‘I must say I’m surprised,’ the master said, ‘to find you still operating in these latitudes. I understood the war was over.’

Gus, pouring wine, almost tipped it into the man’s soup plate instead of his glass. There was a moment of stunned silence and then Lieutenant Whittle gave a light laugh. ‘Whatever gave you that idea?’

‘We touched in San Francisco, about two weeks back, and the papers were full of it. According to what I read, Charleston and Richmond have fallen and General Lee is in full retreat.’

Gus saw glances exchanged around the table and then Lieutenant Bulloch said, ‘I never believe anything I read in the papers. Most of the time it’s just gossip, or downright lies.’

‘Well, here’s another bit of news for you, and I don’t think you can call it either gossip or lies. President Lincoln has been assassinated.’

The concerted intake of breath and the repeated murmur of ‘assassinated’ reminded Gus of the sound of the surf on the beach on Ascension Island. Then Whittle said, ‘How? Who by?’

‘Shot in Ford’s Theatre, in the middle of watching a play. And who by? One of your people, a fellow called Booth.’

‘Not one of ours!’ Whittle said. ‘No man of honour would stoop to such a dastardly act.’

‘Mebbe not,’ the master replied. ‘But he was a southerner, that’s for sure.’

Later that night, Gus, on his way to his hammock, saw that Mason was on watch on the quarterdeck. ‘Sir?’ he said, craning his neck to look up at him. ‘Do you think the South is really beaten?’

Mason did not answer at once. Then he said, ‘If there is any truth in the report, it is a bad day for our cause. But I refuse to believe it is lost.’

Over the next days the rumour spread that the civil war was over, and an atmosphere of unease permeated the ship. Gus heard low-voiced conversations and the import of them all was the same. ‘If it is over, where does that leave us? We’ve been operating outside the law since the peace was signed.’

Their next prize was a ship called the Susan Abigail, and when Captain Waddell had interviewed the master he appeared in the wardroom with a beaming smile.

‘There we are, gentlemen. I told you those stories were exaggerated. Captain Redfield has brought newspapers with him that he picked up in San Francisco as recently as April 17th. Lee has not been defeated. There has been a setback, admittedly, but he has retreated to North Carolina and swears to continue the fight.’

The announcement was greeted with a cheer, but Gus could see that a shadow of doubt still hung over some faces. Whether the captain believed it or not, he was obviously determined to add to his tally of prizes. In the next few days the crew of the Shenandoah boarded and burnt seven more whaling ships.