The Threat in the East (The Merriman Chronicles Book 3)

by Roger Burnage

  Governor Duncan was aghast, Morgan? It can’t be Morgan, he has been my secretary for years and I have trusted him. Captain Merriman, what do you know that I don’t?” “Plenty Sir, we have no doubt that he is the spy and that he reports ship movements to Den Bosch.” “It’s a lie Sir, I‘ve done no such thing” yelled Morgan as he dashed for the door, flung it open then stopped dead. Grahame’s two men were outside and they instantly seized him, pushed him to the floor and put the point of a sword to his throat.

  “I think his own actions have betrayed him Governor, an innocent man would not have used a sword or try to escape. At least he would have wanted to hear what evidence we had.” Mr. Duncan sat down with a thud in his chair, “I can’t believe it Captain, and will you please tell me what evidence you have?”

  “I will do so Sir but first I think Morgan should be removed,” said Grahame nodding to his men who picked the wretched Morgan up and marched him off, closing the door behind them.

  Grahame and Merriman told him the details of the investigation, that Morgan had been seen with Den Bosch and that Morgan’s four men had denounced him, well, three of them did, the other was killed as he tried to escape. The Governor seemed to shrink as the details were told to him. “My God, I can hardly believe it even now, how did he, why did he do it?” “Money I expect Sir, that is the usual cause of treachery, perhaps you could arrange for his house to be searched Sir.”

  “Most certainly, I’ll go with you right away.” Outside they found Captain Carter with the rest of his Sepoys and left Morgan in their capable hands, first emptying his pockets and taking his keys. The three of them walked to Morgan’s house with Grahame’s men close by. It was only a short walk and when they got there they found the doors wide open and not a single servant to be found. Nothing out of the ordinary was found until a large commode was moved to reveal a large steel safe. Morgan’s keys soon had it open and they stood there in amazement. There were boxes of gold and silver coins, gold ornaments and two large boxes filled with jewelry sparkling in the lantern light.

  “Gentlemen that is all the proof I need, the man would never have collected such wealth from legitimate trade and the Company did not pay him this kind of money. Most of it must have come from his liaison with pirates, the gold and jewels especially. All this must be taken to my office as soon as possible; I have a bigger and stronger safe there. He will have a fair trial as the law demands but I think he is doomed.”

  Chapter 34 – Ships sail again, ruthless search once more

  Two weeks later the Lord Stevenage and the five Company warships were again headed south to try and find Den Bosch and the rest of his followers. The bomb ketch had been left behind as it did not have the speed of the others. Gupta was with them and had told Merriman about more small harbours that they could search although many of them would be too small to hide a frigate. Merriman had invited the officers from the company ships to dinner and spirits were running high at the thought that they may find more pirate vessels including the mysterious frigate.

  At the end of the meal, Merriman called for silence. “Gentlemen, I appreciate your excitement but may I remind you of an old dictum, ‘he who would skin the bear has first to catch it.’ This will not be easy, if we find them they will fight to the end and we will have losses, maybe heavy ones. I propose that the two frigates stay offshore but in sight of the sloops which will go as close inshore as prudent to see what may be found. If we find that frigate it may have most of the French crew still on board who will be used to handling both the ship and its guns but I have no doubt we shall prevail. They haven’t had the practice that my men have, if they have been hidden away and not going to sea for months they will have lost their sharpness, and if half the crew is Indian and not used to handling a big ship so much the better.” He paused and took another sip of wine.

  “I should think it likely that if we find it, there will be many other ships with it, small or large and they will also have to be dealt with. I will take the frigate and you Gentlemen, must try to take or sink as many as you can, but don’t get too near, if they board you it will be savage fighting. If there are not too many of them to deal with some of you could perhaps assist my ship. That is as far as I can plan, are there any questions?”

