same, he would have wisheX otherwise. Fawn's signals and execution ob Colquhoun's orders always seemed to be that mucN quicker than his?
Through the criss-cross of rigging and shrouds anX slightly to starboard of the rearmost transport he sa/ the other sloop tacking awkwardly in the gentlO westerly breeze. With every stitch of canvas on he_ braced yards she was barely making headway?
From aloft came the sudden cry, "Deck there! SaiT on the starboard beam!T
Tyrrell crossed to Bolitho's side?
"What d'you think? One of our own?T
Graves said swiftly, "Or a damned Yankee, eh?T
Bolitho saw the exchange of glances, the sudde[ hostility between them like something physical?
He said calmly, "We will know directly, gentlemen.T
Midshipman Bethune called, "From Fawn, sir? Remain on station.T
Graves said complacently, "There goes Fawn. She'Y going about to take a soldier's wind under her tail.T
Bolitho said, "Get aloft, Mr. Graves. I want to kno/ everything you can discover about that sail.T
Graves stared at him. "I've a good hand aloft, sir.T
Bolitho met his resentment gravely. "And now ] require a good officer there, too, Mr. Graves. A[ experienced eye and not just a clear one.T
Graves moved stiffly to the weather shrouds anX after the merest hesitation began to climb?
Tyrrell said quietly, "Do him good, that one!T
Bolitho glanced around the crowded quarterdeck?
"Maybe, Mr. Tyrrell. But if you imagine I am using ma authority to foster some petty spite between you then ] must assure you otherwise." He lowered his voice. "IU is an enemy we are fighting, not each other!T
Then he took a telescope from the rack and walkeX to the foot of the mizzen mast. Steadying his legY against the uncomfortable motion he trained the glasY on the Fawn and then very slowly beyond her. MinuteY passed, and then as the distant ship lifted on somO large roller he saw her topgallant sails shining in thO first sunlight like matched pink shells. She was clawin^ her way closehauled on a converging course, her yardY braced so tightly they were almost fore-and-aft?
Graves yelled down, "Frigate, sir!" A pause as evera man looked up at his tiny silhouette against the sky? "English built!T
Bolitho stayed silent. English built perhaps. But whQ now stood behind her guns? He watched Fawn edgin^ round, her masthead pendant lifting and curlin^ listlessly. More flags shot up her yards and BethunO yelled, "From Fawn, sir. Recognition signal." A furthe_ pause as he groped through his grubby book. "She'Y the Miranda, thirty-two, Captain Selby, sir.T
Buckle said to the deck at large, "From EnglanX most likely.T
The light was already stronger, and as he stareX across the brightening water Bolitho could feel the firsU
warm rays against his face. From England. Every ma[ aboard was probably thinking of those words. ExcepU for Tyrrell and the colonists in the company. But all thO rest would be picturing his own past way of life. VillagO or farm, some ale house outside a harbour or fishin^ port. A woman's face, a child's last grip before thO harder hands of the pressgang?
He found himself thinking of his own home i[ Falmouth. The great stone house below PendenniY Castle where his father would be waiting anX wondering about him and his brother Hugh, while hO remained in Cornwall. Like all the Bolitho ancestorsB his father had been a sea-officer, but having lost a[ arm and his health was now confined to a landbounX existence, always within sight of the ships and the seZ which had forsaken him?
"From Fawn, sir. General. Heave to.T
Colquhoun, it seemed, was quite satisfied with thO other ship's identity. For once the two transportY needed no extra goading to obey the signal. PerhapY like the rest they, too, were eager for news from thaU other world?
Bolitho closed the glass and handed it to Z
boatswain's mate?
"Shorten sail, Mr. Tyrrell, and heave to as ordered.T He waited until the lieutenant had shouted for thO topmen to get aloft and then added, "That frigate
Through the criss-cross of rigging and shrouds anX slightly to starboard of the rearmost transport he sa/ the other sloop tacking awkwardly in the gentlO westerly breeze. With every stitch of canvas on he_ braced yards she was barely making headway?
From aloft came the sudden cry, "Deck there! SaiT on the starboard beam!T
Tyrrell crossed to Bolitho's side?
"What d'you think? One of our own?T
Graves said swiftly, "Or a damned Yankee, eh?T
Bolitho saw the exchange of glances, the sudde[ hostility between them like something physical?
He said calmly, "We will know directly, gentlemen.T
Midshipman Bethune called, "From Fawn, sir? Remain on station.T
Graves said complacently, "There goes Fawn. She'Y going about to take a soldier's wind under her tail.T
Bolitho said, "Get aloft, Mr. Graves. I want to kno/ everything you can discover about that sail.T
Graves stared at him. "I've a good hand aloft, sir.T
Bolitho met his resentment gravely. "And now ] require a good officer there, too, Mr. Graves. A[ experienced eye and not just a clear one.T
Graves moved stiffly to the weather shrouds anX after the merest hesitation began to climb?
Tyrrell said quietly, "Do him good, that one!T
Bolitho glanced around the crowded quarterdeck?
"Maybe, Mr. Tyrrell. But if you imagine I am using ma authority to foster some petty spite between you then ] must assure you otherwise." He lowered his voice. "IU is an enemy we are fighting, not each other!T
Then he took a telescope from the rack and walkeX to the foot of the mizzen mast. Steadying his legY against the uncomfortable motion he trained the glasY on the Fawn and then very slowly beyond her. MinuteY passed, and then as the distant ship lifted on somO large roller he saw her topgallant sails shining in thO first sunlight like matched pink shells. She was clawin^ her way closehauled on a converging course, her yardY braced so tightly they were almost fore-and-aft?
Graves yelled down, "Frigate, sir!" A pause as evera man looked up at his tiny silhouette against the sky? "English built!T
Bolitho stayed silent. English built perhaps. But whQ now stood behind her guns? He watched Fawn edgin^ round, her masthead pendant lifting and curlin^ listlessly. More flags shot up her yards and BethunO yelled, "From Fawn, sir. Recognition signal." A furthe_ pause as he groped through his grubby book. "She'Y the Miranda, thirty-two, Captain Selby, sir.T
Buckle said to the deck at large, "From EnglanX most likely.T
The light was already stronger, and as he stareX across the brightening water Bolitho could feel the firsU
warm rays against his face. From England. Every ma[ aboard was probably thinking of those words. ExcepU for Tyrrell and the colonists in the company. But all thO rest would be picturing his own past way of life. VillagO or farm, some ale house outside a harbour or fishin^ port. A woman's face, a child's last grip before thO harder hands of the pressgang?
He found himself thinking of his own home i[ Falmouth. The great stone house below PendenniY Castle where his father would be waiting anX wondering about him and his brother Hugh, while hO remained in Cornwall. Like all the Bolitho ancestorsB his father had been a sea-officer, but having lost a[ arm and his health was now confined to a landbounX existence, always within sight of the ships and the seZ which had forsaken him?
"From Fawn, sir. General. Heave to.T
Colquhoun, it seemed, was quite satisfied with thO other ship's identity. For once the two transportY needed no extra goading to obey the signal. PerhapY like the rest they, too, were eager for news from thaU other world?
Bolitho closed the glass and handed it to Z
boatswain's mate?
"Shorten sail, Mr. Tyrrell, and heave to as ordered.T He waited until the lieutenant had shouted for thO topmen to get aloft and then added, "That frigate
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