“No chance of that, sir,” said Bush; and it was clear from Hornblower’s grin that he, too, thought there was no possibility of peace either, despite the hints in the twomonthsold newspapers that came out from England to the effect that negotiations were possible. With Bonaparte in supreme power in France, restless, ambitious, and unscrupulous, and with none of the points settled that were in dispute between the two countries, no fighting man could believe that the negotiations could result even in an armistice, and certainly not in a permanent peace.
“Good luck in any case, sir,” said Bush, and there was no mere formality about those words.
They shook hands and parted; it says much for Bush’s feelings towards Hornblower that in the grey dawn next morning he rolled out of his cot and went up on deck to watch the Retribution, ghostlike under her topsails, and with the lead going in the chains, steal out round the point, wafted along by the land breeze. Bush watched her go; life in the service meant many partings. Meanwhile there was war to be waged against bedbugs.
Eleven weeks later the squadron was in the Mona Passage, beating against the trade winds. Lambert had brought them out here with the usual double objective of every admiral, to exercise his ships and to see an important convoy through the most dangerous part of its voyage. The hills of Santo Domingo were out of sight at the moment over the westerly horizon, but Mona was in sight ahead, tabletopped and, from this point of view, an unrelieved oblong in outline; over the port bow lay Mona’s little sister Monita, exhibiting a strong family resemblance.
The lookout frigate ahead sent up a signal.
“You’re too slow, Mr. Truscott,” bellowed Bush at the signal midshipman, as was right and proper.
“Sail in sight, bearing northeast,” read the signal midshipman, glass to eye.
That might be anything, from the advanced guard of a French squadron broken out from Brest to awandering trader.
The signal came down and was almost instantly replaced.
“Friendly sail in sight bearing northeast,” read Truscott.