In between his duties he explored the ship and tried to learn as much as he could about its management. Mason continued to take a friendly interest in him. He seemed to feel a kind of proprietorial pride in ‘his’ stowaway. Finding that Gus was intelligent and eager to learn he was prepared to answer his many questions.

‘She’s called the Laurel, and she’s what is known as an auxiliary steamer. That means that sail is her principal means of propulsion but she has steam engines to give her extra flexibility. They are very handy in tricky manoeuvres, like getting into and out of port, or when the wind falls too light – or to give us an extra turn of speed when necessary.’

Most of the senior officers had little time for his questions, but Mason was always patient. Finding that Gus could read, he offered to lend him a book. It was called The Cruise of the Alabama and had been published just before they sailed. A lot of the words were difficult and Gus skipped quite a few pages, but the story was exciting enough to make him persist. The Alabama, a Confederate ship, was what was known as a commerce raider, her purpose to capture or destroy merchant ships belonging to the Union, in order to disrupt trade and deny the enemy essential supplies.

In the course of a voyage lasting two years she had captured or burnt sixty-five ships and taken 2,000 prisoners, without any loss of life on either side. She was eventually sunk after a thrilling sea battle off the port of Cherbourg by a Union ship called the Kearsage. It was, in effect, a story of piracy on the high seas, and Gus could not dismiss the feeling that it must be illegal, but it was clear that Mason admired the ship’s exploits, and if he thought it was all right, that was good enough for Gus. Besides, it was a story with enough adventure and daring to set any boy’s pulse racing.