Ramage watched as Goddard replaced the pin with an angry gesture but snatched it out again quickly, having pricked his chest. Croucher was flustered and picked nervously at sheets of paper on the table in front of him. He glanced apprehensively at the Admiral, who had lapsed into a sulky silence, coughed to gain everyone's attention and said: "I'll just go over the Instructions -"
"No need; we all have copies," one of the masters called out.
"Nevertheless, gentlemen, I'm bound by Admiralty orders -"
"Ignore 'em," growled another master.
"-and so I must-"
Goddard interrupted sharply: "Whatever your premiums, your insurance policies are worthless unless you listen. You all know that."
The masters promptly began to show their impatience by scraping their chairs and rustling copies of the Instructions. Technically Goddard was right; the Instructions had to be read aloud. In practice no naval officer bothered - particularly in a tiny cabin when the temperature was well into the nineties.
"We can't take anything for granted," Croucher said pompously in the lull that followed Goddard's words. "Apart from the Lion, you have different ships escorting you from now on, and conditions are very different. Your old Instructions differ in various details from these new ones I am about to go over-"
"They might differ, but we can still read."
Croucher glanced nervously at the master who had interrupted him and Ramage thought he sensed a slightly deferential attitude. The master was a tall man with a sun-tanned face. He was young and elegantly dressed, self-assured and had humorous eyes. A perfect subject for a portrait by the fashionable Lemuel Abbott, Ramage thought. He probably commanded one of the larger ships, but looked as though he was more used to luxurious London drawing-rooms and a life of leisure.
"They differ for particular reasons, Mr Yorke, which I'd like to specify," Croucher said lamely. "Hurricanes and calms in the lee of the islands, not to mention privateers and French galleys which can row out and board a becalmed ship -"
"What will you people be doing while all that's going on?" Yorke asked politely.
Goddard stood up and ostentatiously left the cabin, followed by his lieutenant, and tried but failed to ignore Yorke's cool and contemptuous stare. Hmm, thought Ramage, Mr Yorke must have a store of powerful influence hidden away to windward ...
"Gentlemen," Croucher said pleadingly, "the sooner we finish our business the sooner we can leave this, ah, rather warm cabin -"
"Hurry up then - the hurricane season'll soon be over." This time the interruption came from a Scots captain.
Croucher held the printed Instructions as if they might be snatched from him. Perspiration poured from his brow and into his eyes, making them run, and Ramage began to feel sorry for him. He smoothed out the paper and said:
"Gentlemen - Signals and Instructions for Ships under Convoy .. ."
He's the only man who can actually pronounce the capital letters, Ramage thought, and when several of the masters started coughing Croucher glanced up in embarrassment. It was quite unnecessary to read the title since everyone held copies.
"Well," he said, tapping the first page, "may I emphasize section four - Ships of the convoy out of their stations are to take advantage of all opportunities, by making sail, tacking, wearing &c, to regain the same. Gentlemen, I beg of you, keep your stations. Reducing sail at night is both useless and unnecessary here in the Caribbean, as several of you must know from past experience. We get a good breeze for a couple of hours either side of noon and the wind goes down with the sun. We should make sail rather than reduce it at nightfall."
Ramage nodded in agreement: dawn usually saw the captains of any of the King's ships escorting a convoy flinging their hats on deck in a rage. The light revealed the horizon littered with merchantmen, all jogging along at a knot or so under reefed topsails, many of them hull down astern. Nothing would get them together again under a decent spread of canvas before noon, and by six in the evening the reefing and furling would begin all over again. In the Tropics there were usually at least ten hours of darkness, whatever the season.
"And part five," continued Croucher, "where it says, In the case of parting company, and being met with by an enemy ... you'll see it refers to page thirteen, and I've no need to remind you, gentlemen, that there it gives" - he turned to the page -"an extract from an Act of Parliament which says, That if the captain of any merchant ship, under convoy, shall disobey signals or instructions, or any lawful commands of the commander of the convoy, without notice given or leave obtained ... he shall be liable to be articled against in the High Court of Admiralty ... and upon conviction thereof shall be fined at the discretion of the said court in any sum not exceeding .. ."
Croucher's voice had become louder as he tried to drown the snores of a dozing master and finally he held up his hands in despair. "Perhaps one of you could...?"