No vessel followed them.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
Milson was ensconced in the late sailing master’s cabin. He could not be de-scribed as happy, but at least he felt secure there. In truth he would have felt secure in any part of Expedient, even the orlop. As he had told Rennie and James yesterday, coming away from the mole in the boat, he had been hiding in the crypt of a church, in very cramped and foul conditions and in constant fear, for weeks together. Anywhere away from Naples was a safer place.
Now, far at sea on the day following their departure from Naples, Rennie sent word to Milson inviting him to dinner in the great cabin. Rennie’s other guest was James Hayter.
The man who duly came aft to the great cabin, at two bells of the afternoon watch, wore the same hat and cloak he had used to mask his appearance when he came into the ship from the boat, guarded by Marines. Neither Rennie nor James had had a good sight of him yesterday, in their haste to leave Palazzo Sessa and return to the mole, and their haste to get into the boat. And as soon they came up the ladder into the ship, Milson had gone into the sailing master’s vacant cabin, clutching his valise, and had remained there. Ollary Dart, on Rennie’s instruction, had provided Milson with meals in his cabin, and he had not shown his face until now.
The man Rennie and James saw entering the great cabin was fair haired and blue eyed, of medium height and build. His features were regular, and he might in other circumstances have been described as pleasant looking. Now his express-ion was dour, and his face pale and drawn with the strain under which he had been living. His dark clothes were shabby and rather dirty.
He nodded and sucked down the glass of wine Rennie offered him with no apparent appreciation of its merits, other than it was a welcome alcoholic drink.
‘We was hoping, Sir James and I, that you would show us your invention, Mr. Milson.’ Rennie put down the wide bottomed decanter. ‘When we have dined, in course. After we have dined.’
‘I wish to say I am most grateful to you, gentlemen.’ Milson’s Swedish inflection was barely perceptible. He spoke English with an easy fluency that suggested to both Rennie and James that he had perhaps spent considerable time living in England.
‘As I told you yesterday,’ Milson went on, ‘I have spent the last several weeks in the crypt of a church, and never have I felt closer to hell. Rats, you know, and such foulness and filth as I had not thought possible in a holy place.’
‘You was there only because you feared for your safety, Mr. Milson, I am in no
doubt.’ Rennie took up the decanter and refilled his guest’s glass. ‘Who was it
that pursued you? Agents of the French?’
‘It is probable, but I cannot be certain. They wished to kill me, and steal it. I have had offers for my method from several sources, you see.’
‘Several ?’
‘I preferred the British offer.’
‘Yes, indeed, and we are very glad of it, Mr. Milson. Tell me now, what were these other offers? From whom did they come?’
‘From people in America.’ A little shrug.
‘America ?’
‘But the British offer was by far the most generous.’
‘Ah, yes, I see. And that is why you chose to give us your invention, hey?’
‘I do not give it to anyone, Captain Rennie. I am selling it, and Britain offered me the best price.’
‘Yes. Twenty thousand guineas.’
‘Of which I have had one quarter. The other fifteen thousand is yet owed. Which is why I go to England with you. I trust you to pay me.’
‘Just so, just so.’ Rennie nodded and smiled, but the smile was effortful. ‘You have no particular allegiance to England, even though we will give you safe haven, and a fortune of money. You have never lived there, I expect?’
Milson ignored the question, sucked down half of his second glass, and leaned back in his chair. He had lost the drawn look of a few minutes before, and seemed much more confident.
‘My method will transform the way ships sail the seas, gentlemen. In truth the word ‘sail’ will not be accurate. It will not apply. All ships will steam from place to place, across the oceans of the world, without sails.’
‘Ah, yes. Steam across the world, hey?’ Another polite smile. ‘Well well.’
‘I can see you doubt what I say, Captain Rennie.’
‘Nay, I do not say that I doubt your word, Mr. Milson. That would be ill mannered. Nay I merely ask why, when the wind is always there at sea, and is free to be harnessed with sails why seafarers would disdain it?’
