‘New men mustered, sir.’
Kydd tugged on his hat and emerged on to the quarterdeck, aware of all eyes on him. They were bunched together in a forlorn group near the mainmast. ‘Get them in a line, Mr Lawes,’ he ordered.
A more odd assortment of dress was difficult to imagine. Bearskin hats and well-worn animal-hide jackets, greasy-grey oily woollens and ragged trousers, even two with moccasins. More than one was stooped by ill-nourishment or age. Some, the ones standing alert and wary, with blank faces, carried well-lashed seaman’s bags.
‘I’ll speak t’ them now, Mr Lawes.’
The shuffling and murmuring stopped. He stepped across to stand easily in front of them, waiting until he had their eyes. ‘My name’s L’tenant Kydd. This is HMS Tenacious. We’re a ship-of-the-line an’ we’re part of the North American Squadron, Admiral Vandeput.’
Stony stares met him. The men were clearly resigned to a fate known to some, unknown to others.
‘C’n I see the hands o’ the volunteers?’ A scatter of men signified. ‘You men get th’ bounty in coin today, an’ liberty later t’ spend it. The rest . . .’ Kydd continued: ‘When this war started, I was a pressed man, same as you.’ He paused for effect. It startled some, others remained wary. ‘Rated landman in a second rate. An’ since then I’ve been t’ the South Seas in a frigate, the Caribbean in a cutter and the Mediterranean in a xebec. I’ve got a handsome amount o’ prize money and now I’m a King’s officer. So who’s going t’ say to me the Navy can’t be th’ place to be for a thorough-going seaman who wants t’ better himself?
‘Now, think on it. Should y’ decide to serve King George and y’r country you could end up th’ same. Give your names t’ the first lieutenant as a volunteer this afternoon and tell him y’ want to do well in the sea service o’ the King and he’ll give ye a good chance.’
Kydd turned to Lawes. ‘Carry on, these men. Stand fast that one an’ the two at the pinrail – we’ll send ’em back. Rest go below to see the doctor.’ The men still had their eyes on Kydd, one in particular, a thick-set seaman, who lingered after the others.
‘Good haul, I think.’ It was Bryant, watching them leave. ‘Surly-looking brute, the last. Shouldn’t wonder if he’s shipped for some very good reason.’
The sun at last became visible through a pale cloud cover, a perceptible warmth on the skin, and Kydd’s spirits rose. Ashore, he could make out a different green from the sombre green-black of the boreal forest, and he thought that the country might seem quite another in summer.
The captain left with the first lieutenant to call on the officers of York Redoubt, and a young lady whom Adams had taken up with demanded his constant presence. For now, Kydd decided, he would continue his acquaintance with war’s wider canvas.
This time he prepared to take notes. Sitting at the wardroom table, his back to the stern windows, he picked up his book and resumed reading. He discovered that the thousand-year republic of Venice had been sacrificed in a cynical exchange between France and Austria and that the Corsican Napoleon Buonaparte must now be considered England’s chief opponent.
It was truly astonishing how much of momentous significance to the world had happened since he had gone to sea – and to think that he had been unknowingly at the heart of these events. The evening drew in, the light faded, but he had found another book, more dog-eared and harder-going, which purported to be a treatment of the economic consequences of a world at war, and he set to.
He felt a small but growing satisfaction: this was one positive course he could take, and it was shaping into a workable aspiration in life. If he could not be a natural-born officer, at least he would be an informed one.
He became aware of a figure standing and looked up. It was Tysoe, cupping a small peg lamp that glowed softly with a clear, bright flame. ‘Thank ’ee, Tysoe – but does Mr Hambly know I have his lamp?’ It was charged with spermaceti oil and used only for painstaking work at the charts.
‘Sir, he will be informed of his generous assistance to you when he returns aboard.’
Kydd inclined his head to hear better. ‘Er, what seems t’ be afoot on the upper deck?’ There had been odd thumpings and occasional cries, but nothing the mate-of-the-watch could not be relied on to deal with.
Tysoe bent to trim the lamp. ‘The hands, sir. They wish to dance and skylark.’ Kydd nodded. There were men aboard, visiting from other ships, the weather was clear and it would be odd if there was not some kind of glee going in the fo’c’sle. He laid down his book. Perhaps he should cast an eye over the proceedings.