Gus found Victoria’s friendship disturbing. All his life had been spent in the company of his own sex and his only guide as to how to behave towards women had been the raunchy gossip of his shipmates. Victoria had two older brothers, one away at school and the other working somewhere ‘up-country’, and she also had a wide circle of friends of both sexes, which Gus found surprising.

She had a matter-of-fact, straightforward manner with all of them but Gus found it hard to hit the same tone. When he was close to her it set up all sorts of unfamiliar sensations, both in his body and his mind. At night in his hammock he could not stop thinking about her and had dreams that produced effects of which he was deeply ashamed. It was Lofty, who seemed to feel he had a responsibility towards him since their first excursion on shore, who took him off to a quiet corner of the deck and explained, in coarse sailors’ terms, the facts of life.

Despite his hesitation, Gus accepted Victoria’s offer of help and an hour spent with their heads together over a sheet of paper resulted in a letter that seemed acceptable.

‘What’s the address?’ Victoria asked.

‘Oh! I don’t know.’

‘You can’t send a letter without an address.’

‘No, I s’pose not.’

‘You said she was in service somewhere.’

‘Yes.’

‘What was the name of the people she worked for?’

Gus racked his memory. ‘Began with F … Foster? No, Freeman. That was it.’

‘Didn’t she ever tell you where they lived?’

‘No … Just a minute … No, I can’t remember. I think she said he owned a shop.’

Victoria looked doubtful. ‘I suppose if you addressed it to her at Freeman’s shop it might get there.’

‘Best I can do,’ Gus said.

One day, when repairs to the ship were almost completed, a posse of policemen appeared at the dry dock. Gus was just finishing tidying the officers’ cabins and preparing to go ashore. He went out on deck and heard the man in charge of them shout up to Lieutenant Grimble, who had been left in charge of the ship.

‘We have reason to believe that you have on board men you have illegally recruited during your stay here. They have broken the law forbidding men to join foreign forces and the statement of neutrality proclaimed by Her Majesty’s government. We wish to come on board to search for them and arrest them.’

‘I am afraid,’ Grimble replied, ‘in the absence of Captain Waddell I do not have the authority to permit that.’

The policemen went away, but next morning they were back with the same demand. This time the captain was on the quarterdeck.