Chapter 9
A Chancy AffairAlmost as suddenly as the fighting on deck had begun, it stopped. The Danish seamen dropped their weapons and huddled together under the levelled muskets of the Marines and the threat of a fence of half-pikes held by Kestrel’s seamen. The sudden reversal of their fortunes seemed to bemuse most of them, but a young officer among them grasped the situation quickly and offered his sword as Petroc approached.
Accepting the Dane’s surrender, Petroc greeted his second lieutenant with a grin of relief. It had been close, perhaps too close. “Welcome back, John. Your arrival was timeous!”
“Thank you, sir.” The lieutenant’s teeth flashed as he smiled. “We have two gunboats for you. What would you have us do with them?”
“We’ll man them, of course. It will sow a little con
