"Then Bainbridge's letters would be handed to him. He would read them in the solitude of his own cabin, for he knew that between the lines another letter was written in sympathetic ink, and it was this letter which would most interest him."
"But what if the governor knew Yeo?" asked Tempest.
"That Porter would have to find out, and should the British captain be known, then Porter would take his cue and be an ambassador from the gallant Sir James Yeo.
"It was a daring plan, but succeeded. Then the Americans sailed away and reached San Salvador.
"As Brazil is at peace with us, there was no need for deception, and Captain Lawrence of the Hornet was sent in to see the American Consul.
"Lawrence returned greatly excited.
"In the harbor was the English ship Bonne Citoyenne, of twenty guns, and just about to sail for England.
"The Hornet carries eighteen guns, so what did Lawrence do but send an officer to the Bonne Citoyenne, with a formal challenge to the captain to come out of the harbor and try conclusions with the Hornet.
"Every assurance was given that the Constitution would lay in the offing, and take no part in the fight.
"The English captain answered the challenge most courteously, but declined to accept it."