“Well I must report back to Captain Merriman when he comes back but until the ship is here I cannot. I saw the Governor and he suggested that you might have room for me here, at least somewhere I could sleep.
“Of course Lieutenant, there is plenty of room here, you are very welcome. The cook provided by the Governor is very good at his trade and there is an ample supply of food and the market is very near, so we won‘t starve.”
Chapter 31 – Merriman reports his success to the Governor
Once action at Beypore was over Merriman found himself with time on his hands. Certainly he knew that the ship was in the safe hands of his Master and officers, the routine drills he had insisted upon were carried out regularly and he resisted the urge to go on deck too many times in case the officers thought he didn’t trust them. When he did go up, one sweeping glance told him that all was well. The result was that he spent much of his time alone in his cabin with his thoughts drifting back towards home. “Had he left his wife pregnant? If so he could be a father in a few weeks, a boy maybe to follow him into the navy, but it could be a girl! Well it doesn’t really matter as long as Helen is well. I expect Mother has gone now and maybe Father as well. It could be months before fresh news reaches me out here.”
Cursing himself for brooding and making himself miserable about things he could do nothing about, he went on deck where the heat struck him like a blow. Like all the officers he wore only a shirt and breeches which were sodden in minutes. The ship was making a good speed with a fair wind but that wind didn’t cool him down. The sky was absolutely cloudless although clouds would gather later in the day bringing heavy rain. Because of the rain the crew was happy, washing their clothes which Merriman allowed them to dry on lines strung across the deck during the morning.
The ship was not far from Bombay at last, indeed Mr. Cuthbert had predicted that only three days would see them there. A hail from the foremast lookout stirred everyone. “Deck there, snakes Sir, lots of them.” He shouted, pointing ahead of the ship. Merriman walked to the quarter deck lee rail and looked over and every officer and crewman that could so did the same. It was even so, a tangled mass of writhing yellow snakes could be seen, hundreds possibly thousands of them.
Mr. Cuthbert, you have been in these waters before, have you ever seen anything like this before?” “Yes Sir, I have. They are called yellow bellied sea snakes and at certain times of the year they congregate in large numbers like that. They are venomous but not aggressive and can be seen all over the seas off India and Oman and down to the Seychelle islands. I think it is something to do with mating Sir.” The ship was soon past them and chattering men went back to their duties. Three days later, in the afternoon, the squadron entered the harbour at Bombay and the silence was broken by the thunder of cannon fire as salutes were made and acknowledged.
The prize crew on the captured frigate had roused out a spare anchor and all three frigates anchored in line, with the smaller vessels anchoring in their usual places near to where the sloop Villain had anchored. Merriman was pleased to see the Villain and he hoped that it meant that Merryweather had returned. Merriman’s boat was in the water almost before the ship had anchored with its crew all smartly dressed, Williams the cox’n keeping his keen eye on them. Captain Egerton joined him on the quayside and once again the Governor’s carriage was waiting and the two captains were speedily taken into the Governor’s office.
Welcome back Gentlemen, welcome, and did you see any pirates, was there a fight, were any convoy ships lost? I confess that we have been most anxious since you left. Damn it, I‘m so excited I am forgetting the usual courtesies. Morgan, go and arrange for drinks at once. Morgan disappeared returning with a khitmagar carrying drinks. Once they were settled Merriman began. “It has been a very successful round trip Sir, the weather was kind to us and we did have a fight with pirate ships but every ship in the convoy survived. We, that is the fighting ships, suffered very few casualties but the pirates were soundly beaten. They started with fourteen vessels of various sizes loaded with men. We sank all but one which escaped to tell the tale. We took no prisoners and hundreds of them drowned.”
As he related all that they had done at Chettuva and Beypore the Governor became more and more excited, but Merriman noticed that Morgan’s face fell as he heard of all the pirates losses and the destruction of the warships being built for Tipu Sahib and he wondered why Morgan should be so downcast, but the man soon recovered himself and joined in the discussion.