  It was a thoughtful group of officers that dispersed to their own ships, perhaps only just realising what they would be facing. Few of them had been in a major sea battle and it would be a baptism of fire for many of them. Merriman could only hope that they would be able to cope with it.

  Chapter 35 – Violent gale, ships damaged

  But there was no quick result of their search. That night a violent gale arose and in the maelstrom of shrieking wind, torrential rain and enormous waves battering the ships there was no hope of keeping them together. Merriman had lookouts both aloft and on deck, replaced every hour with fresh men, but nothing was seen. The storm was so powerful that they could only run before it under bare poles and a single jib, the helmsmen lashed to the wheel struggling to keep the ship straight. Merriman could not know how the other ships were faring and he could only hope that they would come through safely.

  The gale blew itself out as dawn broke and the near frozen and soaked lookout at the main topmast cross trees shouted down “Deck there, I can see only one ship Sir, the frigate.” More sail was set and the Lord Stevenage slowly clawed her way down to the other ship’s position. Indeed it was the Bombay, missing her fore top mast but nothing more obvious to be seen. They were nearly together when the lookout shouted down again, “Sir, one of the brig’s is out there.” He pointed beyond the Bombay to where a ship with only one mast was rolling wildly and only seen when it rose on a wave and then disappeared in the trough of the next wave. When they reached it Merriman could see that it was the brig India Sun, listing heavily with the wreckage of its top hamper dragging it over. A few figures could be seen desperately hacking away at the cordage holding the ruin of the mast to relieve the ship of its weight but it made a sorry sight.

  “Mr. Cuthbert, come up to that ship and give her our lee and we can find out how bad their damage is.” The Master bellowed the orders and the Lord Stevenage passed the stricken ship until he was between it and the still heavy wind creating a lee. An officer waved from the ruin of the ship and Merriman used a speaking trumpet to shout “How badly are you damaged?” The officer shouted back “We lost the captain and a lot of men when then the mast came down. She is leaking like a sieve Sir and I don’t think she will last much longer.” “Mr. Andrews, find some volunteers to take a boat down to that ship, I want to save as many as are left of the crew.”

  “Aye-aye Sir, he turned away bellowing for Matthews and a crew for the boat. It was no easy task to swing a boat overboard due to the erratic movement of the ship but it was done and the boat was pulling hard for the for the damaged sloop when Andrews shouted, “She is lower in the water than she was a few minutes ago, I think she is going.” It was true and the boat had barely managed to get clear with survivors before the ship turned over and rapidly disappeared below the waves. The miserable, wet and shocked crewmen, fifteen of them, were pulled from the waves and hastily given dry clothing and with a large tot of grog they soon recovered. The only surviving officer was Lieutenant Graves, a mere slip of a youth, no more than seventeen or eighteen years old. Merriman took him down to the great cabin and gently asked him what had happened.

  “The gale Sir, the worst I’ve ever seen, not that I’ve seen many, I was only appointed to the India Sun six months ago Sir.” He fell silent until Merriman said “And then?” The youth, startled, said “I was on deck with Captain Little and Lieutenant Jones and other men Sir, the captain decided to get more sail off her and sent all our Topmen aloft to reef the main topsail. That’s when it happened, the men were on the footropes and had only just started to furl the sail when the yard broke, then the mainmast snapped off and took the fore topsail with it. Not an instant later half of the main yard swung round and fell through the companionw
ay, it must have pierced the hull because we started to take on water. The captain was dead Sir and so was the first Lieutenant and many of the seasoned hands. They had gone overboard with the mast and yard, the bos’n was knocked out and I was the only officer left. I put some of the men on the pumps but we were flooding too fast and the pumps couldn’t cope with it. I confess Sir, it was all beyond me, I had no experience of that kind of thing and then we saw you Sir and thought we had a chance. Some good men went down with her,” he whispered, staring straight ahead, obviously reliving it all in his mind.

