HMS Diamond (26 page)

      
Originally he had enlisted in the army as an ensign in the infantry. Realizing that army life was not for him, he transferred to the navy where in 1780 he took part in the Siege of Gibraltar. He left the navy after that, returning to school in Wandsworth, then accepting a job with a London shipping company. This took him to St. Petersburg for five years where he mastered both Russian and French. On the recommendation of Lord Grenville, Smith took him on as a midshipman.

      
Wright was a quiet young man. He was not given much to conversation, other than that required by duty, and socialized little. That’s why everyone was so surprised when he seemed to form a bosom friendship with Tromelin almost from the minute he arrived on board. They seemed to spend every waking hour together. If Wright was not on watch or asleep, he could most likely be found in conversation with the Frenchman—almost always by themselves, on some obscure part of the deck.

      
Pine received the reports that all was ready. All that remained now was for dawn to officially occur which, on Smith’s ships, was defined as the moment when you could tell a gray feather from a white feather held at arms length. They did not have to wait long.

      
"Lookouts report!" Pine bellowed through a megaphone.

      
"For’ard lookout, all clear!"

      
"Main lookout, all clear!"

      
"Mizen lookout, all clear!"

      
And with that, a slight sigh of relief whispered through the ship.

      
"Secure from stations! Bosun, commence policing the ship."

      
As the bosun and his mates fanned out to get various cleaning crews organized, Pine swept his gaze in a 360° circle along the horizon. As usual, the merchant ships were spread all over the ocean. With a sigh he called up to the mizen mast lookout.

      
"Ahoy, mizen. Give me a count of how many sail you see."

      
A minute later the reply came back. "On deck there! I count eleven, sir."

      
Pine muttered an exasperated oath. "Mizen mast! Count them again! You may use more than just your fingers and one toe this time."

      
"On deck! Sir, I count eleven."

      
Pine was starting to get mad. He flipped the duty telescope to Wright. "Mr. Wright, go up to the main mast platform and make a count."

      
Wright scurried up the ratlines and quickly reported back. "On deck, there. Mr. Pine, I count only eleven."

      
Now Pine was getting concerned. "Mr. Wright. What ship is missing?"

      
The reply came immediately. "The
Judith Marie
, sir!"

***

      
It was mid-afternoon before Smith had enough information to call a meeting in his stateroom. Present were all officers, Lucas Walker, Lord Howell and the two midshipmen of the watch from the night before.

      
"Gentlemen, you are all aware we are missing the
Judith Marie
. You are all aware she was carrying the Bank of England gold shipment intended for our European creditors via the Banco de Lisboa. As you might not be aware, however, this is
not
the first time a gold ship has gone missing. Almost every shipment in the past four months has disappeared into thin air, just like the
Judith Marie
. The difference is that this time it happened with the ship under
my
care and I will not rest until I get to the bottom of this.

      
"We’ve stopped the convoy and Lord Howell has interviewed each captain, so perhaps we should start there. My Lord?"

      
Lord Howell did not get up from his seat next to the captain’s table. He just sat there looking very tired and distraught, and spoke in a low voice.

      
"There’s not much to report, captain. As spread out as they were, most of the ships had no visual contact with the
Judith Marie
after the sun went down yesterday. The only useful piece of information I got was from the captain of the
Portsmouth Cloud
, the next ship astern of the
Judith Marie
. After polling his night watches he said that, about four bells into the mid-watch, his bow lookout reported that the stern light on the
Judith Marie
went out. The watch officer just assumed that someone had carelessly forgot to fill the lamp with oil, or that perhaps it blew out. In any case, he didn’t think enough of the incident to even note it in his log."

      
The room was deathly silent. Smith finally broke it.

      
"This is absurd. Absolutely absurd. Ships do not simply disappear, at least not when surrounded by 11 merchantmen and three navy vessels in a calm sea. I want ideas, gentlemen. Ideas!"

      
More silence.

      
"Who had the two overnight watches? Mr. Pine and Mr. Sandsbury, I believe. Mr. Sandsbury, did you see or hear
anything
unusual on your mid-watch? Small arms fire? Maybe gun fire that you thought was thunder? The sounds of a struggle? Perhaps a flash of light?"

      
Sandsbury was wracking his brain. Was there something he should have noticed but didn’t? Was there something that he did notice but whose significance didn’t register? Was there something... anything... that he should have or could have done? He came up blank.

      
Shaking his head. "No, sir. I can’t recall anything unusual. I think Midshipman Knight will agree it was a quiet watch. I saw nothing unusual and the only sounds I heard were the sounds of our own ship working."

      
"Lieutenant Pine? Mr. Wright? What about you?"

      
"No, sir. Nothing." Pine answered for the both of them. "Ours was a quiet watch also. No gunfire. No sounds of struggle. No flashes. Nothing."

      
It was silent again until Walker spoke up.

      
"Just those flashes Sandsbury saw yesterday afternoon."

      
Pine lifted his head and looked over at Sandsbury. "Flashes?"

      
"Yes, well, it’s a little embarrassing."

