 You two quarters, this tower of battery! One broadside into it, if you please, Captain Bush. Pointes on target, blimps tops ready! The C.S. Foresters, indomitable man of the sea, a ratio, hornblower! Keep close watch on our reservists, for at any moment a squadron of Spaniards might push out suddenly and bounce on us. But we reached Gibraltar without incident, and Captain Piliu left the ship to pay his respect to them. And he returned. He sent for me in his cabin. And as I went below, I wondered nervously what crimes I had committed. Acting Lieutenant Hornblower, sir? Ah, Mr. Hornblower. Acting Lieutenant, eh? You like that touch of? Sufficiently well, sir? Better than midship, eh? Oh, yes, sir. Still, not so good as Lieutenant, eh? Uh, no, sir. Well, Mr. Hornblower, then you ought to consider this good news. There will be an examination for Lieutenant tomorrow, Captain's Board. What do you think of that, eh? Well, I'm, uh, suddenly interested, sir. Of course you are. The examination will be held aboard the old prison hulk over there, the Santa Barbara. You are ready to take it? I hope, Mr. Hornblower? Well, I, um... Are you? Yes. Let's see. You have held my orders acting Lieutenant for two months now. Is that right? Perfect, sir. If you pass this examination, I, then, the day after tomorrow, you will be a full Lieutenant with no nonsense about it. And you'll have two months' seniority. Well, it's sung wonderful, sir, but, uh, but what? Well, nothing, sir, but... I was just thinking what would happen if I, if I should fail. You would rev up to midship, unnaturally. And you'd lose about eight months' seniority. Because it's for six months at least before you could try again. Yes, I know that, sir. Well, well, do you say you do feel ready for this examination? Well, I, um... Oh, yes. Very well then. Report to the Santa Barbara at three p.m. tomorrow with your certificates and journals. Aye, aye, sir. Tell Mr. Bolton you have my permission to go. You may use one of the ship's boats. Thank you, sir. That's all. Oh, and, uh, by the way... Yes, sir? Good luck, Hornblower. I wish that I could be as confident of the examination as I pretended. The truth was, I, I hadn't expected it to come so soon. Well, there was nothing for it then, but to get out... Norris, epitome of navigation and Clark's complete handbook of seamanship, and try in the next 24 hours to be up on everything in those two thick volumes. There were other things to be attended to besides. And my friend, midshipman Jack Brace, never let me forget them. Shoes, hmm? Oh, well, what's that, Brace? I said shoes. Oh, look, figuring on that is difficult enough without you getting cryptic on me, Brace. Boy, what do you mean? You'll have to wear your bottle shoes, remember? Oh, good, it happens that's true. Oh, chuck them to me, laddie. Buck, I'll go to the gun room and get them polished. So he took my shoes and I went back to my navigation. It was a long time before Brace came back. Yeah, take this. Hmm? Oh, what's that? My clean shirt. You don't have to clean one. Well, you know, I don't want that. Oh, thanks very much, sir. Not at all. What about my shoes? Oh, well, don't worry. Oh, great, Neptune, haven't you got them polished yet? The gun room supply of shoe blacking is right to a chip. Oh, no. That's all right. I had sure the men work it soft with lard. Oh, well. Unfortunately, the resultant compound stubbornly refuses to take a polish. Oh, then he goes, what am I to do with that? I too may not work with the gun room's melting shoe brush. When they're through with that, they'll use a soft cloth. Well, don't worry. We'll bring your shoes up to a condition of brightness worthy of an examination for a tenant. I was by no means satisfied with what I knew of navigation, but I did have to close that book and start on the handbook of seamanship. Oh, I felt so abysmal. Jack Britches' interruptions at least serve the purpose of taking my mind off my desperate lack of knowledge. Britches. Well, what are you talking about this time, Britches? Well, give me the Britches, dear number one uniform. Oh, I'll have them prepped for you. Oh, yes, thank you, Jack. Don't mention it, Lady Buck. The words in the complete handbook of seamanship began after a while to dance before my eyes. It seemed completely meaningless to my befuddled Bray. It was as if from a great distance that some time later I again heard the voice of midshipman Bray's. Liquor. What, sir? What, sir? What do you say? I said liquor. Your spirit rations from the British Navy. Give it to me quickly. You haven't drunk it, have you? No. Well, then trot it out. Look sharp. Why? So that the gun room attendant will be able to press your britches. Well, is he going to press them with a tin cup half full of rum? Of course not. The liquor's for the warden's coat. Oh, why should he have my rum? Because if the gun room attendant is to press your britches, he has to heat a flat iron in the galley. Well, Cook went a line to do that without some