  “Do you think Captain Little held on too much sail for the conditions, Lieutenant?” “I wondered about that Sir but he was the captain, with far more experience than I had, so I cannot say if he was right or wrong. Maybe he did hold on too long or maybe the gear was rotten, I cannot say.”

  Merriman left him with a few encouraging words then went on deck to find the Master and First Lieutenant side by side looking back at the Bombay. “How are they doing David, can they clear the raffle and get her under way?” “They are trying to get a spare spar aloft to serve as a new topmast, but all this pitching and rolling is making it very difficult Sir. They have stopped for now, waiting until the sea abates a bit more I expect.”

  True the wind was easing and the great rollers were less fierce than they had been but the ships were still lively. “Have we any damage Mr. Cuthbert?” asked Merriman. “Nothing to speak of Sir, only a few ropes gone but already spliced. We have come through the gale better than I expected Sir---------”

  “Deck there, two more ships Sir, on the port quarter, I think they are ours. “ Merriman had no cause to doubt him; the seaman up there must have sharp eyes to spot them. “Up you go Mr. Shrigley, take a glass and tell me what you see.” “Aye-aye Sir” he replied and climbed aloft like a frightened monkey. “The man’s right Sir, two ships, a sloop and a brig. No damage that I can see from here. There is another one too Sir, further away, I think it is the other sloop.”

  By noon the next day the small squadron was together, and all of the ships damaged in at least some small way but overall in reasonable condition. The crew of the Bombay were still finishing off the fitting of the new topmast but Captain Egerton had reported that his ship was again ready for action. The two sloops and the brig all had damage and reported the loss of some of their crew. When the weather had moderated sufficiently Merriman signaled for all captains to come to the Lord Stevenage. When all were seated he said, “Gentlemen, I think we need to go back to Bombay for a refit. All of you have sustained some damage and in another gale may have more without a dockyard inspection.” There was a storm of protest, all of them insisting that their ships would be ready to meet whatever threat the weather could provide, but Merriman overruled them. “I know you are all disappointed, but there is another reason why I must go back. As you know there is to be a trial of Morgan and the rest. It is important that Mr. Grahame and Gupta, together with myself and our Frenchman are there to give evidence. The Governor said it would wait until our return but I think we should get it over as soon as possible. Another possibility is that the other Company frigate may have arrived back from Madras and would be a valuable addition to our little fleet.”

  Chapter 36 – Return to Bombay for trial and punishment

  As Merriman had instructed, yet with some reluctance amongst the captains, they turned back towards Bombay. When they finally anchored in the bay at Bombay they were pleased to see the extra frigate Madras there. Merriman and Grahame made their way to Government House where there was no delay in taking them to see the Governor. The poor man had changed whilst they had been away, his hair had more grey in it, his shoulders bent and his face more lined. He greeted them courteously but they were shocked to see the difference in him. “I know Gentlemen, I know, I am not the man I was before you left. Without Morgan much more work falls to me and there is always the worry about more spies and Tipu’s intentions. Please tell me if you have some good news.”

  “Nothing new Sir, we were beset by a violent gale in which we lost the brig India Sun and most ships were damaged, so I judged it best to return here for proper repairs. Of course there is also the matter of the trial,” said Merriman, Grahame nodding his head in agreement.

  “Yes, of course. Now that you are all here I will arrange for the trial to take place in the early morning of the day after tomorrow and get it over before Christmas. The prisoners are still prisoners and the witnesses should be ready. Not a pleasant experience Gentlemen, but it must be done and I’ll be glad when it’s over.”

  The morning of the trial dawned and Merriman, Grahame, Dumont and Gupta were rowed ashore where a large carriage awaited to take them up to Government House. A large room had been fitted out to be as much like a courtroom as possible and the four of them were led through it, surprised to see plenty of people already sitting there, then invited into a small adjoining room where the Governor joined them. “A sorry day Captain, a sorry day. I would like to ask you to remove your best coats but I hope the punkahs I have arranged will help to keep the room cool. I shall not be the judge today, General Stuart has returned in time to take that office. He is after all the military commander of Bombay, which is more in keeping with regulations and of course means that I shall be a witness.”

