If any other British ship had been in sight she would have shared the prize money. As it was the only shares to be given away were those of the Admiral commanding in the Mediterranean and of Admiral Leighton commanding the squadron. Between them they would have one-third of the value, so that Hornblowers share would be about two-ninthsseveral hundred pounds at least.
Bring the ship before the wind, said Hornblower. Not for worlds would he give any sign of his delight at being several hundred pounds richer. Weve no time to lose.
He went below to shave, and as he scraped the lather from his cheeks and contemplated the melancholy face in the glass he meditated once more on the superiority of sea over land. The Amelie was a small
vessel, almost inconsiderable in size. But she carried between two and three hundred tons of stores; and if the French had tried to send that amount overland to Barcelona it would have called for a first-class military convoya hundred or more waggons, hundreds of horses, taking up a mile or more of road and needing a guard of thousands of troops to protect it from the attacks of the Spanish partisans. Troops and horses would have needed food, too, and that would call for more waggons still, all crawling along at fifteen miles a day at most over the Spanish roads. Small wonder, then, that the French preferred to run the risk of sending their stores by sea. And what a blow it would be for the harassed French army to find a British squadron on their flank, and their best route of communication broken.
Walking forward to take his bath with Polwheal in attendance, a new idea struck him.
Pass the word for the sailmaker, he said.
Potter the sailmaker came aft and stood at attention while Hornblower rotated himself under the jet of the washdeck pump.
I want a French ensign, Potter, said Hornblower. Theres not one on board?
French ensign, sir? No, sir.
Then make one. Ill give you twenty minutes, Potter.
Hornblower continued to rotate under the jet of the pump, rejoicing in its refreshing impact on this hot morning. The chances were that no Frenchman had observed the capture of the Amelie from Cape Creux, and that was the only land in sight at the time. Even if someone had done so, it would take many hours to warn all the coast line of the presence of a British ship of the line. Having taken the French by surprise, the right game to play was to go on exploiting that surprise to the utmost, making use of every device that would make the blow effective. He went back to his cabin and put on refreshing clean linen, still turning over in his mind the details of his plans which were now losing their nebulousness of the night before and growing more and more clear cut.
Breakfast, sir? asked Polwheal, tentatively.
Bring me some coffee on the quarterdeck, said Hornblower. He could not bear the thought of foodperhaps because of his present excitement, perhaps because of his vast dinner of the night before.
From the quarterdeck could be seen shadowy blue masses on the horizon right aheadthe peaks of the Pyrenees; between them and the sea crawled the road from France to Spain. The sailmakers mate came running aft with his arms full of a vast bundle.
Mr. Vincent, said Hornblower. Ill have this flag hoisted instead of our own.
The officers of the quarterdeck eyed the strange tricolour as it rose to the peak, and they looked from the flag to their captain, whispering among themselves. Grouped on the lee side, not one of them dared to try to open a conversation with Hornblower on the weather side. Hornblower exulted both in their excitement and their silence.
Send the hands to quarters as soon as they have breakfasted, Mr. Bush, said Hornblower. Clear for action, but keep the ports shut, I want the long boat and launch ready to be hoisted out at a moments notice.
The hands came tumbling up from breakfast in a perfect babble of soundthe order to clear for action, the tricolour at the peak, the mountains of Spain ahead, the mornings capture, all combining to work them up into wild excitement.
Keep those men silent on the maindeck, there! bellowed Hornblower. It sounds like Bedlam turned loose.
The noise dwindled abruptly, the men creeping about like children in a house with an irascible father. The bulkheads came down, the galley fire was tipped overside. The boys were running up with powder for the guns; the shot garlands between the guns were filled with the black iron spheres ready for instant use.
Cleared for action, sir, said Bush.
H-hm, said Hornblower. Captain Morris, if I send away the long boat and launch, I want twenty marines in each. Have your men told off ready.
Hornblower took his glass and studied once more the rapidly nearing coast line. There were cliffs there, and the coast road wound at the foot of them, at the waters edge, and the shore was steep-to, according to his charts. But it would be a sensible precaution to start the lead going soon. He was taking a risk in approaching a lee shore guarded by heavy batteriesthe Sutherland might be badly knocked about before she could beat to windward out of range again. Hornblower was counting not merely on the disguise he had adopted, but on the very fact that the French would not believe that an English ship could take that risk.