The Devil's Own Luck Read Online Free PDF

the Frenchman. Instead he saw the bigger ship back its topsail and lose what little forward speed it still maintained. It was heaving to, out of range of the enemy’s guns, leaving him at the mercy of the Verite. There was a period in which no one moved, except his brother, who was still drawing furiously, unaware of the danger. He saw the gunners on the Verite rush to the larboard side. Their guns were already loaded and run out. His, aimed at the rigging and reloaded with bar shot, were useless.
    He just had time to turn round and shout to his brother to get down, when the side of the Verite erupted in smoke. The world exploded around him, guns were dismounted, the side was smashed and the deadly splinters took their toll. He started to give commands that would get his ship under way, removing her from this arc of certain destruction, but hearing the cracking sound of wood splitting, he looked up to see the mainmast breaking above the cap. There was a tearing and crashing sound as it ripped apart the rigging. Blocks were falling and men were running as the great length of timber crashed to the deck. Harry opened his mouth to shout as something hit him. He staggered then collapsed on deck, blood streaming from his head. He tried to rise. Surprised to see James still standing with a shocked look on his face. Then there was blackness.

CHAPTER THREE
     
    THE BRIGHT blue sky hurt his eyes as he tried to open them. He was aware of the light, the pain in his head, and a powerful smell of bad breath as a silhouetted head came between him and the sky. Another dark shape obscured some of the sky.
    “Back, sir, I pray. Let him breathe some air.” The other head pulled back and Harry heard his brother’s voice.
    “Will he survive?”
    “Too early to say, sir. Too early to say.”
    In the background Harry could hear shouted commands. Men were moving about, blocks were creaking and ropes straining. He judged by the motion of the deck that he was still aboard ship. But which ship? He struggled to sit upright. The sharp pain in his head made him fall back again.
    “Easy now, sir,” said the man above him. Any comfort intended from the words was entirely washed away by the foul blast of air. Harry lay back, the memory of the action with the Verite filling his mind. Something had gone wrong, and he could not think what it was. Why had the Magnanime hove to at the critical moment?
    “Mr Outhwaite. I would be obliged if you could move your patient below. We are about to commence firing.”
    The voice cut through Harry’s pain. At first he refused to believe that he had heard right. But Outhwaite’s reply laid any doubt.
    “A few moments more, Captain Carter, if you please. No good will be served by killing a man for the sake of a minute.”
    “Waste not a minute,” said Harry.
    “You remember, Ludlow.” Another shadow stood over him. Harry lifted his head again. This time he ignored the pain. He started to get up from the deck. Hands grabbed him to help him up. He stood swaying, trying both to remain standing and to focus on the man before him.
    “Harry?” James’s voice was full of concern.
    “A fine calculation, James. Is that not what I said?”
    “You must come below, sir,” said Outhwaite.
    “I calculated everything, James. Everything except the fact that this man would be captain of the Magnanime.”
    Harry tried to point at Carter. But he was too weak to raise his arm.
    Oliver Carter was not as tall as Harry remembered. Or was it the fact that he had grown fat that made him seem small? But the face, round though it now was, carried the same expression. And the smile, utterly without warmth, was very familiar. The hatred in the eyes was unmistakable.
    “I’m glad you are up and about, Ludlow. You are just about to see me remove a serious hazard to shipping.”
    Harry looked past Carter to where the Medusa rocked on the ocean swell. Nearly all of her rigging was over the side. Her masts were reduced to stumps,