And then it all happened in a rush: a shout to Jackson to put the wheel over, an order to Aitken to brace up the yards and trim the sheets, and an instruction to Southwick to watch the following ships.

The Calypso turned to starboard amid the flapping of sails and the creaking of yards as they were braced up. Now she was heading for the centre of the entrance, perfectly positioned, with the wind on the starboard beam and the sails soon drawing well.

Two hundred yards to go before she was abeam of the fort at the entrance, and still not a shot fired.

"The Amalie's just beginning to turn," Southwick reported.

Aitken put down his speaking trumpet: the yards were braced and the sails trimmed.

Ramage picked up the speaking trumpet and called down: "Major Golightly, are your men ready?"

"Ready and willing!" shouted back the major.

Ramage aimed the speaking trumpet at the Marines.

"Mr Rennick, how about you?"

"Ready, sir," he replied.

The fort was fifty yards ahead, now thirty, and then the Calypso was surging through the entrance, followed by the Amalie and the two sloops. Then she was abreast the fort, then on the quarter, and the Calypso slowed to a stop.

It was gentle but there was no mistaking what had happened. The fort and the beginning of the quay, which had been speeding past, came to a stop. The Calypso was aground, forty yards short of the quay. And astern the Amalie, further out, came to a stop on the same sandbank.

Just as Ramage swung round to watch her and the sloops, he saw the Betty and the Rose turn slightly to larboard: Jason King was taking a chance that deeper water lay on the side away from the quay.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

There was no time to watch the sloops: Ramage snatched up the speaking trumpet and called forward: "Major Golightly! Have your men stand by to embark in the boats!"

Then he shouted louder: "Boats' crews, to your boats. Afterguard - smartly there, haul the boats round to the entryports."

There was going to be a mad rush of soldiers, Marines and seamen for the quay: the boats were ready to ferry them, but it would take minutes to row them across: minutes in which the Saracens could prepare for the attack.

Now the Betty had passed safely and was heading for the wall. The Rose was swinging out to follow in her wake. Was there another sandbank between the sloops and the wall? Jason King was taking a chance that there was not; the Betty was still under full sail, though Ramage could see men aloft preparing to furl the canvas.

By now the cutters were alongside, one to larboard and the other to starboard with the jolly-boat and gig waiting, and the soldiers were scrambling down after the boats' crews. They were making good time: all the exercising was paying off. They knew how to sling their muskets; they knew how to kick their swords out of the way so that they did not catch between their legs.

As the last of the soldiers disappeared over the side, the Marines split in two sections, one going to starboard and the other to larboard, one led by Rennick and the other by Sergeant Ferris.

Apart from the soldiers, the quay was still empty: obviously the flotilla had not been spotted approaching. Ramage picked up the speaking trumpet and shouted to the seamen below at the guns: "Boarding parties fall in."

Nearly two hundred seamen armed with cutlasses, pikes and tomahawks stood by at the entryports. Ramage intended that only twenty-five seamen would be left behind on board. Would they be enough to work under Aitken to get the Calypso off the sandbank?

"Will you have enough men to refloat the ship?" he asked the first lieutenant.

"I'll make do," Aitken replied. "You need all the men that can be spared."

"Very well, it's time I went on shore. I'll tell the jolly-boat to come back as soon as possible so you can use it to take soundings. I think you'll find deeper water a few yards further out - where the sloops went. We were just a bit too close to the quay."

"Leave it to us," said Southwick, who had got over his disappointment at not being in the landing parties. The argument with the master had been brief: Ramage had pointed out that Major Golightly had two ensigns with him to command the troops, there were Kenton, Martin and Hill to command the seamen, and Rennick and Sergeant Ferris could look after the Marines. Meanwhile, unless Southwick stayed behind, Aitken would be left alone in the Calypso, having to face any emergency alone. And, as it happened, there was now a real emergency: the frigate was stranded on a sandbank right at the beginning of the attack.

Ramage scrambled down into a boat and found himself among a party of Marines and a few seamen. The boat cast off and the crew struck out for the quay. It was not high; it took only a few moments for all the men to scramble out of the boat and up on top.

Suddenly Ramage realized that he had come on shore in the jolly-boat and he shouted to its coxswain to return to the Calypso and report to the first lieutenant, who would use it to sound round the ship.

The sudden roar of the Betty's first broadside showed that not only had she arrived alongside the wall but there were Saracens there. Were they the normal guards at the barracks or were they men from the town? Ramage had not heard any alarm.

He saw that Major Golightly was already leading his soldiers, including those from the Amalie, at the double down the quay, running round towards the barracks. Now Rennick's Marines were following and the three lieutenants were hurriedly forming up their seamen, the last to get on shore.

Ramage drew his cutlass and waited for the seamen. Then, as soon as they were ready he waved his cutlass in the air. "Come on lads, follow me!"

As he began running he heard the Rose's first broadside, followed a few moments later by the Betty's second, and he thought of the balls of the caseshot cutting into the Saracens. And the popping of distant musketry showed that the Marines on board the sloops were adding their share.

The quay was uneven and twice he almost stumbled as he ran. The quay seemed longer than he expected. He saw Major Golightly's troops reach the end and turn left for the final dash to the barracks, and saw that Rennick was not far behind with his Marines. Then he saw the first of the Saracens beginning to pour out of the side streets, and pour was the right word: they were running out, screaming and waving scimitars, as though they had been lying in wait.

Golightly's soldiers stopped, knelt, raised their muskets and fired a volley. Immediately they resumed their dash, loading their muskets as they ran. The Rose fired her second broadside as Ramage reached the end of the quay and turned to lead the rush of seamen towards the barracks. By now he saw dozens of turbans and beards in front of the soldiers while more came running out of the side streets. They seemed to be gathering in front of the barracks and just as he was registering the fact the Betty fired another broadside of caseshot into the middle of the Saracens.

Ramage guessed that thirty Saracens had been cut down, perhaps more, because he could not see very clearly. And Major Golightly was going to be facing a difficult decision in a few moments: should he halt and wait for the guns of the Betty and Rose to clear the front of the barracks of Saracens, or should he continue advancing, forcing the sloops to stop firing.

Ramage wanted to shout at him to stop and leave it to the sloops for the time being, and just as he was cursing that the major would never hear him he realized that Paolo Orsini was running beside him. "Here, quick! Tell the major to halt and leave it to the sloops!''

The Italian youth ran through the Marines, dodging them like a jinking hare, and Ramage, deliberately slowing down, saw him reach the troops.