“And what are we going to do here?” asked Dyck. “What’s the game of the fleet at the Nore?”
Ferens replied in a low voice:
“Our men are goin’ to send out petitions—to the Admiralty and to the House of Commons.”
“Why don’t you try Lord Howe?”
“He’s not in command of a fleet now. Besides, petitions have been sent him, and he’s taken no notice.”
“Howe? No notice—the best admiral we ever had! I don’t believe it,” declared Dyck savagely. “Why, the whole navy believes in Howe. They haven’t forgotten what he did in ‘94. He’s as near to the seaman as the seaman is to his mother. Who sent the petitions to him?”
“They weren’t signed by names—they were anonymous.”
Dyck laughed.
“Yes, and all written by the same hand, I suppose.” Ferens nodded.
“I think that’s so.”