It contained da'ma. They
were to break it open, tear down the hangings in the cabin, smear them
plentifully, and set light to them from the lantern. Meanwhile Desmond
himself, with the rest of the men, set about preparing the gallivat in
which he was about to make his next move.
The lightest of the line of vessels was the one in which the watchmen had
been gambling. It happened that this, with the gallivat next to it, had
come into harbor late in the evening from a short scouting cruise, and
the sweeps used by their crews had not been carried on shore, as the
custom was. The larger vessel had fifty of these sweeps, the smaller
thirty. If pursuit was to be checked it was essential that none of them
should be left in the enemy's hands, and the work of carrying the fifty
from the larger to the smaller vessel took some time.
There was no longer the same need for quietness of movement. So long as
any great noise and bustle was avoided, the sentinels on the walls of the
fort would only suppose, if sounds reached their ears, that the watch on
board were securing the gallivats at their moorings.
When the sweeps had all been transferred Desmond ordered the prisoners to
be brought from Angria's cabin to the smaller vessel. The lashings of
their feet were cut in turn; each man was carefully searched, deprived of
all weapons, and escorted from the one vessel to the other, his feet
being then securely bound as before.
On board the smallest gallivat were now Desmond, five of his companions,
and eleven helpless Marathas.
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