“That is excellent news Captain and I see that you have returned with another frigate.” “Yes indeed, we took it at Beypore and brought it home with a prize crew. I am hoping that the Company will buy it in for the Marine, Governor. The men from all the ships involved would welcome some prize money I‘m sure. It was damaged by our broadside but that will be easily put right, but it has not been fitted out with guns, partitions, stores and everything else needed. In fact it is only a shell and now it is here I need to take the prize crew back on board my ship.”
“There should be no difficulty over that Captain” said Mr. Duncan, “We would welcome another ship, especially a frigate. Our dockyard should be able to deal with it. Now then Captain Egerton, have you anything to add to Captain Merriman’s account?”
“Nothing more about the details Sir but I should like to recommend Captain Merriman most sincerely for his part. It was his advance planning and organisation which enabled us to achieve such success in everything we did.”
“So noted, Captain Egerton, so noted. Captain Merriman, I will make sure that news of your deeds will reach the necessary ears at the Admiralty” “Thank you Sir, may I ask if there is any news of Mr. Grahame, Lieutenant Merryweather and the man Gupta?” “Indeed yes Captain, Mr. Grahame has rented a bungalow and Merryweather is staying there with him. Morgan will show you the way.”
Chapter 32 – Planned exposure of Pirate informers
Arriving at Grahame’s bungalow and worried about the armed men Merriman and Egerton were welcomed warmly and put at ease by Grahame and Merryweather. Everybody told of their adventures and Merryweather again raising a laugh when he related the story of his disguise and the lice.
“Once again it seems that we have all done well, the pirates have been dealt a great blow which should keep them quiet for a while and with several of Tipu’s ships destroyed it might be some time before he can get a fleet together,” said Grahame, ”But there are many things we still have to do. Captain Merriman, I suggest that we all meet again tomorrow morning aboard your ship Sir. I would not be too happy discussing our plans in the bungalow, one doesn’t know whose ears may be listening.”
And so it was arranged, all came aboard Lord Stevenage, Captain Egerton and his First Lieutenant Wilde, Merriman and Lieutenant Andrews, Grahame, Gupta and Merryweather along with the Marine Captain St. James.
Mr. Grahame opened the discussion. “Gentlemen, as we all know our orders from London were to find out about Tipu’s fleet building and to help the Company in their fight against the pirates. We have done all that but not all the possible ship building places our French pirate captive Dumont told us of have been investigated and I am sure that he knows more than he has told us. I would like to talk with him again. We know that there are spies here in Bombay. It was proven to be so, otherwise how on earth did those ships know when to attack the convoy. Other small convoys have been attacked and the pirates seem to know where to catch them. It would take too long to go from here to the south of the country by road therefore the spies, or at least the information, must go by sea. As you have heard I have been attacked, so I must have worried somebody. The prisoner is still here James is he not?”
“Yes Sir, he is confined below at night but I have allowed him some time on deck every day. I’ll have him brought up at once. Captain St. James, will you see to that please.” A few minutes later St. James appeared again followed by a very apprehensive Dumont escorted by two burly marines. Merriman and the others looked the man up and down
before Merriman said, “Thank you Captain, I think your men could wait outside, Lieutenant Dumont cannot escape even if he wants to. Am I right M’sieur?
“Oui Captain, I will not escape, I don’t want to. I know you could have me hanged as a pirate but I feel safer here than I did among the pirates. What do you want of me?”
“The truth! What you told Mr. Grahame when we captured you has for the most part been proved correct, but I don’t think you told us everything you know about the pirates hiding places, or the spies they must have in Bombay. Now then what else do you know?”
Dumont took a deep breath, looked at all the men facing him and said “While I was with the pirates I saw many different men from trading ships looking for Den Bosch the leader of those cutthroats. I don’t know what these men told him but I think they must have been his spies. Soon afterward he sent ships out loaded with men. Those ships came back with plenty of trade goods, obviously stolen. Den Bosch is a violent man and will kill anyone who opposes him but because he is able to take so many ships the men will do what he wants them to do. He is a devil, I saw him kill one man because he spilt some wine on his shoulder, stabbed him in the throat without getting to his feet.”
