Ramage's Diamond (46 page)

Southwick wanted nothing: he had been offered much in the past but asked only that he be allowed to serve with Ramage. There would be prize-money for all the Junos. At a guess, the
Surcouf
should fetch about £16,000, so the seamen would share £4000, or about £25 each.
La Comète
would fetch less because she was damaged, say £20 a man. There would be as much again for the seven merchantmen and two schooners. That totalled some £65 a man—the equivalent of six years' pay. Aitken and Wagstaffe would get shares as commanding officers, and only Baker and the men in
La Mutine
would receive nothing because they were not present during the action.

Baker! Did
La Mutine
get to Barbados? Why wasn't she with the Admiral's squadron? Had the Admiral ordered Baker to stay in Bridgetown, with the twenty Junos on board
La Mutine?
Why was the Admiral so late? Plenty of questions, he thought sourly, and no answers …

“Hoist our pendant numbers,” Ramage told Orsini, “and then watch the flagship. She'll be making a signal very soon.”

Southwick bustled up. “We're ready to hoist out a boat, sir.” He looked at Ramage's stock and then down at his stockings. “There's plenty of time for you to change, sir, if you wish.”

The Master was quite right: within half an hour he would probably be on board the flagship, making his report. Clean stock, best uniform, boots polished, hat squared and mind you do not trip over your sword … At least he had recently shaved, and the report to the Admiral was in his cabin, already signed and sealed. The object, he told himself mockingly, is to make everything seem easy: four French frigates and seven merchantmen accounted for yesterday; today no sign of effort …

He was still in his cabin, his steward brushing his coat, when he heard through the skylight Orsini reporting a signal from the
Invincible:
the
Juno
's pendant and number 213. That was one that Ramage knew by heart—
The Captain of the ship pointed out to come to the Admiral
… A moment later the boy was at his door, knocking urgently and delivering the message.

Ramage slung the sword belt over his shoulder and finished dressing, crouching as he slid into the coat held up by his steward. He jammed his hat on his head and picked up the canvas bag. It was bulky—not only did it contain his report and the orders he had written for Wagstaffe to take the merchantmen to Barbados, but he decided to take the Master's log and his own Journal, as well as his order book. And there were the secret papers from
La Comète,
perhaps the most important of them all.

The
Invincible
was a mile away, steering towards them, with a frigate ahead and one on either beam. Southwick was waiting for orders. There had been no signal from the
Invincible
telling the
Juno
to take up a particular position in the squadron, which told him that either Admiral Davis was in a hurry to hear the news—by now he would have seen the cluster of ships at anchor off the Diamond—or he was not a fussy man who did not trust his captains.

“Heave-to ahead of the flagship,” Ramage said, “and as soon as the cutter is hoisted out get under way again.”

“And after that, sir?”

“Unless you get a signal from the flagship, get into the
Invincible
's wake, so there'll be less distance to row when I come back on board!”

The
Invincible
's Captain was waiting on the gangway for him. He returned Ramage's salute and his smile was friendly. That was significant: captains of flagships never gave welcoming smiles to junior captains summoned on board to face an admiral's wrath.

Captain Edwards made no conversation as he led the way down to the Admiral's cabin, however, and Ramage wondered whether he might not be regretting that brief smile. It would have cost him nothing to comment on the anchored ships or even to have asked about the
Surcouf,
which was clearly in sight and equally clearly a French ship now under British colours, but Edwards held his tongue.

The Admiral's cabin was large and cool and Ramage remembered it well from his first visit in Bridgetown. Then it had been hot and stuffy, with the ship anchored close in to the land. The cabin was empty and Captain Edwards waved to a chair by the table in front of the stern lights. “Sit down, the Admiral will see you in a few minutes.”

