Again it was the same procedure: the washdeck pumps, only just put away after holystoning the deck, were brought out again and rigged, the gunner collected the big bronze key of the magazine and went below, and the crews began hauling on the lanyards that raised the gunport lids. As water was sprayed over the deck men scattered sand, and soon Ramage heard the report from Aitken that all the guns were loaded and ready to be run out. 'Can I bring Orsini down now, sir, so that he can look after his carronades?'
'Yes, we can see what we're about from down here.'
He could imagine just how the French captain felt now, with a seventy-four rapidly overhauling him. There was no chance of him reaching Martinique in time to seek shelter: even now the island was just coming into sight, a bluish bruise on the horizon to the north-west.
Now, with every stitch of canvas set in the Dido, it was only a matter of time before they ranged up alongside the frigate and started firing broadsides into her.
He saw Orsini coming down from aloft and watched him hurry up to the poop, to take command of the carronades. He knew that the three lieutenants, Kenton, Martin and Hill, were standing by at their divisions of guns, as were some of the senior midshipmen. He knew that every available telescope on board the French frigate was trained on the Dido. 'Run out the guns,' he told Aitken. It would depress the French even more, once they saw those stubby black fingers sprouting out along the Dido's sides.
'Hoist the challenge, if you please Mr Aitken.' Ramage watched as the flags rose on the halyard. He put the glass to his eye, watching the frigate as a matter of routine. But no answer was hoisted, not that Ramage had expected one.
Still Ramage puzzled over why a French frigate should be out here. If she had come from French Guiana - which he finally decided was a remote chance - there was no reason why she did not go up the inside of the island chain, keeping to the westward. That way she would not risk interception by any British warships on passage between Barbados and other islands such as Grenada and Antigua. Could she have come from France and made a landfall too far south? That too seemed unlikely. A mistake in longitude, yes, putting her too far east or west, but not in latitude, taking her too much to the north or south: a latitude sight did not have to depend on the accuracy of the clock: the highest altitude around noon was sufficient.
No, it was a puzzle, but now the Dido had closed the distance to a mile, and Ramage could see that the ship was black with two white strakes, and the sails were very patched. The maincourse seemed to have more patches than original cloths and he thought he could see small holes in the stunsails - probably where rats had been chewing, and showing that the stunsails were not used very often. Or that the frigate had a lot of rats on board.
Southwick was busy with his quadrant and, after consulting his tables, reporting distances. Three quarters of a mile, and the Dido was making at least nine knots. The stunsails were going to be a nuisance and Ramage gave Aitken the order to take them in.
The master had just reported the distance was down to half a mile when Ramage told Aitken to clew up the courses. What about topgallants? Would the frigate try to escape at the last moment by some cunning manoeuvring? He decided to leave them: the Dido handled well under topsails and topgallants.
The Tricolour was very obvious now, and Ramage could see that it was very faded, either from age or too much Tropical sun. And the black paint of her hull had no sheen; it was a long time since her topsides had last been painted. In fact, he thought, what with the patched sails and faded paint, the frigate looked as though she was at the end of a long voyage.
There was no need for Southwick to call out any more ranges: in fact Ramage just managed to read her name, even though the paint on her transom was faded. She was the Volage, and Ramage was surprised she had not opened fire with her sternchasers, in the desperate hope that a lucky shot might bring down the Dido's foremast, or damage her bowsprit.
Then he noticed, for the first time, that the Volage had run out her guns, some of them, anyway. He watched through the glass, waiting for the rest to be run out, but nothing happened, and he realized there would be no more: only eight guns were run out on each side.
'That poor devil's armed en flûte!' he exclaimed to Southwick and Aitken. 'They've only run out sixteen guns, eight a side.'
'What unlucky fellows,' growled Southwick. 'A lot of them won't live to see the sun set.'
But what was a frigate armed only en flûte doing here? Had she been carrying prisoners to French Guiana? Was she bringing stores from France to Martinique, urgently needed stores which could not wait for a convoy?
There were many questions, Ramage decided, but no one was going to find the answers - yet. 'Pass him fifty yards to larboard,' Ramage called to Jackson, who once again was acting as quartermaster.
'Warn the gunners that we will be engaging to larboard,' he told Aitken, who immediately sent off two midshipmen who had been waiting on the quarterdeck.
The Dido seems to be making a habit of sinking or capturing frigates, Ramage thought to himself. In fact the thought would be depressing but for the Junon: she had also accounted for a seventy-four, so no one could say she was a bully!
Now the range was closing fast: two ship's lengths would do it. Just as Ramage was preparing himself for the thunder of the Dido's broadsides he was startled to see spurts of smoke from the Volage's starboard side, and almost immediately the Tricolour was hauled down.
She had fired a broadside pour l'honneur de pavillon, and then hauled down her colours. No one could accuse her captain of surrendering without firing a shot . . .
The whole question of firing a broadside for the honour of the flag was one for which Ramage had little sympathy: any court of inquiry afterwards should be able to decide whether or not the odds were so overwhelming that it was pointless to fight. But maybe the French courts were tougher; maybe they had to make sure their captains were full of revolutionary zeal. And being revolutionary perhaps they were more sensitive about insults to their new flag ...
He saw that the frigate was heaving-to, and he ordered Aitken to back the maintopsail. 'We'll heave-to to windward, and prepare a boat to take over a boarding party. Pass the word for Hill.'
While a boat was being lowered into the water, Ramage gave the lieutenant his orders, thankful that he had someone on board who spoke fluent French.
'Take ten Marines with you and bring back the captain. Since she's armed en flûte I presume she's carrying a special cargo. Ask the captain about it but, if necessary, inspect it yourself. Leave the Marines on board with orders to secure the wheel, and put the officers under guard.'
Just under an hour later Hill returned on board with the French captain, who very punctiliously surrendered his sword to Ramage, Hill explaining that he had refused to receive it earlier. The man introduced himself as Furneaux.
'Where have they come from?' Ramage asked.
'Mauritius, sir, and she's bound for Fort Royal, Martinique.'
'And what is she carrying?'
'It's all very strange, sir: she's loaded with boxes and boxes of plants. Captain Furneaux says they were carrying them from Mauritius for the French to try and grow them. They came from India originally, and were first taken to Mauritius. Now the French were going to try to grow them in Martinique - it's an experiment.'