payment, and... Oh, right. All right. There's today's spirit ration over there. I was keeping it till later. If you want to be a lieutenant, you have to make sacrifices, Wendler. It went on like that through the afternoon, most of the night, and all of the next morning. By the end of that time, I was turning rather frantically from Norrie's text to Clark's, and back again to Norrie's navigation. The only question in my mind was, which one battled the war? Finally, the boat was ready to carry me to the Santa Barbara. I'd made myself resplendent with my sword and white britches and buckled shoes, and my bundle of journals under my arm, my certificates of sobriety and good conduct in my pocket. Grace had only one last word of advice. Your hat. I couldn't get the dents out of it. What? Oh, take it off as soon as you can and keep it under your arm. Maybe they won't see you come out the ship's side. When I got aboard the Santa Barbara, I was directed off to a portside cabin. And when I entered that cabin, my heart sank down to those buckled shoes. For there was a whole cabin full of other midshipmen. All of them dressed like myself, all of them ready to take that examination. One of them spoke to me. Welcome to the black hole of Calcutta. Oh, for the love of... how many are there here, anyhow? You're the 40th. 40th? How many... how many will they pass, do you think? Five? I doubt it. Do you know whose examiner it is now? Dreadnought Foster, for one. Oh, no. He's a tail twister, whoever there was one. And Captain Harvey of the dockyard. I don't know him. You wouldn't want to. Who's the third? I don't like to tell you. Well, I don't like to... have you tell me then? But you might as well. Come on. Black Charlie Hammond. Oh, Lord. Oh, he's almost as bad as Dreadnought Foster, isn't he? Yes. He passed through here looking as if he'd lost a guinea and found sixpence. Huh? Well, we may as well sit here and wait our turns. But much good it'll do us. The first man came back from his examination. But she had failed. She informed us that they began by asking him to define a rum line. 39 midshipmen had their textbooks open on the incident, and we read about rum lines. Candidates departed, and candidates returned. Most gloomy, some smiling. The afternoon wore on. Twilight came, night came. And finally, my new friend left. Ten minutes later, he was back. He had failed. It was my turn now. I straightened my neck cloth and saw to it that my sword hung correctly at my side in an agony of nervousness. I went into the examining room to stand before the three grim faces across the table. Well, sir, report yourself. We have no time to waste. Hornblower, sir. Horatio Hornblower. I mean, acting lieutenant to HMS Interpatial. Your certificate, please. Yes, sir. Yes, yes, I know that. You're on close hold on the port tack, Mr. Hornblower. Beating up cattle with a northeasterly wind going hard, with Dover bearing north two miles. Is that clear? Yes, yes, sir. Now the wind veers four points and takes you further back. What do you do, sir? What do you do? Oh, no. No run lines? Yeah, what's that? Uh, nothing. What do you do, quickly? Well, um, I, I, I, I know you're dismusted. Dismusted with a Dover cliffs on your leash. Well, sir, you're in serious trouble, Mr. Hornblower. Well, sir, I think that, um, did you see four points, sir? Because if it were... That's gunfire out there. Go on. Let's get back to our ships. Unsedimoniously, they rushed out of the cabin, sweeping aside the center of the door. I followed them. And with the three captains, I arrived in the waste, just in time to see a rocket soar up into the night sky in the shadow of red stars. White, it's the general alarm. Fire ships! Fire! Observe the watch! Call my gig! Huh? You don't expect to find a gig now, do you, Hammond? All our ships in the harbor beat the quarters. Across half a mile of dark water, a yellow light grew. Ships wrapped in fray. A line of fire ships was running before the wind, straight into our crowded anchorage. Let one of those blazing hulls make contact with one of our vessels, and instantly, the fire will be transmitted to the dry-painted timber to a tarred cordage to the inframable sails. To men in highly combustible ships, filled with explosives, fire is the deadliest and most dreaded petal of the sea. Unless it was the petal, we won't face now. Use your boat, there! Use your boat! Come along, Sy. Come along, Sy, and follow Joe. Come along, Sy, and go out for everything! Take me there. We're going to give them a response. There's a way to bring in Captain Foster. He's coming. Here, gentlemen, until this flutter man were to take us, while ships instantly responded. The mizzen chains flung themselves down into the boat. I was right at their heels. It was my bound and duty to get back to my ship as soon as possible, but then I knew there was no chance of a junior officer finding a boat to take him back. Perhaps after the captain's reached their ships, if they reached them, I could do the same, perhaps. I