He stopped in mid - stride. That was the answer 1 Where it came from he was far from sure; probably lurking inside this straw hat. The French could land from La Perle on the Spanish Main, but they must not be able to repair the ship. His head buzzed with ideas, but none was any use until he looked at a chart He glanced over at La Perle and saw clear streams of water pouring out of her scuppers and from the hoses of head pumps rigged on the sides. La Creole was tacking back and forth to windward; the two frigates were drifting slowly to leeward, westward along the coast of Curacao. The weather seemed set fair. The only really miserable men on board the Calypso should be Duroc, Bazin and the two junior lieutenants.

Down in his cabin he pitched the straw hat on to the settee and pulled a chart out of the rack, unrolling it on his desk and holding it down flat with weights. The nearest part of the Main was in fact a long semicircle stretching from the tip of the Peninsula de Paraguana, the hatchet - shaped piece of land forming one side of the Gulf of Venezuela and leading down to Maracaibo, round to (for practical purposes) San Juan de los Cayos, a hundred and fifty miles to the eastward. Notes on his chart showed that there was not a port along that stretch where La Perle could be careened and repaired, nothing on the Peninsula apart from a mountain range topped by Pan de Santa Ana, a peak nearly 3000 feet high and visible for sixty miles on a clear day - which meant that any ship sailing south - west from Curacao would sight it within a few hours. Just where the hatchet - handle joined the mainland was La Vela de Coro, a large village on the bay. A soft mud bottom, frequent breakers, a sea whipped up by almost any breeze . . . Yes, hardly the place to careen a fishing smack, let alone a frigate/ Then came Cumarebo, which although the Spanish gave it the name 'Puerto' was simply an open roadstead in front of the town. After that was another small village, and then nothing for a dozen miles to Punta Zamuro, a coastline formed by sandy beaches, clay bluffs, shallow water . . . Punta Aguida had a red clay bluff and shallows of less than three fathoms more than a mile offshore . . . And, after a long stretch, the Bay of San Juan. The point sheltered it from the Trade winds coming from the east and north - east, but there was only twenty feet of water a mile offshore. As long as La Perle was not half full of water, she could get fairly dose in, but she would not careen . . . Now for the distances. He opened the dividers. Fifty miles would bring La Perle to anywhere on the Peninsula; a hundred miles would take her down to San Juan de los Cayos. The wind would be on the beam so she would make a fast passage, but give her the benefit of the doubt and say she averaged only three knots and went to San Juan de los Cayos. Thirty - three hours, a day and a half at the outside.

He called to the Marine sentry to pass the word for the first lieutenant, lieutenant of Marines, master and purser. The purser was the last to arrive, looking alarmed at suddenly being summoned to the captain's cabin.

Ramage decided to deal with him first, to put him out of his misery. Tell Mr Southwick the quantity of water needed for two days by three hundred men working extremely hard in this climate.'

'Water, sir? You don't mean beer?'

'No, nor cheese nor butter. Just water.'

Rowlands's lips moved as he did some mental arithmetic. Finally he gave a figure. Ramage thanked him and the man left the cabin.

'Remember that figure, Mr Southwick. Now, gentlemen, at midnight La Perle leaves us, escorted by La Creole, bound for the Main - anywhere between the entrance to the Gulf of Venezuela and San Juan de los Cayos. Come and look at this chart and refresh your memories.'

The three men inspected it, and Rennick said: 'All the Marines on board her as guards, sir?'

His face fell when Ramage shook his head and said: There'll be no guards. The Frenchmen will be alone on board: just La Creole to keep them company.'

Aitken was the first to grasp what Ramage had said. 'But, sir, what's to stop them making for Martinique?'

'Or attacking us?' added Southwick. 'No good putting them on parole; they'd never keep their word.'

'Sit down,' Ramage said. 'You all have jobs to do, so pay attention. La Perle sails at midnight under the command of Duroc, and he has the choice of the destinations I've just shown you, and - '

'But what's to stop him going somewhere else?' Southwick interrupted.

'Because all his charts will have been removed,' Ramage said patiently. 'Removed by you. And your mates will comb the officers' cabins for anything resembling a chart And just before he boards La Perle you will present him with an accurate but not overly - detailed copy of this section of the chart - ' Ramage tapped the chart on his desk. This section only. That means he has little choice of destinations. He could go to Aruba, but he left there because there was nowhere to careen La Perle. It is unlikely he knows the coast of the Main - this section, anyway - so he won't know there's nowhere there for him to careen, either.'

'He doesn't need a chart to get up to Martinique,' South - wick pointed out. 'He knows the latitude of Fort Royal . . .'

That won't help him. Hell have only two days' water on board because you, Southwick, will empty the rest of the casks and that fresh water will be pumped over the side with the salt. With three hundred men and water for only two days, he needs to get somewhere in two days, which rules out Martinique by several days. You will also dispose of all the wine and spirits - over the side, of course.'

'Sir,' Rennick said anxiously, 'the guns . . .'

'Aitken will supply you with a working party and you will flood the hanging magazine. I don't want an ounce of usable powder in the ship. All the great guns are to be spiked and you'll cut the breechings. All the locks for the guns are to be brought on board the Calypso, along with all flints, muskets, pistols, cutlasses, tomahawks and pikes.

'Leave the shot in the locker - we don't have time to get them out, and anyway we are not concerned in reducing her draught - but all those on deck can be hove over the side.'

Southwick combined a doubtful sniff with a vigorous scratching of his head, and Ramage smiled as he looked at the master. 'What's worrying you, Mr Southwick?'

'Well, sir, I still can't see why this fellow Duroc has to make for the Main, and what good it does when he gets there.'

'He has water for only two days,' Ramage repeated patiently. 'Obviously that limits his range for two days' sailing. But, more important, his ship is making seven feet of water an hour. That means with every man taking his turn at the pumps and bailing with buckets he can just keep her afloat But for how long can he pump and bail? The men have to get some rest, quite apart from sailing the ship - and in this heat they have to drink a lot of water.'

'But when he arrives off the Main - say, at La Vela de Coro - and anchors, he can get fresh water from the Dons and careen the ship."

Ramage shook his head. 'Even supposing Duroc can get water, he has only enough casks for two days - hell never get more locally - he's still tied to a radius of two days' sailing from La Vela. Don't forget Martinique is almost dead to windward, six hundred miles or more, and that much punching to windward will double the leaks. So he's condemned to stay and pump wherever he first anchors, and my guess is hell end up so exhausted hell have to run the ship ashore - or land his men in the boats and let the ship sink. He has no other choice. But whatever happens, we're rid of her and the three hundred men.'

'And La Creole, sir?' Aitken prompted.

'She's our insurance. She keeps La Perle company until Duroc is anchored somewhere. Lacey has nothing to fear from the Spanish and the French frigate will not have even a pistol on board. Drilling out the spikes in the great guns will be beyond them - tell the carpenter to take off all suitable drill bits and small awls, Mr Aitken. Lacey could batter her to pieces in an hour or two, if Duroc tried any tricks.'