“Good!” he told Nason. “We’ll make something out of these men! There’s a barrel of rum in my boat. Have it brought aboard.”

He turned abruptly and came aft. “So this is it!” he said, looking from Tom to me. “You did better than I thought you would. This isn’t a bad vessel!”

“She’s a good vessel,” I said. “She’ll sail rings around the Royal Savage.”

Arnold laughed. “To tell you the truth, the Royal Savage is about as wild as they come. In a breeze she bumps everything in sight, larboard, starboard, dead ahead or dead astern. I made up my mind when you were a mile away. This is the vessel for me.” He looked aggressive, as if he expected a protest.

“You’ve made no mistake,” I said. “She can sail, and I think these men have learned to sail her.”

“Can they fight her? They’ll have to do both.”

Nason had come to the quarterdeck with Cap Huff. Cap spoke up eagerly. “General, that’s the first thing I taught ’em. ‘Either you can fight the British,’ I told ’em, ‘or you’ll fight me!’ That was enough for ’em; they’ll be wildcats for fighting, General, if ever you show ’em any British to fight.”

“I think I can show ’em some,” Arnold said. “I wish I could be as sure of showing ’em some decent coats and breeches.”

His face was lumpy. “Damn ’em! If they’d only give me what I ask for, there’d never be an Englishman get as far as Crown Point, not unless he floated there dead! Ask for a frigate and they give you a raft! Ask for sailors and they give you tavern waiters! Ask for a thousand pairs of breeches and they send you a dozen waistcoats. Ask for supplies and they call you a thief!”

He seemed boiling mad: then unexpectedly he smiled. “We’ll fool ’em! We’ll fool ’em yet! Try to keep the men supplied with rum, so they won’t freeze. I’ve asked for clothes, but I can’t get ’em.”

“General,” I asked, “have you heard for certain how many vessels the British have built?”

He stared at me, pushing out that under lip. “Look here: I’ll move into this vessel today. What sort of quarters are there?”

“Nothing to brag about,” I told him. “There’s one big room aft, for officers. I didn’t bulkhead it, in case we had to use it for a hospital. We sleep on the floor; but there’s a mess table, and you could sleep on that.”

“That’s all right,” Arnold said. “I’ll go back, get my things, and move right over.”

Zelph came aft, tenderly carrying a round-bellied kettle. “Lobscouse, Cap’n Peter!” he shouted. “Lobscouse, all hot’n thick! Thickest lobscouse I ever see. We eat now, guess we better.”

“Lobscouse!” Arnold cried. “What’s in it?”