“But even if we start at dawn “ said Buckland, and having progressed so far in his speech he realised the alternative. “You mean we can get to work now?”
“We have all night before us, sir. You could have the launches hoisted out and the gun swayed down into one of them. Slings and cables and some sort of carrying cradle prepared. Hands told off—”
“And start at dawn!”
“At dawn the boats can be round the peninsula waiting for daylight, sir. You could send some hands with a hundred fathoms of line up from the ship to here. They can start off along the path before daylight. That’d save time.”
“So it would, by George!” said Bush; he had no trouble in visualising the problems of seamanship involved in hoisting a gun up the face of a cliff.
“We’re shorthanded already in the ship,” said Buckland. “I’ll have to turn up both watches.”
“That won’t hurt ‘em, sir,” said Bush. He had already been two nights without sleep and was now contemplating a third.
“Who shall I send? I’ll want a responsible officer in charge. A good seaman at that.”
“I’ll go if you like, sir,” said Hornblower.
“No. You’ll have to be here to deal with Ortega. If I send Smith I’ll have no lieutenant left on board.”