‘But the wind is not always there, captain. And often when it is there, it is either too light and faint, or too fierce. Thus your ships are either too slow, or run into
danger because of the very nature of wind.’ He swallowed the rest of his wine, and sat forward in his chair. ‘Steam, in contrast, is always there, in all weathers. It is constant, and steady. Therefore, you see, the ship is always able to proceed at a steady rate. If you will wait a moment, gentlemen, I will show you.’
‘After we have di--’ Rennie began, but Milson had already put down his glass and risen, and hurried from the cabin.
‘Is he telling the truth about the Americans, James?’ Rennie put down his glass.
James held up a hand, and:
‘What he said just now about the wind, I had not before considered. If he has invented a method that would overcome the difficulties we all face, in every long voyage, of both vexing calm and violent storm, then this may be the most import-ant naval advance for many centuries, and every nation will want it.’
‘You really believe that, James, good heaven?’
‘Y’will note I said if, William. Let us see what he has to show us.’
Moments afterward Milson returned, and placed on the table a large leather fold tied with ribbon. He unfastened the ribbon and began to open the fold. And paused.
‘Before I show you the detailed diagrams of my method, gentlemen, I must tell you a little of the history, I believe.’
A breath, and he continued:
‘Your countryman Thomas Newcomen invented the first working atmospheric steam engine, some eighty years ago. It was widely used to pump water from mines. And then some half century afterward James Watt, while inspecting such an engine, found a way to make a great improvement. The condensor.’
‘The what ?’ Rennie.
‘What did Watt invent?’ A little smile. ‘The steam condensor, Captain Rennie. Combined with the vacuum pump it enabled much greater steam pressure, in the double acting cylinder. Which gave the engine much greater power. Watt went into partnership with Matthew Boulton, and together they began to design engines for wide industrial use with the possibility that they could one day be installed in ships.’
He paused again, and saw that both Rennie and James were listening intently, now that he had mentioned ships. He hurried on with the lesson.
‘In seventeen eighty-three, a French nobleman designed a steam engine for a river vessel, with high hope of success and it failed. Another and very similar engine was produced in the United States of America a year or two after which also failed.’
‘Ah. The Americans.’ Rennie nodded. James said nothing.
‘Now then, gentlemen.’
Milson opened his fold with a flourish, and spread several beautifully drawn diagrams across the table. Some were detailed drawings, in red and black ink, of an engine, others of the engine installed in a small marine craft. He produced a pencil, and used it as a pointer.
‘This is my method. My design. I will not attempt to explain all of the intricacies, but as you see here and here ’ Pointing. ‘ I have used a much larger single cylinder, and thus a larger piston, to produce motive power by these driving rods to a many bladed paddle wheel ’ Pointing. ‘ at the stern of the vessel. This vessel is a small craft, a river craft of thirty foot. A tall chimney here carries away the smoke and sparks from the furnace here which heats the water, and produces the steam un
der pressure as you see.’
He straightened a moment, and:
‘This engine can propel the river craft at a rate of three or four knots.’
He drew further diagrams from the fold, and spread them on the table.
‘My new engine, however, is a great improvement.’
‘But .that is a ship.’ James, in wonder, leaning over the table. ‘Without sails ’
‘Indeed. The new engine is capable of driving, by the twin paddle wheels you see amidships, this new ship that is the size of your frigate, gentlemen at between seven and eight knots for many days and weeks together. With sufficient capacity of storage for coal and water, such a ship could steam thousands of miles.’
‘And you have built such a ship, Mr. Milson?’