      
"What happened?"

      
"It was on the first dog-watch. A merchant lugger pulled alongside the
Judith Marie
and I thought I saw some flashes of light like... like a sword fight or something was taking place. I pointed it out to Captain Smith and Lord Howell, but it was just my eyes playing tricks."

      
"It is of no account, lieutenant," Lord Howell added. "We all saw the
Judith Marie
sailing along just fine for several hours after that."

      
More silence. Then Smith again.

      
"Mr. Wright you have a look about you. What are you thinking?"

      
"It’s probably nothing, sir."

      
"Nothing is what we currently have. Any idea could only be an improvement."

      
"I am not sure, sir. It’s just it reminded me of an old yarn my grandfather used to spin. My family is originally from the Romney, you see, and... well, the old guy wasn’t always the King’s most law-abiding subject."

      
"Spit it out, Mr. Wright."

      
"Yes, sir. I remember him telling us kids about an old privateer by the name of Rogers or something. Anyway, he used to find a more-or-less isolated convoy ship sailing along and approach it as if he was a local trader. Only instead of his hold being full of vegetables or grain, it was full of men. As soon as he got alongside, they would storm out of the smaller ship and take over the larger."

      
"But that makes no sense, lieutenant." Lord Howell interjected. "We saw the
Judith Marie
sailing in perfect order long after that incident with young Sandsbury."

      
"Yes, sir, but that was part of the beauty of his technique. You see he would take over the ship with as little fuss as possible—not hard to do with a merchantman—then continue sailing it as if nothing had happened. At some point in the night they would then dose all lights and sail off in a new direction, leaving the convoy scratching their heads in the morning."

      
"That’s preposterous," Lord Howell replied. But Smith had shot bolt upright in his chair.

      
"Wait a minute, perhaps not," Smith said. "Lucas, what was it that Chouan leader told us? He said a ship called the
Vengeur
, a lugger captained by someone called Rivers, was causing the problem.

      
"By God, you’re right." Turning to the midshipman, Walker asked, "Was this privateer’s name possibly Joseph Rivers?"

      
"Joseph Rivers... yes sir, I believe that was it. Have you heard the story too?"

      
Walker said nothing. He just looked over at Smith.

      
I think Wright is correct." Smith muttered half to himself. He brought his hand down on the table, "That must be the way they did it. It just feels right! It would be perfect."

      
"And how would this Captain Rivers know that this convoy was carrying the gold, let alone which ship
in
the convoy had it?" Howell countered.

      
"He didn’t know. Well, actually, he did know but he was wrong."

      
"What in blazes are you talking about?"

      
"Do you remember a few days ago when the
Liberty
and the
Aristocrat
joined us?
I halted the convoy to meet with each captain on their respective ships."

      
"Yes, but what does that have to do with
this
?" Howell interjected with an exasperated tone.

      
"During those visits I transferred the gold strongboxes from the
Judith Marie
to the
Bristol Castle
and replaced it with similar strongboxes filled with rocks."

      
Howell looked stunned, his mouth literally hanging open.

      
Smith had moved to his chart desk and was rummaging around. He spread a chart down on the table.

      
"This is the coast of France. The
Judith Marie
would have been taken about here. He would not have taken her south across the Bay of Biscay. Why risk running into a Royal Navy ship or squadron? No, he would have taken her to a defended French port that’s reasonably close.

      
"Let’s see..." Smith studied the chart for a moment. "I would bet my commission that he took her either to Brest, Port Herqui or Le Havre. All three have good harbors, all are well defended, and all are within a reasonably short sail of where he stole her."

      
"So, what do we do now, sir?" Pine asked.

      
"We go after him, of course."

      
Lord Howell gave a start and looked over at Smith, his eyes wide. "We will do no such thing, captain!"

      
"And why not?"

      
"Because the gold is still with the convoy and you are still tasked with protecting it."

      
"The
Liberty
and the
Aristocrat
can take care of that. Besides, the convoy is in no danger now. The thieves won’t try again. After all, which ship would they pick?"

      
"But you don’t know that."

      
"You’re right, I don’t. But it’s a risk I am willing to take to stop them once and for all."

      
"You may be willing to take it, but I am not. Captain, I cannot over emphasize the importance of this gold shipment—of
all
the gold shipments, but especially this one. You might think wars are won with guns; but they are not, sir. They are won with the credit that
pays
for those guns, and our credit is about to run out.

      
"If these shipments do not go through then our creditors will stop sending the multitude of supplies that you and your colleagues so desperately need to fight. All of the valor, all of the daring in the world will make no difference. We will be lost, captain... lost as a nation. A few moments ago you said you were willing to bet your commission that they had gone somewhere or another. But your commission is not at stake here, captain. Your country is. I insist we stay with the convoy."

      
Smith was shocked by Howell’s outburst. It wasn’t just the words; it was the vehemence with which he said them. Everything he said was true and Smith knew it; but there are times when that which is true is not the same thing as that which is right. Smith was right. He didn’t know that in his head; he knew it in his gut.