“All that may be true and I don’t doubt it, but do you know or can recognise any of the men who come to see him?”
“I may be able to but I saw them only briefly and may not recognise them. One of them is a white man and is the captain or owner of his trade ship, I don’t know which.”
“That is interesting Dumont, do you know if he comes from Bombay?” asked Grahame. “I think so Sir,” replied the Frenchman ”but I would recognise him if I saw him again. One other thing Sir, Den Bosch boasts that he has a frigate, I don’t know much about it or where he keeps it. I think it may be one of two that brought volunteers from Isle de France to support Tipu’s army. One of them left again but the other disappeared and may be the one Den Bosch boasts about. If it is, he must have persuaded the crew to join him or killed them all.”
“Thank you M’sieur, I think that will help us. Captain, have him taken out.”
When the prisoner and escort had left Grahame said “We must act on this, but not too precipitately, we need to know more. I think we had better take our tame Frenchman ashore, in disguise of course and see if he recognises the man. Do any of you Gentlemen have anything to add?”
They all sat for a few moments before Merriman said “I have a suspicion Mr. Grahame, but only that and no proof. Captain Egerton, do you remember when we were with the Governor to report on our actions, did you notice anything strange about his secretary Morgan? No? Well I thought he seemed very upset and downcast when he heard about the pirate’s losses but he quickly recovered himself and joined in the conversation. Why would he not be happy if a lot of pirates were killed?
“A good point Captain,” said Grahame, “maybe he is the man the Frenchman saw. I have another point. You know I was attacked and shot at, well that followed on my discussion with Mr. Goldberg and my comments about spies. I noticed one of his clerks was too interested and moved closer to hear. He should be watched too. I don‘t suspect Goldberg himself, I don‘t think he is clever enough to be involved, but I think our course of action is now determined. If you are agreeable Captain and if Mr. Merryweather is willing, he could disguise himself again and with our friend Gupta go into the town and the warehouse area to see if they can find out any more.”
Chapter 33 – Informers caught
Gupta procured more native clothing for Merryweather and later that night they were taken ashore, quickly disappearing into the darkness. Merriman and Grahame sat up late that night discussing their plans, and finally resolved to take Dumont ashore and walk him round outside the governor’s offices in the hope that he would see Morgan. So, Merriman went ashore with Lieutenant Andrews and Dumont, who was dressed in clothing from the ship’s slop chest and provided with a wide brimmed hat as disguise. He was to pose as Merriman’s servant and it was pressed on him that if he saw anybody he recognised he was not to reveal it.
Sure that they would be watched, they set of on a tour of the islands of Bombay with Dumont following meekly behind. Grahame’s two bodyguards also attached themselves to the party. They wandered round the entire business district looking into several warehouses and ending up near the Governor’s offices where Dumont was trusted to wait outside as a servant would whilst they went in to see Mr. Duncan who as always was pleased to see them. “Welcome Gentlemen, Morgan, be so good as to call for refreshment for our guests. Have you any more plans afoot that I may know about and can I help? Not that you seem to need my help, you have all worked wonders at sea since you arrived Captain.”
“Nothing definite planned as yet Sir, although we shall take a cruise down the coast again, who knows what we might find. There are many small rivers that we have not investigated and with luck we might find that devil Den Bosch. With all the losses we have inflicted upon him he must surely have to do something desperate to show that he is not beaten.”
“Mr. Grahame, are you any nearer finding out if we have spies for the pirates here?” “No Sir, I have not although I am certain there are some. I am at a loss to know what to do next. And now Governor, we must leave you, you are a very busy man Sir, we shall intrude no longer.”