‘No, I have not. No no. To do so would require a great deal of money. The yard at Karlskrona did not wish to acknowledge my early designs, and I argued very fierce with Mr. Chapman and so I have left Sweden. At first I did not know where to go. I thought of England, where I was at university for two years you see, I have lived in England, Captain Rennie then I thought also of America, and
was persuaded to meet an interested party at Rotterdam. I was nearly abducted. They were acting for the French, and simply wished to steal my designs and kill me. I fled to Naples on a merchant ship, and was approached by Mr. Beckford, through a mutual acquaintance.’
Neither Rennie nor James was persuaded that Milson had told them the whole truth about his coming to Naples, but since he was now safely in their ship and they were on their home, they did not press him, and Milson went on:
‘I have had no opportunity at all to build a ship. At present this engine, and this ship, are as you see, gentlemen merely a developed design, a method. My method.’
‘Then you have not even built the river craft?’ Rennie, peering at him.
‘Alas, I have not. Even that would have cost a very great deal.’
Rennie opened his mouth to ask a further question, but before he could say anything further, Milson lifted a silencing hand.
‘Gentlemen, hear me out, if you please. I have more to reveal.’
Rennie closed his mouth, glanced at James, and remained silent. Milson drew a large final diagram from the fold, spread it on the table, and:
‘The most recent improvement I have made to my method is this. The construction of the ship’s entire hull from sheets of iron, riveted together and moulded over a keel and frame of iron beams, braces, and knees.’
‘Iron ?’ Rennie.
‘An iron ship, gentlemen, enormously strong and powerful. A ship fettled by fire, and driven by fire.’
His eyes shone as he looked at each of them in turn, and jabbed at the diagram with a triumphant finger.
‘This is the future of all shipping. This is the future of the world!’
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
‘He is either quite mad or he is a genius.’ James put down his coffee cup.
‘He is stark mad, James.’ Rennie, grimly. ‘We have paid Sir William’s five thousand guineas for a madman’s magic lantern display.’
They were sitting in the great cabin later in the afternoon. Milson had returned to his cabin to rest, taking his leather fold with him. The ship rolled a little, and righted herself, and the Madeira in the decanter on the table rode and settled with her.
‘You did not believe a single word of his explication?’ James.
‘Not a word.’
‘And the diagrams ?’
‘How could I believe in them? I did not understand them.’
James was silent a moment, then:
‘You recall the diagrams you brought to Melton House, to persuade me?’
‘Yes, yes that I brought in a packet, and had never had sight of before we opened it. I did not understand those diagrams, neither. Nor did you, I think.’
‘Perhaps not, in least not altogether. However, you will not deny they came from a published book?’
‘There are many books, James.’
‘Were not the diagrams very similar to those Milson showed us today? Was not what he said about steam engines in mines--’
‘I don’t know, James.’ Over him. ‘As you said yourself, you are not a mining man. Neither am I.’
James again fell silent. Presently:
‘I will allow that the final thing he showed to us the iron ship is in all likelihood fanciful.’
‘Fanciful? It is roaring nonsense. An iron ship, good God? It would sink at once.’
‘Yes, yes, no doubt it would.’ A breath, then: ‘Why did we come to Naples?’
‘Why?’ Rennie reached for the Madeira, and poured himself half a glass. ‘Because we was ordered to do so.’
‘Yes. We followed orders.’
Rennie waited, and when James did not continue:
‘Well?’
‘Surely our masters in London must believe in what Milson proposes. In some of it, at least. He sent them some of his drawings, through Beckford, did he not?’
Rennie sniffed, pushed away the glass, stood and went into his quarter gallery.
James sat quietly, and when Rennie returned he said:
‘Aside from his more fanciful proposals, ain’t it possible that Milson’s engine is--’
‘Nay, it ain’t.’ Rennie, over him. He sat down again and took up his glass, but did not drink. Instead he turned the glass this way and that in his hands, then put it back on the table and again pushed it away. He sighed.
‘May I say something?’ James.
‘Good heaven, there is no need to ask my permission.’
‘In usual the captain speaks first at his table. Guests may only speak in reply.’
