"Send a message to
the men on the other vessels that I--the subahdar, you know--have made up
my mind to allow one of the enemy's ships to pass me before giving the
signal. I shall thus capture one at least, and it may be the admiral's."
Hubbo set off, and when he reached his own vessel he sent a boat with a
message to each of the ships in turn. Meanwhile, thinking the appearance
of a petala alongside of the subahdar's sloop might awaken suspicion or
at least curiosity in the fort, Desmond decided to send it down the river
in charge of Hossain. He was thus left alone on deck with the subahdar's
third man.
For a time the man, standing far forward, was unaware of the striking
change in the personality garbed in the subahdar's clothes. But glancing
back at length, he started, looked a second time, and after a moment's
hesitation walked down the deck.
"Go back to your post," said Desmond sternly, "and see that you keep a
good lookout for the Firangi's ships."
The man salaamed and returned to the prow in manifest bewilderment. More
than once he looked back as he heard strange knockings from below.
Desmond only smiled. If the sound was heard from the forts, it would be
regarded merely as a sign that the preparations for sinking the vessel
were not yet completed.
Time passed on, and ever and anon Desmond looked eagerly down the river
for a sign of the oncoming fleet. At last, somewhere about midday, he
observed signs of excitement in Tanna Fort, and almost simultaneously saw
a puff of smoke and heard a report from one of its guns.
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