“What do you think she is, Matthews?” asked Hornblower, while the boat buzzed with the Frenchmen’s excitement.
“I can’t tell, sir, but I don’t like the looks of her,” said Matthews doubtfully. “She ought to have her t’gallants set in this breeze — and her courses too, an’ she hasn’t. An’ I don’t like the cut of her jib, sir. She — she might be a Frenchie to me, sir.”
Any ship travelling for peaceful purposes would naturally have all possible sail set. This ship had not. Hence she was engaged in some belligerent design, but there were more chances that she was British than that she was French, even in here in the Bay. Hornblower took a long look at her; a smallish vessel, although ship‑rigged. Flush‑decked, with a look of speed about her — her hull was visible at intervals now, with a line of gunports.
“She looks French all over to me, sir,” said Hunter. “Privateer, seemly.”
“Stand by to jibe,” said Hornblower.
They brought the boat round before the wind, heading directly away from the ship. But in war as in the jungle, to fly is to invite pursuit and attack. The ship set courses and topgallants and came tearing down upon them, passed them at half a cable’s length and then hove‑to, having cut off their escape. The ship’s rail was lined with a curious crowd — a large crew for a vessel that size. A hail came across the water to the boat, and the words were French. The English seamen subsided into curses, while the French captain cheerfully stood up and replied, and the French crew brought the boat alongside the ship.
A handsome young man in a plum‑coloured coat with a lace stock greeted Hornblower when he stepped on the deck.
“Welcome, sir, to the Pique,” he said in French “I am Captain Neuville, of this privateer. And you are — ?”
“Midshipman Hornblower, of His Britannic Majesty’s ship Indefatigable,” growled Hornblower.
“You seem to be in evil humour,” said Neuville. “Please do not be so distressed at the fortunes of war. You will be accommodated in this ship, until we return to port, with every comfort possible at sea. I beg of you to consider yourself quite at home. For instance, those pistols in your belt must discommode you more than a little. Permit me to relieve you of their weight.”
He took the pistols neatly from Hornblower’s belt as he spoke, looked Hornblower keenly over, and then went on.
“That dirk that you wear at your side, sir. Would you oblige me by the loan of it? I assure you that I will return it to you when we part company. But while you are on board here I fear that your impetuous youth might lead you into some rash act while you are wearing a weapon which a credulous mind might believe to be lethal. A thousand thanks. And now might I show you the berth that is being prepared for you?”
With a courteous bow he led the way below. Two decks down, presumably at the level of a foot or two below the water line, was a wide bare ‘tweendecks, dimly lighted and scantily ventilated by the hatchways.
“Our slave deck,” explained Neuville carelessly.
“Slave deck?” asked Hornblower.
“Yes. It is here that the slaves were confined during the middle passage.”
Much was clear to Hornblower at once. A slave ship could be readily converted into a privateer. She would already be armed with plenty of guns to defend herself against treacherous attacks while making her purchases in the African rivers; she was faster than the average merchant ship both because of the lack of need of hold space and because with a highly perishable cargo such as slaves speed was a desirable quality, and she was constructed to carry large numbers of men and the great quantities of food and water necessary to keep them supplied while at sea in search of prizes.
“Our market in San Domingo has been closed to us by recent events, of which you must have heard, sir,” went on Neuville, “and so that the Pique could continue to return dividends to me I have converted her into a privateer. Moreover, seeing that the activities of the Committee of Public Safety at present make Paris a more unhealthy spot even than the West Coast of Africa, I decided to take command of my vessel myself. To say nothing of the fact that a certain resolution and hardihood are necessary to make a privateer a profitable investment.”