“You are always welcome Gentlemen especially if you can bring me some cheering news. Morgan, will you please show our visitors out and you could show them the new work going on to fill in some of the waterways to join some of our islands together.” As Morgan took them out and walked them to the sea front he showed them the constant stream of women with baskets on their head carrying soil and rock for the development. Grahame’s bodyguards followed behind with Dumont trailing behind them. “Come on man, don’t dawdle, I want to get back on board, hurry yourself and use the flag to signal for the boat,” Merriman snarled at him. “Aye-aye Sir, coming Sir,” replied Dumont acting the underling perfectly.
They were quickly back aboard the Lord Stevenage and in the great cabin. “Now then M’sieur Dumont, have you anything to tell us, did you recognise anyone?”
“Oui Capitan, yes I have, that man who showed you round, I have seen him in a tavern talking with Den Bosch down in a place called Chettuva where he keeps some of his ships.”
“Did you by God? We attacked Chettuva only a few weeks ago, he wasn’t there but we destroyed some of his ships. Thank you M’sieur, you have been very helpful so I don’t think we shall hang you, at least not yet. Sentry, pass the word for the prisoner’s escort.”
“So you were right James, Morgan is the one. He is in the best place to know when ships are sailing and you told me that he has his own ships and he travels south in them on occasion. He must have men that he can send to Den Bosch if he can’t go himself. Well we must wait for your Lieutenant to come back and tell us if he has found out anything that will help us round up Morgan’s henchmen. Remember the old saying James, ‘An open enemy is better than a false friend.’”
The normal routine aboard continued with the crew engaged in the multitude of tasks needed to keep the ship in readiness for action. Merriman allowed shore parties of reliable men under petty officers to look around the markets. Merryweather and Gupta returned two days later, all agog to tell where they had been and what they had seen. Merryweather was still dressed as a smelly beggar and he and Gupta showed everybody how they had passed as beggars.
“Excellently done, Mr. Merryweather, get cleaned up and put your proper uniform on then report to my cabin. Gupta, why don’t you look as dirty or smell as bad as Mr. Merryweather?”
“Easy Sahib, I have to look after him, he is lunatic and never washes. People smell him and keep away.”
The lieutenant, washed and dressed soon joined them, full of excitement as he told Merriman and Grahame what they had done. “We found four suspicious characters Sir, one in Mr. Goldberg’s warehouse as you said. He met with three others from different warehouses all trying to look inconspicuous when the
y met at the arrack shop. We must have looked like part of the surroundings as they didn’t seem to notice us.”
“Very well done Lieutenant, I will see to it that you will have special mention in my reports. And you as well Gupta, you have done more than we hoped. Mr. Grahame, what do you feel that we should do next? I think we should arrest Morgan and the other three men and after that I must sail south to see if I can find this fellow Den Bosch and his frigate and bring him to account.”
“Yes James, that we must do.”
And so it was that that evening Gupta pointed out the four men to a company of Sepoys with Lieutenant Carter and a Davidar or Sergeant in command, who quickly arrested them and took them away to the army camp with the Sergeant keeping a close eye on them. Merriman and Grahame watched all that activity, then satisfied that all had been conducted properly made their way to the Governor’s office and requested to see him. Grahame’s two tough body guards were with them and he instructed them to stay out of sight but near the office. A servant ushered them in to find Duncan and Morgan engaged in sorting out a pile of paperwork. “Gentlemen, I’m surprised to see you again so soon and armed I see. What is happening?” Merriman answered, “We thought it best to be armed in the streets Sir, in case Mr. Grahame was attacked again. We have found three men we suspect to be spies, clerks in some of the warehouses, but we still have to find out who it is that employs them. We have a good idea who it is but------ Mr. Morgan! Don’t you want to hear more?” Morgan was moving slowly towards the door when Merriman saw him pick up a sword leaning against a chair. He quickly drew his own sword as did Morgan and then there was no sound but for the clash of blades. It only took a moment, Morgan was not skilled with a sword and Merriman’s blade quickly pierced his arm and he dropped his sword and gripped his arm from which blood was seeping.
The Threat in the East (The Merriman Chronicles Book 3) Page 13