"Mmm, yes," Shirley said. "Always the same thing, like a litany. Pity about Barker, he was a good surgeon. But just imagine it, the first lieutenant in command!"
Shirley began to laugh; a laugh which went on and rose in pitch until it was a maniacal scream and the man's face, mouth open and teeth bared, seemed to be a skull over which parchment had been stretched.
Ramage stood still, startled by the man's reaction, and Markham was the first to recover. "You! Provost Marshal!" he shouted at Hill. "Take Captain Shirley into your custody. Guard him carefully: make sure he doesn't harm himself."
As soon as Captain Shirley was led away, with Goddard still mopping his brow and the twelve captains recovering enough to whisper to each other, Ramage said quietly: "Can my next witness be called?"
Goddard stared at him as though he had burst into song. "But my dear fellow, obviously the case is closed! There is no need for more witnesses!"
Ramage shook his head stubbornly. Goddard was either numbed by what had just happened, or a cunning scoundrel whose brain was working very fast, trying to calculate whether or not Shirley's madness (with his confession made in open court and, thanks to Ramage's insistence, on oath) could affect him.
"With respect, sir, the case against me is most certainly not closed. I am still charged with breaches of various Articles of War, several carrying a mandatory death sentence, and I insist on the opportunity of clearing myself."
"Quite unnecessary," Goddard said. "As soon as I clear the court, we shall consider our verdict. In fifteen minutes you will leave the ship a free man without - well, without a stain on your character. As of course," he added smoothly, "we all knew you would."
At that moment, Ramage was sure that Goddard was being cunning; that he had not been numbed: he had already calculated that any further evidence given for Ramage would reinforce a case against Shirley, who obviously now faced a charge of murder (and possibly more), and it was in Goddard's interest to stop the proceedings at once.
Ramage finally turned to the spectators. "Captain Markham, I must appeal to you again."
"No need, no need!" Goddard exclaimed. "No, you are quite right. The court will hear your next witness."
"Call Midshipman Blaxton," Jenkins said.
As the young midshipman came into the cabin, Ramage took several sheets of paper from the flat canvas pouch beneath his chair and walked over to Jenkins, who looked up nervously.
"A copy of the questions I shall be asking," Ramage said.
"Oh - thank you, sir: I am much obliged."
Blaxton, who was not in uniform, was nervous yet self-possessed. He held up the Bible, read out the oath from the card, and identified himself.
Goddard coughed and said: "The court will question you."
At once Ramage said: "This is a defence witness and I have prepared questions." He allowed impatience to creep into his voice as he added: "I am aware of all the circumstances and the court is not, and I know you wish that the witness's knowledge be fully investigated."
"Oh, very well," Goddard said sulkily, seeing the trap in front of him, "but of course the court reserves the right to take over the questioning."
Ramage ignored the remark and asked Blaxton: "Please tell the court of the events concerning the handling of the Jason frigate, in which you were serving, in June last."
"Come now!" Goddard exclaimed. "Are we to hear of every time she tacked or wore for two months?"
"Not every time," Ramage said carefully, and told Blaxton: "Confine yourself to the main events."
"On the first day of June as soon as it was daylight and the lookouts had been sent aloft, Captain Shirley gave the order to back the topsails, and for one hour we made a stern board. Then he let the topsails draw for an hour, and then ordered them backed again, so that we did another stern board -"
Ramage interrupted him. "For how long did this manoeuvre continue, going ahead for an hour and astern for an hour?"
"Until dusk, sir."
"And the Jason was on passage from where to where?"
"From Port Royal, Jamaica, to Carlisle Bay, Barbados, sir."
"So that occurred on the first day of June. Very well, what happened on the six successive days, between dawn and dusk?"
"The same, sir."
"What happened during the second week of the passage?"
"Captain Shirley had the ship beating to windward for an hour, and then running off for an hour, with stunsails set."
"This happened every day during that second week?"
"Yes, sir," Blaxton said, obviously as puzzled now as he was then.
"Was the Jason closing with Barbados?"
"No, sir. What with the westgoing current and running off and the wind dropping at night, the first lieutenant calculated that on average we were losing three or four miles easting an hour."
"What happened during the third week of the passage?"
"We had a very bad outbreak of yellow fever, sir, and we became very short of water."
"Why were you short of water? After all, you were only two weeks out of Port Royal."
"Captain Shirley refused to water the ship there, sir."
"Do you know - of your own knowledge, not from what anyone else may have told you - why this was?"
"Yes, sir. I was with the first lieutenant in Port Royal when he asked permission to send off the boats with the casks, and Captain Shirley refused."
"Did you hear him give a reason?"
"Yes, sir; he said he was not going to have the ship laden down with a lot of extra weight."
"How many cases of yellow fever did you have?"
"It started with three men, sir. There were nine the second day and twenty-eight the third -"
"How many men had died before the ship reached Barbados?"
"Twenty-three, sir."
"Did the surgeon, to your certain knowledge, make any representation to Captain Shirley?"
"Yes, sir, several times each day, and always after we had funeral services, which were held daily."
"Did you hear Captain Shirley's replies?"
"Most of them, sir. He said that the deaths were 'condign punishment' for the men's wickedness in plotting against him."
"To your knowledge, were the men plotting against him?"
"No, sir."
"After the ship reached Barbados, was water embarked?"
"Yes sir, but Captain Shirley allowed only twenty tons."
"Did the officers comment?"
"Two lieutenants went with the first lieutenant to see the captain, to protest we needed fifty tons for the passage to England."
"Do you know what happened then?"
"Yes, sir, because I was present: the captain assembled all the officers and the midshipmen and said he was charging us with mutinous assembly."
"Did he in fact charge you all?"
"Not exactly charge, sir . . ." Blaxton was at a loss for words.
"What then?"
"Well, sir, he made us all sign a document he drew up. We also had to witness each other's signatures, so we signed twice."
"What did the document say?"
Blaxton's brow wrinkled with the effort of remembering. "I can't recall precisely, but across the top it said something to the effect that all the undersigned admitted making a mutinous assembly, and then there were two columns. Each officer signed in the first column, and the witness to the signature signed in the second."
"Why," asked Ramage, "can't you remember more exactly what statement you and the lieutenants were signing? It is a serious admission for you all to make."