Hornblower and the Atropos. C. S. Forester

“Strike a light,” said Hornblower to Leadbitter. In all his life he had never properly acquired the knack of it.

Leadbitter opened the tinder box, and struck, and struck again. It did not take Leadbitter more than six times before he succeeded. He bent and blew the spark on the tinder into life, took the piece of slow match and caught the fire on it, blew that into life too, and looked to Hornblower for further orders.

“I’ll do it,” said Hornblower.

Leadbitter handed him the glowing match, and Hornblower sat with it in his hand for a second while he checked once more to see that all was ready. He was tingling with excitement.

“Stand by with the cask!” he said. “Leadbitter, have the stopper ready.”

There were four or five inches of quick match hanging out of the fuse‑hose; Hornblower dabbed the glowing match upon it. A second’s hesitation and it took fire. Hornblower watched the spark run along the quick match and vanish down into the hose.

“Stopper it!” said Hornblower, and Leadbitter forced the wooden stopper into the end of the hose, grinding down upon the brittle ashes of the match.

At five seconds to the foot the fire was now, he hoped, travelling down the hose, down, down, far below the level of the sea. At the far end, next to the powder keg, there was a foot of slow match. That burned at five minutes to the foot; they had plenty of time — no need for feverish haste, however great the urge to hurry.

“Over with it!” said Hornblower, and Leadbitter picked up the empty cask and lowered it gently into the water. It floated there, holding up above the surface the stoppered end of the fuse‑hose.

“Oars!” said Hornblower. “Give way!”

The gig swung away from the floating keg. The spark was still travelling along the quick match, Hornblower presumed; it would be some seconds yet before it even reached the slow match down there by the wreck of the Speedwell. He remembered to take the time by his watch.

“Take her back to the ship,” he ordered Leadbitter; he looked back to where the empty cask bobbed on the surface.

McCullum had said, “I advise you to keep clear of the explosion.” Apparently the explosion of a barrel of powder, even far down under the water, created a turmoil on the surface that would endanger the gig. Beside the ship they would be a quarter of a mile away; that should be safe enough. When the bowman hooked on to the main chains of the Atropos, Hornblower looked at his watch again. It was exactly five minutes since he had seen the spark passing into the end of the fusehose. The explosion could be expected at any time from now.

Naturally the side of the ship was lined with every idler who could find a place there. The preparation of the charge and the fuse had excited gossip throughout the ship.

Hornblower changed his mind about awaiting the explosion in the gig and mounted to the deck.

“Mr. Jones!” he bellowed. “Is this a raree‑show? Keep the hands at work, if you please.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

He very much wanted to see the explosion himself, but he feared to display curiosity inconsonant with his dignity. And there was the chance — a likely chance, according to McCullum — that there would be no explosion at all. A glance at his watch showed him that it was by now overdue. With an appearance of the utmost indifference he strolled forward to McCullum’s bedside, where McCullum was listening to the reports of his divers.

“Nothing as yet?” said McCullum.

“Nothing.”

“I never trust a fuse‑hose beyond five fathoms,” said McCullum, “even when I handle it myself.”

Hornblower kept back an irritated answer, and gazed out towards the scene of his recent activities. In the choppy water he could just perceive at intervals the dark spot which was the keg that floated the end of the fuse‑hose. He glanced at his watch again.

“Long overdue,” he said.

“Water’s in that hose. You’ll have to use a flying‑fuse after all.”

“The sooner the better,” said Hornblower. “How do I set about it?” He was glad for the sake of his precious dignity that he had not waited in sight of the men.

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