Free Ramage's Prize by Dudley Pope Page B

sir?”
    â€œNot exactly, but I called you over to hear the news I was just about to give to Mr Yorke.”
    He saw that Southwick’s face had fallen. Like the Surgeon, the Master knew that he would not get a ship if it was left to the Commander-in-Chief; their only chance lay in Ramage obtaining a command and asking for them.
    â€œI haven’t got a ship, but I’ve got an appointment. What it’ll lead to, I don’t yet know.”
    Quickly and briefly he told the men of the orders he had received from Sir Pilcher, and then described the information from the Deputy Postmaster-General about the lost packets. He purposely told them only the facts of the losses, and when he finished he said: “Well, has anyone a theory?”
    Yorke and Southwick both spoke up together, and the Master gestured to Yorke, who said: “I was puzzled by the number of homeward-bound packets that are lost. I’d have expected most of them to have been captured between Antigua and here.”
    Southwick agreed. “I was going to mention the same thing, sir. Those lost on the way home—were the majority captured on this side of the Atlantic, in mid-ocean, or as they approached the chops of the Channel?”
    â€œThe Postmaster doesn’t know the positions—the Post Office in London didn’t bother to tell him. He seems to think most were taken on this side of the Atlantic—the moment they’d cleared the Windward Passage, to hear him talk—but I doubt it. For one thing, the crews are exchanged too quickly for them to be taken this side, carried to Guadeloupe, sent to France and then exchanged. That alone makes me certain packets are taken towards the end of the voyage.”
    â€œIt sounds logical,” Yorke said, “especially since they are exchanged in—what, about eight weeks, didn’t you say?”
    Ramage nodded. “It seems amazingly quick to me, but the Postmaster didn’t seem to think there was anything unusual about it. Maybe there’s some sort of arrangement with the French Government so that the Post Office men get special treatment.”
    â€œI can’t see us getting a ship out of it,” Bowen said gloomily. He turned to Yorke. “Looks as if Southwick and I will be travelling back to England with you.”
    â€œI’d better start polishing up my chess,” Yorke said. “I have plenty of time, though; the next convoy isn’t due to leave for seven or eight weeks …”
    The four men sat in silence for several minutes, each engrossed in his thoughts, until finally Southwick said bluntly, “I’ll be damned if I see where you start, sir. Seems to me a job for the whole Channel Fleet; can’t see what good can be done this side of the Atlantic.”
    â€œAh, Southwick, you’re an honest fellow,” Yorke said, tapping the Master’s knee. “But just think back. The Post Office referred the problem to the Cabinet, and the Cabinet turned it over to the Admiralty. And the Admiralty—I hope I’m not being too unfair to Lord Spencer—were as puzzled about where to start as you. Then they realized that since so many West Indies packets had been lost, they could get rid of the problem by passing it over to the Commander-in-Chief in Jamaica … Am I right?” he asked Ramage.
    Since he had not told them that Lord Spencer had named him especially—as well as passing the whole problem to Sir Pilcher—Ramage contented himself with a suitably cynical laugh and the comment, “I’m sure that’s how the Admiral views it!”
    But as he sat with the three men, he found himself wondering if the Post Office and the Board of Admiralty had considered the homeward-bound losses significant: Lord Auckland had not mentioned it to Smith: Lord Spencer had made no comment to Sir Pilcher.
    â€œMagic,” Yorke said suddenly. “The French are using magicians. Wouldn’t