Well, there was the result of it alclass="underline" a folded sheet of paper in exchange for an island nearly forty miles long and with a harbour third only to Port Royal in Jamaica and Cartagena on the Main. And there were the signatures - Gottlieb van Someren, Governor; Lausser, Major; Ramage, Captain; and now James Aitken, Lieutenant.
And he had managed to write it without making a blot. The writing was a bit shaky, but Lausser had been nervous, too; he had wiped his hand before signing because it was obviously damp from perspiration. And perspiration meant nervousness because this room was delightfully cool, built so that the Trade wind blew along its entire length, and the sun was kept out by the jalousies.
Now a second copy was being passed across. This was the French version. The Governor had wanted the second copy to be in Dutch but Mr Ramage had refused because he did not speak the language. Finally they had agreed on French, which he suspected Mr Ramage spoke better than the Governor.
Now they all shook hands. The Governor paid him a nice compliment, too, about handling the Calypso and helping with the negotiations. And the Governor suddenly said, pointing at the signed documents: 'Before we were enemies; now we are friends.'
'But we have quite a task ahead of us,' Mr Ramage said, obviously warning the two Dutchmen that signing papers might end wars but it didn't win battles.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Back on board the Calypso Ramage returned Wagstaffe's salute and commented on the springs now on the anchor cable. With only three hours of daylight left, there was a lot to be done. The Calypso's other three boats had been hoisted out and now floated astern of the frigate, the ducklings behind the mother.
The officers were all within sight of the gangway: obviously they had expected a surge of activity the moment the captain and the first lieutenant returned from Government House. Ramage decided it was too hot for them all to go down to his cabin and pointed towards the binnacle.
Briefly and quickly Ramage gave each of them his instructions. Rennick was to divide his Marines among the Calypso's four boats. Wagstaffe was to command one, Baker another, Kenton the third, and Ramage himself the fourth. This had resulted in protests from both Southwick and Aitken, but Ramage had silenced both of them by asking if they spoke French. When they admitted what he knew well, that they did not, he had shrugged his shoulders, as if that was the reason why they had not been chosen.
In fact Ramage had decided to lead the little expedition simply because he was bored; there was no chance of any action, but the walk to and from Government House had been the first escape from the Calypso's quarterdeck for weeks, and his cabin was beginning to feel like a cell. None of the other officers had been off the ship, but they had each other's company in the gunroom while the captain lived in almost monastic seclusion.
Ramage took out his watch. 'We start in fifteen minutes. Mr Kenton, will you pass the word for my coxswain?'
With that he went down to his cabin and, with Silkin's help, changed into an old uniform. Jackson arrived before he had finished and, told what was about to happen, began methodically to load the pair of pistols which were kept in the case in the bottom drawer of Ramage's desk. They were a matched pair, beautifully balanced, a present from Gianna and bought the day he had been made post. In fact the visit with Gianna to the gunsmith in Bond Street had been his first foray in his new uniform, when the single epaulet showing he was a post captain with less than three years' seniority seemed to weigh a ton and pull his shoulder down.
First Jackson snapped them to make sure each flint gave a strong spark; then he opened the chamois - leather bag of lead shot, looking like dull grey marbles, and selected two that had no dents or flaws. Then he opened the box of wads, small circles of felt the diameter of the bore of the guns, took out four, and reached for the two powder horns. From the larger he poured a measure down the barrel of one pistol - a lever on the spout of the horn measured the exact amount - and, with a rammer, pushed home a wad, then a shot, and then a second wad. He then took the smaller horn and poured some of the fine powder it contained into the pan and shut it He then repeated the process with the second gun.
He looked at the two guns critically. They were beautifully made and no doubt very accurate but, he wondered, bow would they stand up to the kind of harsh use that was usually the pistol's lot in a ship of wan fired and then often hurled at an enemy's head, dropped on the deck, used as a club? The regular Sea Service pistol had the grace of a hammer compared with these, but it could also stand up to being used as a hammer, a bung starter or a wedge driver. Accuracy as such was not really important; it was rare that a man with a pistol fired at a target more than twenty feet away, in fact, Jackson realized, he could not remember ever aiming at a target even that distant fighting on board a ship was a close - range business, often little more than jamming the muzzle of a pistol in an enemy's ribs and squeezing die trigger.
As Ramage came into the cabin, having changed, Jackson held out the pistols, which Ramage took and slid the belt clips into the waistband of his breeches. Jackson saw that he now wore a cutlass belt over his shoulder the usual sword, used for ceremonial occasions and which he had worn on shore for his visit to the Dutch Governor, must be back on its rack on the bulkhead. It was a good job that the Marchesa, who had also bought that, did not know . . .
'Do you think well have any trouble, sir?'
Ramage shrugged his shoulders. 'I doubt it.'
The lads hope we will,' Jackson commented, and when Ramage raised his eyebrows questioningly he added: 'After what that Spanish privateer did to those people, the lads won't be giving quarter to privateersmen . . .'
These are French, though,' Ramage said, more because he was interested to hear Jackson's reaction than by way of defending privateersmen.
They're as bad. Any man that goes privateering is no better than a thief and a murderer, sir. Why, they say most of the privateersmen are on shore, attacking the Dutch and burning their villages. They'd loot this place as soon as look at it. . .'
Ramage knew only too well that Jackson, in his unique position as the captain's coxswain and respected by the ship's company, was well placed to relay information to the men, information that was in effect official but not announced by the captain on the quarterdeck.
The chief of these privateers, a man called Brune, has already warned the Governor that they'll burn down this town and murder the people unless he surrenders it to them.'
'Brune, eh?' Jackson repeated. 'Means "brown", doesn't it, sir? Must be a nasty sort of man to want to burn down his ally's capital . . .'
Ramage led the way out of the cabin, knowing that the information would pass through the ship like a gust of wind, and was soon walking along the gangway to the entry port, where Aitken and Southwick were waiting.
'Your gig's ready, sir,' Aitken reported, 'and the rest of the boats are holding on astern, each with the number of seamen and Marines you specified.'
Aitken's voice was polite, as became a first lieutenant reporting to his captain, but the tone made it clear that the Scot was not overly keen on staying behind while Ramage went off, even though the expedition seemed little more than routine.
Southwick, telescope under one arm, said lugubriously: 'I've been watching those privateers for an hour or two. There's something odd about 'em, but I'm damned if I know what it is.'