21: The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey Read Online Free PDF Page B

number of black men and women, slaves of or hired labourers, particularly in South America, must necessarily influence the balance of power in time. Father Panda, who was a natural born linguist, had already done excellent work in Brazil; and now he was sent to the Argentine with greetings, and perhaps some good advice to those who were, or who were about to be, in power.

CHAPTER TWO
    “M y God , that was a damned good dinner,” said Captain Aubrey, rather loud, as though he were addressing the mast-head. He was not refer ring to his own meal with Sam, though that had been a capital feast in the naval style, ending with a truly sublime spotted dog, one at each end of the table, and improbable quantities of port. No: this was a physically far more gorgeous entertainment, a dinner given by the Governor in honour of His Excellency the Most Reverend Doctor Samue l Mputa (he had kept his mother’ s name), Papal Nuncio to the Republic of the Argentine, whose government he and his allies had undoubtedly saved very recently indeed, when a numerous body of influential moderates, together with their black followers, had defected from those who were about to break out into open rebellion, and had betrayed their arsenals. It was a dinner of high ceremony, served on gold plate of more than ordinary magnificence, with some particularly valued dishes, such as the River Plate lobster in a bitter chocolate sauce, and seventy of the finest guinea-pigs ever brought down from the mountains.
    To be sure, it did lack something of the family atmosphere that had hovered in the frigate’ s great cabin, with every guest and servant aware of the relationship and wholl y in favour of the young parson’ s seamanlike ways, to say nothing of his willingness to drink his wine. Here the connexion, though not unnoticed, was much less obvious, Jack being seated, not indeed below the salt, but very much nearer to it, then his son at the very top, on the Governor's right hand.
    He uttered these fine ringing words addressed to the Nuncio, a little way below him, as he made his way cautiously down the palace steps, Killick and, absurdly, Awkward Davies hovering at no great distance - pitiless steps with no rail, very sharp edges, deep treads; and it was usual to make a n inward promise of a fortnight’ s or even a month’s pay to one’ s patron saint before embarking on them in the darkness.
    There were only six steps to go under the high-held torches when a small fat boy thrust his way thr ough the crowd and called out, “ Sir, oh sir, if you please! The squadron is in t he gut, just stemming the tide.”
    “Thank you, Mr Wells,” said Captain Aubrey; and craning his neck to peer in the direction of the gut he missed his step and f ell into His Excellency’ s waiting arms. Davies’ prodigious strength supported the double burden: they recovered their balance, and Jack, walki ng along quite steadily, said, “ Sam, I am so very happy. The squadron is down there in the gut, stemming the tide. Even with this breeze they will be moored here off the island by slack water, and you will see me go aboard, ha, ha, ha! Now cut along, there’ s a good fellow: you m ust get a decent night's sleep.”
    A decent night’s sleep: there were not many people aboard the frigate who had the least expectation of such a thing. Surprise had three mastheads, and all were firmly occupied by the nimblest, most far-sighted young men on her books, quite irrespective of rank, and they called down every movement of their distant friends together with the even more portentous news of faintly discerned sails far down the immense estuary, conceivably the main squadron under the orders of the commander-in-chief, South African station, Lord Leyton. The Surprise and her tender Ringle would soon come under the very close, very knowing inspection of at least one senior flag-officer and of the less authoritative but sometimes even more wounding scrutiny of large numbers of officers and