'But you could have let Aitken go off in the Passe Partout, the master persisted.

'I could, but he learned more by being left in command of the Calypso. He handled her very well.'

Southwick nodded. 'Especially the way he sank the Magpie. But he worries too much.'

'How do you mean?'

'Well, when you hoisted number sixteen, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to tack up to you in time.'

'So was I', Ramage said grimly. 'In fact, if the Magpie hadn't had her masts go by the board...'

'But she did: I was telling Aitken that you'd do something, and you did.'

Ramage sighed at the thought of the thin line by which his life was at times suspended: a thin line of faith that he could perform miracles. 'Don't depend on it. We were lucky this time, but if those Algerines had been sailing the ship for another couple of months it would have been a different story.'

'Yes, sir', Southwick said comfortably, 'and we are all thankful they weren't. How long before you'll give young Orsini command of the Passe Partout?'

'I was going to leave Martin with him tonight, to hold his hand if necessary in the dark, and launch him off on his own tomorrow.'

'I'll pack up his quadrant, tables and glass: he didn't have time to take them with him.'

'It seems unfair to Martin', Ramage said, having second thoughts.

Southwick's eyes twinkled as he said casually, 'I don't expect she'll be the only prize we'll take. I'd have thought that a tartane rated a midshipman's command, not a lieutenant's!'

'It sounds to me as though you are trying to exercise patronage on behalf of the Marchesa.'

Southwick gave a bellow of laughter. 'That's about it! Anyway, I'd like to be. She'd have enjoyed watching the Magpie business.'

'From the Calypso.'

'No, sir, from the Passe Partout', Southwick corrected him with mock severity. 'You haven't seen her for so long you've forgotten what she's like when there's a whiff of action in the air.'

Ramage had not forgotten, but it had been so long since he had seen her that now memories brought pain rather than pleasure.

Southwick pointed at the chart which was still lying curled up on Ramage's desk. 'If this wind holds, we should sight land before noon the day after tomorrow, sir.'

'That's some "if". When does the wind stay in the same direction for more than a few hours in this part of the world?'

'When it's blowing a mistral or Levanter', Southwick reminded him.

Next day the Passe Partout came close to the Calypso and one of the frigate's boats took off Martin and brought Paolo on board the Calypso to receive his orders and collect his navigational equipment. Before he was taken back to the tartane Ramage sent for him and gave him his official orders. They were brief and written in the stylized form laid down by the Admiralty.

By Nicholas Ramage, Captain and commanding officer of His Majesty's frigate Calypso

To Paolo Orsini, midshipman, hereby appointed to the Passe Partout, prize to the Calypso frigate.

By virtue of the power and authority to me given, I do hereby constitute and appoint you midshipman in command of the tartane Passe Partout, prize to His Majesty's frigate Calypso; willing and requiring you forthwith to go on board, and take upon you the charge and command of her accordingly; strictly charging and commanding all the petty officers and company... to behave themselves jointly and severally ... And you likewise to observe and execute as well the General Printed Instructions, and such orders and directions you shall from time to time receive from your captain ... hereof nor you nor any of you may fail, as you will answer the contrary at your Peril; and for so doing this shall be your warrant.

The document was then dated, Ramage's seal impressed on it, and his signature added, and for the first time in his life Paolo commanded a ship and was responsible for the behaviour of every man on board.

When the captain gave it to him, Paolo read it and found no difficulty in understanding the neat handwriting of the captain's clerk, but was intimidated by the wording. He read the last paragraph yet again, this time aloud - 'hereof nor you nor any of you may fail, as you will answer to the contrary at your Peril ...'

He looked at Ramage, not realizing that this was standard wording. 'But, sir, this last part ...' It seemed very unreasonable of the captain to be so hard on him - presumably because ... Well, he was not sure quite why.

'"At your Peril", eh? That frightens you, I expect.'

'Yes, sir; after all ...'

'Well, you are in good company, my lad; every naval officer given command of anything has that in his orders. Commanders-in-chief, commodores, captains, lieutenants - even midshipmen in command of captured tartanes.'

'You mean, sir, your orders say the same?'

'The same and a lot more.'

At that moment Paolo understood why the commanding officer was always such a remote figure; why the attitude of the seamen, for instance, had been different where Martin was concerned on board the Passe Partout: they were more reserved, keeping a distance between them. Now, Paolo realized, he had - however temporarily - crossed the line separating carefree midshipmen skylarking on board without any papers or passing any examinations from officers who must not fail without 'answering to the contrary'.

He saw Ramage was watching him.

'Nothing has changed', Ramage said quietly. 'Always do what you think is right, be just, don't give an order you would not carry out yourself and you won't fail. And once you've made up your mind, do it. Hesitation and indecision loses battles - and reputations.'

'Like you did not hesitate when you jumped on board the Passe Partout', Paolo said eagerly.

Ramage winced at such a recent memory. 'That's not a very good example, but just do your best. And remember, your men have to do their best as well.'

He motioned Paolo to put the order in his pocket. 'Now, we should be arriving at our destination tomorrow afternoon if the wind holds. For various reasons I don't want the whole convoy arriving at the same time, so from sunset tonight don't chase up the laggards. Let them lag. Ideally, I'd like half a dozen ships to arrive in the first hour or so, three or four an hour later, and the last of them at dusk ...'

'Aye aye, sir.'

'And there's one more thing. You can keep Stafford and Rossi, but I need Jackson back. You can pick a good man to replace him. Now, listen carefully; this is what you will do when the convoy arrives.'

Paolo listened for four minutes, nodded, was reprimanded for not saying 'Aye aye, sir' to acknowledge the orders, and then left the cabin and climbed down to the waiting boat in a haze of excitement: he commanded a ship of war and had a document to prove it. Suddenly he found the prospect and responsibility did not frighten him. At least, not very much.

The Calypso's lookouts first sighted land lying low on the horizon to the east two hours before noon, but apart from there being cliffs along the coast no one, apart from Southwick, was sure that they were on course for their destination.

The advantage of the destination lying on a coast that ran northwest and southeast was that a noon sight gave the latitude, which ran almost at right-angles through the coastline. If the latitude from the sight was greater than the latitude of the destination, they had to turn south, if less then north.

With fifteen ships following the Calypso, Southwick knew that his navigation was important, but as the sun climbed higher towards its zenith in a cloudless sky the master only grinned when Ramage and Aitken teased him.

The effect of the Passe Partout lying out on one wing of the convoy and not swooping down to make a laggard set more sail to catch up was very apparent. The Sarazine was still the closest to the Calypso, but she was now a good two miles astern, with the Spanish Golondrina abeam. After those two ships, the other thirteen were spread out to the westward so that four of them had almost dropped below the horizon, all but their topgallants hidden below the curvature of the earth.