cautiously, "why didn't he send it direct to Havana from Cartagena? Sending it round to La Guaira means an extra six or seven hundred miles . . ."
"That puzzled me, " Ramage admitted, "but the obvious explanation is probably correct: they just don't have the ships. Probably there was one merchant ship in La Guaira and none in Cartagena. There were coasting vessels in Cartagena capable of the voyage round to La Guaira, but none that could be relied upon - or spared - to get to Havana. It was easier to have the 'one particular cargo' from La Guaira loaded on board in La Guaira itself, with the other one from Cartagena being sent round.
"The Jocasta's arrival a couple of years ago must have seemed like a miracle: she's the only frigate on the whole coast. Apart from her, the Santa Barbara is probably the only ship o' war they have along the Main."
"I can believe that, " Southwick said. "We certainly never hear of anything being sighted, or captured."
"That was why Their Lordships were anxious to get the Jocasta back, " Ramage pointed out. "They didn't want the Dons to have her."
"But the Dons never used her, " Southwick protested.
"Blame that on the quill-pushers in Caracas. The Captain-General has been arguing with the man who holds the purse-strings, and they have no money anyway. But make no mistake, they want her desperately."
"What was she going to do, sir?" Wagstaffe asked. "I mean, before she was ordered to Spain."
"They were going to send her to sea as a privateer - I think the Captain-General hoped she'd pay for herself with prize money. They couldn't afford to pay enough seamen; that's why they were using soldiers: they are paid by Madrid."
"So just as she's ready to sail as a privateer, they get orders to send her to Spain, " Southwick commented. "They must be hard up for ships over there; I'd have thought she'd have done more good out here."
Ramage nodded; he had given that a lot of thought while reading the letters. "I think Madrid has always regarded the Indies simply as a gold mine. As soon as there's enough bullion ready, they send a small fleet to escort it to Cadiz. In between times the Indies have to look after themselves."
"Pity we don't have gold mines, " Aitken said. "When you want to build another dozen ships of the line you just send to the Indies for some more gold."
"Hasn't done 'em much good in the past, " Southwick said contemptuously. "They've been digging out gold for nearly 250 years, and neither their fleet nor their army is worth a tinker's cuss."
There was a knock on the door and Ramage's clerk came in holding several sheets of paper: "The orders, sir, for your signature."
Ramage took them and sat at the desk. He glanced through the top page, signed it and gave it to Wagstaffe.
"There you are. Now you are in command of the Calypso, and you send fifty men back to the Jocasta. You're sure you can handle her with the rest?"
"Quite sure, sir. Sixty men are more than enough."
"Very well. The rendezvous is given: wait three days and if we don't meet you before then, make your way to English Harbour and give the report to Admiral Davis."
Ramage signed the report addressed to the Admiral, and gave it to the clerk to take away and seal.
"I'm sorry to bring you back from the Calypso" Ramage told Aitken.
The young Scot grinned cheerfully. "I'm glad to be back in the Jocasta, sir. It's not often we get a chance of cutting out ships. I'm getting a taste for it! "
Ramage turned back to Wagstaffe. "You are satisfied with Baker and Kenton? It looks as though it's going to be watch-and-watch-about for you for a week or two."
"We'll be all right, sir, although I think they were looking forward to taking the Santa Barbara back to English Harbour."
"I'm sorry to disappoint them, but if you take a prize on the way back they can toss up for the honour of commanding her."
The clerk brought back the report for Admiral Davis, and Ramage, after inspecting the seal, gave it to Wagstaffe. He listened to the movement on deck for a few moments. "I think the last of the prisoners are ready to be taken over to the Santa Barbara. Southwick, you'd better send Velasquez to see me."
With that the three men left. Ramage rubbed his face with a towel and was thankful it was not a humid night. He tugged his stock straight, ran a comb through his hair, and put the rolled-up chart back in the rack. He glanced round the cabin - it looked exactly as Velasquez had left it when the Calypso came alongside.
A stamping of feet down the companionway warned him that Velasquez was being brought down with an escort of at least two Marines.
"Spanish officer, h'under h'escort, sir, " the sentry announced.
"Send him in, but the escort can stay outside."
Velasquez came into the cabin warily, as though expecting a wild animal to leap at him out of the shadows.
"Good morning, " Ramage said in Spanish.
Velasquez had not seen him sitting at the desk and he took a step back.
"Come in, " Ramage said. "Sit on the settee."
"You speak Spanish! " Velasquez exclaimed. "Why - you are the leader of the mutineers! But that uniform! Why do you wear it?"
"It fits me rather well, doesn't it?" Ramage remarked conversationally.
"Yes, but -"
"It should, of course; it was made for me by one of the best tailors in London."
"But you are a mutineer! "
"No, " Ramage said quietly, "you just thought I was."
"The rest of the men, " Velasquez said lamely. "I just saw some of them in Army uniform . . ."
"Marine uniform, " Ramage corrected him.
Velasquez flopped down on the settee. "I do not understand. They sent me a warning from El Pilar that the Santa Barbara was bringing in another English frigate with a mutinous crew. I assumed all the details had been arranged by that fool Lopez, and that she was just to berth alongside me."
"Lopez was a prisoner; the Santa Barbara was an English prize by then."
"Yes, I realize that now. But you, Senor?"
"Nicholas Ramage, at your service; a captain in the Royal Navy."
Velasquez was about to rise and bow, but Ramage gestured for him to remain seated: time was getting short, with all the prisoners out of the Jocasta.
"Captain Velasquez, all your men will soon be on board the Santa Barbara, along with the brig's original crew and Captain Lopez - oh yes, and the nephew of the Captain-General. There are forty-one of your men, wounded in the fighting. And here -" he took a piece of folded paper from his pocket "- are the names of the twenty-three killed. One of the wounded identified them. The garrisons of the two forts are also on board."
"You mean Castillo San Antonio and El Pilar?" Velasquez asked incredulously.
"Yes. You heard two explosions?"
"My God, yes! "
"You'll see what caused them when you sail back."
"Sail back?" Velasquez asked suspiciously.
"Back into Santa Cruz. You will be taken over to the Santa Barbara in a few minutes and you will allow the remaining English Marines on board to depart in the boat that takes you over. Then you will sail the Santa Barbara back into port."