Blockade Runner by David Kent-Lemon

Author:David Kent-Lemon
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781781599808
Publisher: Claymore Press

Chapter Thirteen

A Tender Interlude

We arrived back in Nassau on the Flora on a morning late in July of 1863. Although it was early in the day, it was already hot and humid. I walked down the companionway to the quay. The limestone buildings of the town gleamed and shimmered in the sweltering conditions. Negro street vendors in brightly coloured clothes moved lazily as they offered their wares, little boys ran up to ask me to throw them copper coins. It was far too hot to walk to East Street, so I took a barouche.

When I reached the office I sent a message to Susan saying that I had arrived safely, then I talked to Johnson about the sale of the Flora.

“Have you heard from Donald MacGregor?” I asked.

“Yes I have, Mr Wells. They've had great misfortune on their first voyage with the Calypso. Apparently they were carrying iron plating for Confederate ships as part of their cargo. Maybe that slowed her down. A fast Yankee cruiser, the Florida I think, caught her as she was going through the Old Inlet at Cape Fear. But you will be happy to know that MacGregor still wants to buy the Flora.”

“Do we know what happened to the crew of the Calypso?”

“Captured and locked up I'm afraid.”

“I feel bad about it,” I said, “she had seven successful runs for Mr Pembroke, and then as soon as we sell her…”

“The crew had the choice not to transfer to the new owner, Mr Wells,” Johnson replied, “and that will be the same for the Flora. Don't forget that we lost the Granite City, and she hadn't even got as far as Cape Fear. I think they all recognise that it's the luck of the game.”

“You're right,” I said gloomily, “we must go ahead.”

That same afternoon we completed the sale of the Flora in Mr Dupont's offices, and her crew chose to pass to the new owner. It was a strange moment for me. At one point I had been managing a fleet of five ships for Mr Pembroke. The sale of the Giraffe and the capture of the Granite City had cut the number to three. The loss of the Clara and the sale of the Calypso and the Flora now reduced the fleet to nothing. In a recent letter Mr Pembroke said that he didn't expect the new ships to arrive until October at the earliest, but that he was looking for an opportunity to find a new ship as a stopgap. If he were successful he would send her out to Nassau with Harry Mansell and the remainder of the Clara's crew. He asked me to remain in the Bahamas for the moment.

I had to face up to the fact that I was now looking at a period of idleness possibly lasting as much as four or five months. There were stocks of Mr Pembroke's goods lying in Henry Adderly's warehouses, and these would have to be sold. Johnson and I would perhaps do

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