  They sat in silence for an hour at least before an Indian in a black gown, a court official, asked for Mr. Grahame to follow him into the courtroom. One after another they were called in, Merriman next then the Governor, then the Frenchman Dumont and even Gupta, to give evidence. Through it all Morgan sat in a chair, white faced and trembling with two Sepoys guarding him. The three Indian prisoners were kept apart and likewise guarded. A jury of army officers and merchants had been summoned and all looked shaken by what they had heard. Finally General Stuart asked them to leave the room to consider their verdict but they were back very quickly with the only verdict they could give which was Guilty. “Thank you Gentlemen. Now before I pass sentence do any of the prisoners have anything else to say?”

  The court official spoke to the three Indians in their own language but after a short dialogue they started shouting. The official spoke to them again after which they shook their heads and stared miserably at the floor. “Nothing Sir, they have nothing more to say in their own defence.”

  “Very well then, have the soldiers bring the three of them to the front for me to pass sentence.” “I know that you all understand what is happening here and you also know what could happen to you. You have all betrayed your Factors and the Company and passed information to the pirates but I know you were seduced by this other man and his promises. You will not be hanged but you are sentenced to work in the Company’s quarries, in chains for the next six years. Take them away.”

  Merriman and the others sat in silence while the men were dragged away and until the excited chatter of the spectators had died down. The General banged on his desk and called for immediate silence, banging repeatedly with the gavel until an expectant silence hung over the room.

  “The prisoner will stand, Mr. Morgan, you have heard all the evidence against you, have you anything to say before I pass sentence? The trembling man shook his head not saying a word. “Very well then, you realise that there is only one sentence you can expect for your crimes and that is death. So I sentence you to death, not by hanging but by firing squad immediately at the rear of this building.” He frowned at the audience, “And there will be no spectators. Captain Carter, take him away and see that the sentence is carried out without delay.” Knowing the likely outcome of the trial, all must have been arranged beforehand because after only a short wait the crash of musketry was heard, it was all over. The subdued public dispersed and the Governor told Grahame and Merriman that the General wished to speak with them.

  “I wish to thank you both for all you have done in this whole sad affair,” said General Stuart, “From what I have been told, if Morgan had not been caught more information would have found its way to our enemies. Congra
tulations and thank you. I would like to ask you to dinner in my quarters but I understand that the Governor has arranged a dinner for Christmas Day and you will be sailing again in a few days afterwards if all repairs are completed, is that right?” “Yes Sir, it is. We want to try a different plan to catch the mysterious Den Bosch who controls the damned pirates.”

  “Well good luck to you my boy and good hunting, I’ll see you when you get back here.”

  Chapter 37 – Christmas festivities

  The Governor had indeed arranged for a lavish Christmas dinner at his residence to which all officers from the ships and the army had been invited leaving the crew and only the necessary officers aboard. And the crew of the Lord Stevenage had not been forgotten. A bullock had been roasted over a huge fire on the beach and the cooked meat was eagerly awaited on board. The governor had also supplied two barrels of wine to complete their pleasure. At the feast ashore good wishes abounded with all the officers repeatedly toasted to their success. Many people fell asleep although Merriman kept a sharp eye on his own men to ensure that they did not overindulge.

  For himself the festivities, the food and drink, reminded him forcefully of Christmas celebrations at home with a huge meal prepared by Annie, his mother’s housekeeper and friend, the gifts and jollifications lasting well into the evening. But he was saddened by the thought that his mother may be dead, maybe his father as well. He pondered about what his new wife Helen would be doing, had she been pregnant when he left and was he now a father? His gloomy introspection was interrupted by the Governor’s wife who nudged him forcefully in the ribs, “Come Captain, why look so lugubrious at this happy time?”