Men, he said, are you wondering what has sent you out here?
Maybe they were, but the rather sleepy, apathetic, breakfastless lines before him showed little sign of it.
Are you wondering what has sent me out to sea with you?
By God, they were wondering that. There must have been speculation on the lower deck as to why a full commodoreand not only a commodore, but Hornblower of the legendary pastshould have been sent to sea in a mere eighteen-gun brig. It was flattering to see a movement of interest in the lines, a lifting of heads, even while Hornblower cursed at fate for having to make use of rhetorical tricks, and more for having to exploit his own personal renown.
There is villainy afloat, said Hornblower. British seamen have disgraced themselves. They have mutinied in the very presence of the enemy.
He had the mens interest now, without a doubt. He had said the word mutiny to these slaves of the lash and the whistle. Mutiny, the remedy for all their ills, which would give them freedom from the hardship of their lives, the cruelty and the danger, the foul food and the severance from all the amenities of life. One crew had mutinied. Why should not they do so too? He would have to tell them about the Flame, remind them that close at hand lay the shores of France, where Bonaparte would gladly heap wealth and luxury upon any British seaman who brought a British ship of war over to him. Hornblower let a note of contempt creep into his voice.
The crew of the Flame, our own sister-ship, has done this thing. Now they are sheltering here in this very bay of the Seine. Every mans hand is against them. The French have no use for mutineers, and it is our mission to dig these rats from their holes. They have betrayed England, forgotten their duty to King and Country. I expect most of them are honest but stupid, led astray by a few designing villains. It is those villains who must pay the price of their villainy, and we must see they have no chance of escape. If they are mad enough to offer fight, then we must fight them. If they surrender without bloodshed, that fact will be remembered in their favour when they are brought to trial. I want no bloodshed if I can help ityou know as well as I do that a cannon-shot will kill a man without stopping to ask whether he is a villain or just a fool. But if they want bloodshed, then we shall let them have it.
Hornblower ended his speech, and looked over to Freeman to dismiss the men. It was a cheerless business making a speech to hungry men in a grey dawn, but Hornblower, darting glances at the men as they went about their business, saw that there was nothing to fear from the ships company. They were buzzing with talk, of course, but news of mutiny would set any crew a-buzz, just as a village would be set a-buzz by news of a local murder. But it was only gossipy talk, he could see; the men were not making any deductions from the news. He had presented the case to them in such a way as to make it obvious to them that he expected them to obey his orders for dealing with the mutineers, and he had let no hint creep into his speech of his fear that they should be tempted to follow their example. That had not occurred to them yetbut it might, if they were allowed to ruminate over it. He must see that they were kept busy; the ordinary ships routine was attending to that at the moment, for they were at work on the opening business of every naval day, washing down the decks before being piped to breakfast.
Land! yelled a voice from the masthead. Land on the port bow.
It was rather thick weather, typical Channel weather for the end of the year, but in the growing light Hornblower could see the dark line against the grey. Freeman was scrutinising the coast through his glass.
Thats the south shore of the Bay, said Freeman. Theres the Cane river.
Hornblower was only just beginning to realise that Freeman was anglicising
the pronunciation of Caen when Freeman trained his telescope round and gave a string of more surprising examples still of what an Englishman can do to French names.
Yes, theres Cape dee lay Heave, and Harbour-Grace, he said.
The growing light revealed the Porta Coeli s position, over towards the southern shore of the estuary of the Seine.
That was an excellent piece of navigation last night, Mr. Freeman.
Thank you, Sir Horatio.
Hornblower would have added more words of warmer praise, if it had not been for Freemans rather chilling manner; he supposed Freeman was entitled to be short-tempered before breakfast if he wished. And any capable lieutenant was entitled to be jealous of a captain; in the opinion of every ambitious lieutenant a captain was just a lieutenant who had been lucky and who would continue to be lucky, drawing three times a lieutenants pay and prize-money, reaping the harvest of the lieutenants labours, and secure in the knowledge that time would make an admiral of him in the end while the lieutenants promotion still depended on the whims of his superiors. Hornblower could remember feeling just the same when he was a lieutenant; for Freeman to show it was natural even though foolish.