STO'B 24

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That evening, Badger shipped her funnel for the first time since receiving Captain Fitton and piled on steam. The captain stood on his quarterdeck, watching the rich, black smoke rise from the funnel. He turned, following the smoke as it passed over the taffrail to vanish in the growing darkness, and his turn brought the Chasseur into view, one cable's length astern. She was dark, except for her toplight, but Philip could still just make out her color, including the red of her foremast cap.

Beneath Philip, the Badger's new rudder groaned, distracting him, and when he looked back at the Chasseur her color had faded. As he looked, though, it occurred to him the the brig was slightly further off, and shortly after a string of colored lanterns rose to her peak, and she fired one of her leeward guns. Philip placed a glass to his eye (the fruit of further searching in his new desk's bottom drawer, which had also revealed three chronometers (two broken) and a box of epaulettes, English, Russian, Dutch, and Spanish that he had yet to sort through) to better distinguish the lanterns' color and order, and deciphering the signal faster than the signal midshipman, in spite of the signal midshipman's possession of the Badger's English codebook. Or perhaps because of the midshipman's possession of that book, for the Badger was plowing forward at a steady ten knots, into a four knot headwind, and the book's pages tended to flutter out of control in the resulting breeze.

"Sir," said the midshipman finally, "Chasseur says she cannot keep up, sir."

Philip nodded. The interval between his reading of the signal himself and his receipt of the midshipman's report had given him time to make a decision, and he immediately replied. "My compliments to Mr South and we will heave to to wait for the prize. And signal Chasseur: Captain repair aboard.

Philip received Lieutenant Grey in his cabin, received his disjointed report on the condition of the Chasseur, and gave him his orders. Then he saw the lieutenant back to his boat. He watched the boat cross to the Chasseur and hook on to her main chains, then he ordered the master to pile on steam again as behind them the Chasseur dropped her sails, tacked, and stood off alone to the north.

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GLOSSARY