The Mauritius Command Read Online Free PDF Page B

waiting upon her in the forenoon," " read Captain Aubrey aloud, with a very high degree of astonishment, adding, "Certainly she may have a lift to the Cape, whenever I happen to be going there, ha, ha."
    "Jack," said Stephen, "a word with you, if you please."
    They walked out into the garden, pursued by Mrs Williams's angry voice--"A most improper application--no compliments to me--and disgracefully ill wrote; she has spelt promises with one m I have no patience with these attempts at thrusting oneself into a strange house."
    At the end of the wan row of carrots Stephen said, "I must beg your pardon for having evaded your question last night. I have in fact been up to something, as you put it. But first I must speak very briefly of the position in the Indian Ocean. Some months ago four new French frigates slipped out of the Channel ports, ostensibly for Martinique--that was the general rumour on shore, and that was the destination stated in the orders delivered to their respective captains: but no doubt these captains also carried sealed orders, to be opened somewhere south of Finisterre. At all events the frigates never reached the Antilles. Nothing was heard of them until they reached Mauritius, where they upset the balance of power in those waters entirely. The news of their presence reached England a very short while ago. They have already taken two Indiamen, and clearly they threaten to take many more. Government is extremely concerned."
    "I am sure of it," cried Jack. Mauritius and La Reunion lay right in the path of the eastern trade, and although the Company's ships were usually well enough armed to deal with the privateers and pirates that swarmed in those seas, while the Royal Navy, by stretching its resources to the utmost, could just contain the French men-of-war, the sudden arrival of four frigates would be catastrophic: furthermore, the Frenchmen had excellent deepwater harbours in Port-Louis and Port South-East and St Paul's, sheltered from the frequent hurricanes and full of marine stores, whereas the Navy's nearest base was the Cape, more than two thousand miles to the south.
    Stephen was silent for a moment. "Do you know the Boadicea?" he asked abruptly.
    "Boadicea, thirty-eight? Yes, of course. A weatherly ship, though slow: fitting foreign for the Leeward Islands station. Charles Loveless has her."
    "Well, listen now: this vessel, this frigate, is to be diverted to the Cape. And Captain Loveless, as you say, was to take her there to form part of a squadron made up of what the Admiral could spare: a force intended not only to counteract the French frigates but to take their bases away from them. In short, to capture La Reunion and Mauritius, to install a governor, and to possess them as colonies, valuable not only in themselves but as posts along this most interesting route."
    "A capital notion," said Jack. "It has always seemed absurd to me, that islands should not be English unnatural." he spoke a little at haphazard, because he had noted--oh, with what keen attention Stephen's "Captain Loveless was to take her." Might this possibly be an acting command?
    Stephen frowned. "I was to accompany this force, together with the proposed governor," he went on. "And I was in a position to offer a certain amount of advice; that is to say, I was consulted on various points. It did not appear to me that Captain Loveless was fitted for the political side of the task, either mentally or physically; but he has great interest at the Admiralty. However, his malady increased upon him, and in spite of my colleague's efforts and of my own he is now on shore with an obstinate tenesmus that will keep him there. In London I caused it to be suggested that Captain Aubrey would be admirably suited for the vacant command--"Jack gripped his elbow with a force that made him catch his breath, but he continued that it was probable he would accept it in spite of his domestic situation and of the very short notice, and that I should be