Whats your duty? demanded Bush.
Guarding the provision store, sir. Theres liquor here.
Very well.
If the madmen who had made the assaultthat marine, for instance, whose bayonetthrust Bush had parriedhad got at the liquor there would be no controlling them at all.
Abbott, the midshipman in subordinate command of Bushs own division, came hurrying up.
What the hell dye think youve been doing? demanded Bush, testily. Ive been without you since the attack began.
Sorry, sir, apologised Abbott. Of course he had been carried away by the fury of the attack, but that was no excuse; certainly no excuse when one remembered young Wellard still at Hornblowers side and attending to his duties.
Get ready to make the signal to the ship, ordered Bush You ought to have been ready to do that five minutes ago. Clear three guns. Who was it who was carrying the flag? Find him and bend it on over the Spanish colours. Jump to it, damn you.
Victory might be sweet, but it had no effect on Bushs temper, now that the reaction had set in. Bush had had no sleep and no breakfast, and even though perhaps only ten minutes had elapsed since the fort had been captured, his conscience nagged at him regarding those ten minutes; there were many things he ought to have done in that time.
It was a relief to turn away from the contemplation of his own shortcomings and to settle with Whiting regarding the safeguarding of the prisoners. They had all been fetched out of the barrack buildings by now; a hundred half naked men, and at least a score of women, their hair streaming down their backs and their scanty clothing clutched about them. At a more peaceful moment Bush would have had an eye for those women, but as it was he merely felt irritated at the thought of an additional complication to deal with, and his eyes only took note of them as such.
Among the men there was a small sprinkling of negroes and mulattoes, but most of them were Spaniards. Nearly all the dead men who lay here and there were fully clothed, in white uniforms wide blue facingsthey were the sentinels and the main guard who had paid the penalty for their lack of watchfulness.
Who was in command? asked Bush of Whiting.
Cant tell, sir.
Well, ask them, then.
Bush had command of no language at all save his own, and apparently neither had Whiting, judging by his unhappy glance.
Please, sir This was Pierce, surgeons mate, trying to attract his attention. Can I have a party to help carry the wounded into the shade?
Before Bush could answer him Abbott was hailing from the gun platform.
Guns clear, sir. May I draw powder charges from the magazines?
And then before Bush could give permission here was young Wellard, trying to elbow Pierce on one side so as to command Bushs attention.
Please, sir. Please, sir. Mr. Hornblowers respects, sir, an could you please come up to the tower there, sir? Mr. Hornblower says its urgent, sir.
Bush felt at that moment as if one more distraction would break his heart.
Chapter X
Renown RenownBush and Hornblower had with them the one telescope which a hasty search through the fort had brought to light; when one of them had it to his eye the other could hardly restrain his twitching fingers from snatching at it. At the moment Bush was
looking through it, training it on the farther shore of the bay, and Hornblower was stabbing with an index finger at what he had been looking at a moment before.
You see, sir? he asked. Farther up the bay than the bakery. Theres the townSavana, its called. And beyond that theres the shipping. Theyll up anchor any minute now.
I see em, said Bush, the glass still at his eye. Four small craft. No sail hoistedhard to tell what they are.
Easy enough to guess, though, sir.
Yes, I suppose so, said Bush.
There would be no need for big men of war here, immediately adjacent to the Mona Passage. Half the Caribbean trade came up through here, passing within thirty miles of the bay of Samaná. Fast, handy craft, with a couple of long guns each and a large crew, could dash out and snap up prizes and retire to the protection of the bay, where the crossed fire of the batteries could be relied on to keep out enemies, as the events of yesterday had proved. The raiders would hardly have to spend a night at sea.
Theyll know by now weve got this fort, said Hornblower. Theyll guess that Renown will be coming round after em. They can sweep, and tow, and kedge. Theyll be out of the bay before you can say Jack Robinson. And from Engano Point its a fair wind for Martinique.
Very likely, agreed Bush.
With a simultaneous thought they turned to look at the Renown . With her stern to them, her sails braced sharp on the starboard tack, she was making her way out to sea; it would be a long beat before she could go about in the certainty of being able to weather Cape Samaná. She looked lovely enough out there, with her white sails against the rich blue, but it would be hours before she could work round to stop the bolt hole. Bush turned back and considered the sheltered waters of the bay.