Keffer, J [Hornblower's Legacy 02] Brewer’s Revenge by James Keffer

Author:James Keffer
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Penmore Press LLC
Published: 2017-10-17T23:00:00+00:00

HMS Revenge reached her patrol area the next day and set about making her presence known. Ten ships were stopped or hailed in the first week, but none had any knowledge of the whereabouts of the pirate Cofresi or El Diabolito. Brewer took another ten days to conduct a detailed inspection of the Puerto Rican coastline for inlets that could hide pirate vessels—or at least as detailed as one could make from offshore. His orders made it clear that under no circumstances was he allowed to violate Spanish possessions, save for the certainty of capturing Cofresi himself. His search resulted in the mapping of numerous places that could shelter a schooner or cutter with no problem, several of which were located east of San Juan.

But weeks of patrolling the waters around the island resulted in nothing else. No new information regarding the locations of either Cofresi or El Diabolito was gleaned. Brewer was smart enough to realize that his voyage had not been completely in vain—there had been no pirate attacks in these waters since HMS Revenge arrived on station.

It was at six bells of the forenoon watch, and the captain, first lieutenant, and sailing master were in conference on the quarterdeck.

“Weeks of searching,” Brewer lamented, “and nothing to show for it.”

“We have apparently stopped the attacks in this area, sir,” Greene pointed out.

“Or they’re just waiting for us to use up our supplies and be forced to go,” Sweeney said.

“Either way,” Brewer cut in, “we’ve got nothing, and the Admiral’s order not to set foot on the island prevents us from kicking the anthill over and seeing what comes out. I just wish—”

“Sail ho!”

The three officers looked up at the lookout and he pointed to the southeast. Revenge had just turned east to run along the southern coast of Puerto Rico, so that meant the strange sail was approaching the island from the south. They moved to the railing and raised glasses to their eyes. Sweeney called to the lookout.

“What do you make of her?”

“Looks like a small brig, sir!” the lookout replied. “No flag that I can see!”

Brewer lowered his glass. “Call the hands, Mr. Greene. Make all sail. I want to intercept that ship. Mr. Sweeney, give me a course to do so.”

Both men moved off to complete their respective tasks with alacrity. Brewer kept his eye on the speck of white on the horizon as it slowly became larger. The question was, what would the other captain do when he sighted Revenge?

He felt the deck beneath him leap ahead. For the moment, the strange sail continued on her course. She was hull up now, and still no flag.

“Mr. Greene,” he said, “post extra lookouts. I want to know the moment that ship does something.”

“Deck ho!” cried the lookout, pointing WSW. “Squall approaching!”

Brewer turned and saw a violent storm being carried by the wind much faster than Revenge was, and it was heading straight at them, or rather, straight at where they anticipated intercepting the strange sail.

“Captain!” It was Mr.

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