The Admiral, pale and ill-looking, was doggedly working in his left-handed scrawl through a pile of correspondence, as he now had half a dozen allies with whom to deal in addition to the scattered ships of his Fleet, and was preparing to defend Messina from attack by the French. After greeting Roger courteously but abruptly, he asked in what way he could be of service to him.
Determined to give the little fire-eater no grounds for inveigling him into further work as a secret agent in the Mediterranean, Roger cannily refrained from asking directly for a passage home. Instead he said that, having got as far as Naples, he had intended to return overland to France but, as that had proved impossible, his only alternative was to go home by sea. Then he could slip across the Channel to deliver Bonaparte's despatches and resume his secret activities in Paris.
The Admiral wasted no words, but said glumly, '1 myself may shortly be sailing for England. In that case I will take you with me. In any case I will arrange matters for you. Pray excuse me now.'
Roger had not long to wait. Two days later a corvette arrived from Gibraltar. She carried a despatch for Nelson and a few hours later Sir William joyfully passed on its contents to Roger. Owing to a misunderstanding the 'Great Plenip' as they had derisively nicknamed Sir Sidney Smith, had taken more upon himself than had been intended. Nelson was still Commander-in-Chief for the whole of the Mediterranean. Hood's Squadron would continue to act under his orders, as also would the pretentious Commodore. The Admiral was writing a despatch for the corvette to carry and, having watered, the ship was to proceed again to sea the following evening. Roger was to sail in her.
On the afternoon of the 16th Roger said good-bye to the kindly Hamiltons, then went aboard the corvette Firefly, whose Captain was a Lieutenant Shotter. The Lieutenant, a big, middle-aged, cheerful man, welcomed Roger aboard and showed him to a small cabin. Having stowed away his few belongings, Roger went on deck and, as the early dusk of the February evening fell watched Palermo fade away in the distance.
That night as he settled down in his narrow cot he sighed with satisfaction. After twelve months away from England he was at last on his way home. It might be another two months or more before he got there and, at this time of year, it was certain that there would be periods of bad weather during which he would suffer from seasickness. But that was a small price to pay to escape for good from the perils he had had to face for so long. Once home, he was now determined never to go abroad again until peace was restored.
When he went on deck next morning he found that, during the night, favourable winds had enabled the corvette to cover the sixty miles along the coast to the north-west tip of Sicily and that she was now off the little port of Tripani. By noon she had rounded the islands lying off the peninsula and was heading south. After a pleasant meal with the cheerful Lieutenant Shotter, Roger went below again for an afternoon nap.
Roused by the striking of eight bells, he went up and joined the Lieutenant on the poop. The weather was cold but fine and, after a few minutes, he noticed that the declining sun was almost directly astern. Turning to Shotter, he said:
' Am I crazy, Lieutenant, or are your methods of navigation most unusual? The sun is behind us, so we must be sailing east; whereas for Gibraltar we should be proceeding west.'
The Lieutenant gave him a slightly pitying smile. 'I'm sorry to have to disillusion you, Mr. MacElfic, but we are not going to Gibraltar. My instructions are to take Firefly to Egypt.'
Shanghaied for Further Service
Roger's blue eyes grew dark with anger. Suddenly he found his voice and demanded, 'What the hell is the meaning of this? '
' I can hardly make my meaning plainer, sir,' replied the Lieutenant. 'Firefly is bound for Egypt.'
' There has been a mistake,' Roger rapped out. ' An absurd misunderstanding. Admiral Nelson promised me a passage home. I must request you to put about at once and land me at the nearest Sicilian port.'
' I'm sorry, sir, but that is out of the question.' Shotter remained quite unruffled in the face of Roger's angry stare. ' The misunderstanding must be on your part. Sir Horatio gave me my orders personally and they were to take you to Egypt.'
' Were they, by God! Then he's tricked me and-'
'I don't like to hear you say that, sir,' the Lieutenant interjected swiftly.
'I don't give a damn what you like,' Roger roared. 'The Admiral has no right whatever to dictate my movements. I am not his servant, but Mr. .. . Well, no matter. But I have friends powerful enough to have you dismissed the Service. Do you refuse to put about and land me it will be the worse for you.'
' Mr. MacElfic, I'm sure you don't mean that, because you know that I must obey the orders I've been given. If you thought you were on your way home I sympathize with you; but you're not, and it will make things much more pleasant for both of us if you act sensibly.' As he spoke, Shotter drew a letter from his
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pocket and added, ' Sir Horatio said that, when you learned our destination, you might be somewhat upset and he told me to give you this. No doubt it will explain matters.'
Seething with rage, Roger took the letter, broke the seal and read:
Mr. Brook,
I trust you will not think too badly of me for the small deception 1 have practised upon you. Sir William Hamilton will have informed you that I am still responsible for the conduct of operations in the Levant. Owing to the extraordinary position you have created for yourself as the confidant of Bonaparte, I am convinced that you can be of far greater service to your King and Country by returning to him than by going to Paris. In any case, 1 cannot find it in me to deprive my Command of such a valuable source of intelligence as you have in your power to provide. I am, therefore, sending you to my subordinate, Captain Sir Sidney Smith, with instructions to him to make use of you as he sees fit.
I am, etc.
Nelson
After what Shotter had said the contents of the letter were more or less what Roger had expected; but that did not lessen his rage. When he had read it through the Lieutenant said:
'Now, sir, may I suggest your showing that you bear me no personal ill feeling on account of your situation by coming below and joining me in a glass of wine.'
Roger shook his head. ' I appreciate your offer, Lieutenant, but for the moment I am in too churlish a state to do justice to any man's hospitality. However, in an hour or so, if you will permit me? '
For a good hour he remained in his cabin in a positively murderous mood at the thought of the way in which he had been trapped. But his anger gradually subsided and at last he could even appreciate the grim humour of the turn events had taken. He had thought of himself so clever in lying to the little Admiral about wishing to get back to Paris, but it was Nelson who had had the last laugh. All the same, Roger was not prepared to submit tamely and he felt that an occasion was almost certain to arise when he could leave Firefly long before she arrived off the coast of Egypt.
He was soon disillusioned in that hope. When he joined Lieutenant Shotter in his cabin the Lieutenant filled two glasses from a decanter of Canary Sack then said, 'There is just one point, Mr. MacElfic, which I think we should settle right away. We can then leave this unhappy subject for good and, I hope, prove pleasant company for one another on the voyage. However favoured we are with the weather, we shall have to look in at Crete to pick up fresh victuals and water and, should we be blown badly off our course, perhaps at other places. I trust you will not attempt to jump ship.'