Ramage could hear the
Invincible
's yards being trimmed round as she got under way again: she had hove-to just long enough for the
Juno
's cutter to get alongside and Ramage to scramble on board. The minutes passed and he saw the
Juno
come into sight through the stern lights and take up position two cables astern. Watching her manoeuvring, Ramage felt a glow of pride. Southwick was handling the ship as though he had a full complement on board, instead of less than a third. Once in the flag-ship's wake, her three masts remained precisely in line. Southwick would be watching the luffs like a hawk, and the men at the wheel and the quartermaster would be meeting each extra puff of wind, every wave that tried to push round the
Juno
's bow.

The door opened and the Admiral walked in, followed by Captain Edwards and his secretary. Ramage jumped up, watching the expression on the Admiral's face, but it gave nothing away.

“The old fool's arrived too late, eh?” he said by way of a greeting. Ramage fidgeted uneasily, not knowing what to say, but the Admiral waved for him to sit down, walked round to the other side of the table and sat down himself opposite Ramage. Captain Edwards was waved to the seat on his right.

“Tell me what happened,” he demanded, and Ramage reached for the canvas bag.

“I have my report here, sir …”

“Written reports tell admirals what captains think they ought to know, and they can't be interrupted with awkward questions.”

The Admiral seemed hostile and Captain Edwards was watching closely. Between the two men he could see the
Juno
following astern, her masts still perfectly in line.

“Well, sir, we sighted the convoy …”

“No, begin from the time you arrived here. I know you covered the schooner business in your first report by
La Mutine,
but forget that for the moment.”

The Admiral's face was completely expressionless as Ramage told him of the
Juno
's look into Fort Royal, followed by the night attack on the
Juno
by the two schooners, and how they cut out the
Surcouf
from Fort Royal. When Ramage referred to sending
La Mutine
to Barbados with a warning about the expected French convoy, the Admiral said: “Why did you choose her and not the other, what's the name, the
Créole?
”

There was obviously a reason for the question but Ramage could think of none. He shrugged his shoulders. “It was a matter of chance, sir.”

“She never arrived,” the Admiral said bluntly.

“But my despatch, sir, you received …”

“The despatch arrived but the schooner didn't; she sprang a plank and sank a third of the way over. Baker and his men rowed. Took them nearly four days. Almost dead when they arrived. Most of 'em still in hospital—sunstroke, sunburn and exhaustion …”

“I'm very sorry—”

“Not your fault,” Admiral Davis said gruffly, “and a very creditable effort by young Baker and his men. But tell me, Ramage,” he continued, his voice cold, “why didn't you send the
Surcouf
with the warning, instead of a little schooner?”

“I was afraid the convoy might arrive early, sir,” Ramage said frankly.

“So you halved the men you had remaining in the
Juno
and put them on board the
Surcouf.
That hardly doubled your strength, surely?”

“No sir,” Ramage admitted, “but I was hoping that setting up batteries on top of the Diamond Rock to cover the Fours Channel would give us an element of surprise …”

“What's that?” the Admiral exclaimed sharply. “You don't mean to say you even
dreamed
of getting a gun up on to the top of that Rock? D'you hear that, Edwards? Why, you …”

Captain Edwards had been watching Ramage closely and he deliberately interrupted the Admiral: “Perhaps we might hear what Ramage had in mind, sir?”

The Admiral had now put himself in such a difficult position that Ramage hardly knew how to begin. Davis glanced at Edwards and Ramage, his bloodshot eyes missing little. Although Ramage did not know it, Admiral Davis was a man who knew when to cut his losses.

“
Did
you get a gun up to the top?”

“Yes, sir,” Ramage said, and decided to get it over with at the rush. “We swayed two up to the top, a third to a ledge half-way up, and a fourth covers the only cove where a boat can land.”

“Bless my soul,” the Admiral said. “You must have been mad even to try it. Carronades, eh? Men parbuckled 'em up the hill?”

“Ramage said they swayed them up, sir,” Captain Edwards interposed.

“Carronades, though. Didn't do much good, eh? No range, those things. Don't believe in 'em myself.”

Edwards glanced at Ramage and said quietly: “I noticed the
Juno
is missing some twelve-pounders. Three, I believe, and a six-pounder, too …”

Ramage nodded gratefully. “Yes, sir. You see, I found that we …”

“Twelve-pounders?” the Admiral almost shouted. “Do you mean to tell me you swayed a couple of twelve-pounders up to the top of the Diamond?”