‘Hhh-hhh, you chide me, James.’ A smile. ‘I did not mean to bite off your head, just now. The wine has made my own head ache very painful.’ He rubbed the side of his head, winced, and closed his eyes briefly, then:
‘And I will like to hear what ye have to say.’ Opening his eyes. ‘Pray continue.’
‘May I think aloud ? Some few thoughts on what we have seen and heard today ?’
‘By all means think away, James.’ A wave of his hand.
‘Very well. If Expedient carried Milson’s engine in her I say again, if we could sail all the way across the Atlantic without losing a moment of time. No calm, and no storm, could impede us. In a single day, at eight knots, we could sail two hundred mile. Fourteen hundred mile in a week. In one month, over five thou-sand mile. And not distance alone. Think what it could mean for a ship of war to be able to go about, or tack on a sudden to starboard or larboard without having to rely on the wind. It would make us a formidable opponent, in speed, and change of direction everything.’ He held up a finger. ‘And to return for
a moment purely to distance a convoy of Indiamen that now takes up to six months to reach India, or come home could now come home in two. Think of it.’
‘Why?’ Sourly.
‘Why? You ask me that? Surely it is obvious, William.’
‘What is obvious to me that is merely a plain spoke sea officer is the sheer damned folly of such speculation. His engine ain’t in our ship, nor in any other ship. It will never be in a ship of any rate, type, nor burthen. Because it is pure bloody nonsense. The fellow is mad. You said so yourself.’
‘I said that he may be a genius.’
‘And I say he is mad! Stark raving mad!’ Again he put a hand to his head.
‘And clearly you are out of temper. I will leave you, and go on deck.’ James stood up. ‘I need some fresh air.’
‘Nay, nay, do not go away angry. If I spoke harsh it is only because my head is splitting. Wait a moment, and I will go on deck with you. The air will cure me.’
And presently the two sea officers climbed the companionway ladder and came out into the Mediterranean light. Sail shadows and shadows of rigging lay over the deck timbers, and slipped across the hammock cranes as the ship heeled a little on the wind, settled, and heeled again. The wash of the sea along the
wales, and the saline smell of it, the griping complaint of cable laid rope, and the whiff of tar. And all around, as far as the eye could see, the endless, eternal, restlessly moving ocean.
Rennie looked forrard along the deck, then aloft and saw the set and trim of his sails, and the rippling stream of the pennant against the sky. He sniffed in a deep breath, but his headache did not recede if anything it grew a little worse. He attempted to ignore the pain, and:
‘Even if Milson ain’t wholly mad, he certainly ain’t a man of imagination, James. Else he could never have set himself against the truth.’
James turned in wordless query.
‘There is no greater glory than a square rigged ship running before.’
Even as he said the words Rennie felt that his head had caught fire, and that his legs were suddenly too weak to support him. He staggered, tried to clap on to a backstay, and fell to the deck.
‘William ?’ James ran to him, and knelt down. Then, to one of the duty midshipmen: ‘You there! Fetch the surgeon! Jump now!’
An hour later Rennie lying with his head bandaged in his sleeping quarters Dr. Wing said to James in the great cabin:
‘It is my fault.’
‘Eh?’
The doctor put down his medical valise on a chair. He sighed and made a face.
‘I did not extract the whole of the splinter from above his ear. I should have been more sedulous in my examination, and I was not. A long, narrow part of it had broke off there, lodged under the scalp, and began to fester. An abscess formed. He must have been in pain for some time.’
‘He complained of the headache. He thought it was the wine ’
‘Yes, well the wine did not help him, that is certain. He will persist in taking too much. However, that does not excuse my carelessness.’
‘Nay, Thomas. At our last action there was a great deal for you to do. Many wounded. You were hard pressed, and you cannot blame yourself for this and must not.’
‘A surgeon cannot afford mistakes, James. One mistake any one mistake may prove fatal. Another day or two, and the captain ’ He shook his head.
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