“Well, yes sir, you see …”

The Admiral slapped the table with a thump that made Ramage blink and miss the old man's expression. “Splendid! Splendid, m'boy! Dammit, Edwards, I knew I should never have let Eames …” he broke off. “Well, go on, now you have the batteries on top of the Diamond and two half-manned frigates. Then you wait and wait for that damned old Admiral, who never comes, eh?”

He was grinning now, and Ramage decided he could be completely frank. Admiral Davis was far shrewder than he seemed and had a sense of humour lurking beneath that almost purple complexion.

“Well, sir, to be truthful, we waited for the convoy …”

“Damme, that's an honest enough answer, eh, Edwards? What's your seniority, Ramage?”

“Last name in the List when I left England, sir.”

“Ah yes, I remember. By Jove, for the last few days you've been commanding a squadron of—how many ships?”

“Eleven, sir: three frigates, a schooner and seven merchant ships.”

“Ah, yes, now let's hear about the convoy.”

Ramage began by describing briefly how he hoped to lure the convoy and escorts into the Fours Channel, where he could make a surprise attack with the two frigates, using
La Créole
as a Trojan horse and, as soon as the French ships were within range, opening fire with the Diamond batteries.

His attempt to keep his story brief failed completely: both the Admiral and Captain Edwards kept interrupting with questions. How did he time the arrival of the
Juno
and
Surcouf
so the French were squarely in the Channel? How did Ramage expect to break through two frigates with the half-manned
Juno
to attack from the unprotected landward side? How could he expect the
Surcouf
to dodge the two remaining frigates?

Ramage hurried on, trying to hold back the questions. He described how Aitken had suddenly worn the
Surcouf
round so that the two frigates about to attack him on either bow collided with each other. Then he had to digress to answer the Admiral's question about what had happened to them. He related how the Diamond battery had disabled
La Comète
and blown up
La Prudente
so that they could take possession of the whole convoy.
La Créole
's change of role from a French privateer coming to meet the convoy to a British schooner brought the comment from Captain Edwards about a poacher turning gamekeeper.

They were interrupted by a lieutenant reporting to Captain Edwards that the
Invincible
was now in the Fours Channel, with the Diamond Rock bearing south one mile. The Admiral waved him away impatiently. “We'll go up and look into Fort Royal Bay. Scare those privateers, in case they're thinking of sneaking out.”

As the lieutenant left the cabin the Admiral's brow creased. “Who is in command of all these ships of yours?”

“The Master is on board the
Juno,
sir; my former First Lieutenant, Aitken, the man I was telling you about, is commanding the
Surcouf.
My former Second, Wagstaffe, has
La Créole.
Baker was the Third, and Lacey, the Fourth, is with Aitken. I had to leave a petty officer in command of the Diamond, sir, and he did very well. Altogether I—”

“One frigate goes into action with her commanding officer, the Master and less than a third of her complement; another has a first lieutenant and a fourth … Ramage, you are completely mad. If you stay alive long enough to give their Lordships a chance to appreciate you, you'll go a long way in the Service. Your problem will be staying alive. Now we have to find enough men to get those prizes up to Antigua. The merchant ships, I mean. And I have two more frigates.”

He stood up and walked round the cabin for two or three minutes, obviously trying to reach some sort of decision, and then came and sat down again opposite Ramage.

“I need the
Surcouf
for a special service. You say she's fast. Her bottom clean? Good condition? Fine, fine. I'm transferring you to her. Wait a moment,” he said when Ramage's face fell, “you'll have your own ship's company. For what I have in mind you'll need the extra guns and speed, since she's a 36 and the
Juno
is only a 32—a 28 at the moment, rather.”

Ramage knew that if he did not put in a word for Aitken now the Admiral's plans would be completed beyond hope of change. “Sir, I was hoping that perhaps you could find a place for Aitken …”