threw myself in as I pushed off, nearly knocking the breath out of Captain Harvey. Go! I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to knock into you, sir. Well, young man, where are you going? Well, I... I should go to the end of Attica, after all, I'll convert to your ships, of course. Hmm. Well, Osborne, well, can't you? This is no time to sit there keeping four waves. Where to? I'm not in the Navy. I'm a British civilian. Full for my ship, but personal. No, no. Look here, Captain Foster. I'm the senior. Full for the Calypso. And if one substance drifts through a mirror, and I'm steering the woman, please, please, we must get started. Calypso, it is. But full, Osborne, full. I have the killer. Ah! Ended with me in a boat in Gibraltar Harbor in the middle of a dangerous action. And my companions were a reluctant Osborne and were three captains of the captain's board. Their tempers have not markedly improved. My ship's in danger. I suppose you don't think that mine is too fast, sir? Look, sirs. Look, there's one of the fire ships. Now, sir. Where? Just out of us, sir. Over there. She's swinging around. She's across Santa Barbara's cable. She's going to ram the Santa Barbara. Have her help along board there, sir. The old Santa Barbara has 2,000 prisoners batten down below the deck, hasn't she? That fire ship will be alongside her any minute. Sir, with the man at the wheel of the fire ship, she could be steered clear then. Well, don't you think, sir? We ought to do it. Put the tiller over, Captain Harvey. Over it is. Now, pull. You warsman. He said pull. I don't want to... Watch that, you see. If I pull alongside that fire ship, we'll all go up in smoke. Your sword, Helen. Here. Now, you warsman. You see this sword? Now, pull. Pull. Pull. Yes, sir. Yes. Lay us under her counter. I'll jump for it. Let me go, Captain. What's the sir? I'll handle it. Oh, sir. Please lead two of us. Our boat swung under the stern of the fire ship. She was before the wind again, now, in just a gathering way, just heading down upon the Santa Barbara. I stood up on the fort and jumped. My hands gripped something, and with a kick and a slugger, I dragged myself up onto the empty deck. Captain Foster followed. With a brig before the wind, the flames were blown, followed. Right arc, where we were, the heat was terrifying. I ran forward to the wheel. It was last with a loop of line, and as I cast this off and seized the spokes, I could feel the leather below me bite into the water. We're going to collide with the Santa Barbara! All over! No, but it is, sir. The over-flames coming this way. But hold on to that wheel. I've got it, sir. I've got it, sir. I could see nothing in the darkness, still dazzled by the roaring flames. Some of these splashed beside me. I've got to take this off! Can you swim? Not very well, sir. I suppose he did, for even captains of much seniority are only mortal men after all. How long we struggled side by side in the water until he spoke to me again? I don't know. Oh! What's that? The boat! Where's the boat? It's in the bottom of the boat. I was conscious only of Captain Foster beside me. First time, somebody in this boat spilled shiver far so over my skin. A man was speaking in Spanish. Er, ten bien. Captain Foster, sir, we'll see about that. Maybe they are going to land on the neutral ground and make the Spanish borders. That's their best chance. It's a dark night. There are two other ships burning themselves out over there, sir. There were three fire ships came in in all, I think. Well, that was my concern, sir, three. Er, that means that none of them did any damage. Good. It's a bold endeavor. Who else would have credited the dons with making such an attempt? Well, they've learned about fire ships from us, perhaps. Er, we may have nursed the pinion that impels the steel there. Well, I guess it is possible, sir. Er, I suppose it is. Well, let's lean back home, sir. Would it be prisoners? We should at least try to make ourselves comfortable. Then Foster was a cool enough customer, quoting poetry and discussing the naval situation while being carried off into captivity. I tried to emulate him, leaning back unconcernedly against the sight of the boatman. I would not have wanted Dreadnought Foster to realize that I was shivering from something other than the clean yield. I wondered what hardships a prisoner of the Spaniards might have to undergo. And suddenly, there was a voice, an English voice from across the water. There's a long boat, sir. Or a British guard boat. About time. Now I think I don't. Continue and out and out. Continue and out and out. Oh, let's be quiet on glass. He'll finish us if we're not. Foster, jump in here. All right, sir. Keep your gun, drain all those spangles, Hammond, until I get into that boat. Then I'll keep a gun, or make a ship here at the centre of Barbara. A pop of wind took you on so fast that he couldn't even up with you. Most interesting, Captain Hammond. It called for Spaniards to save us from drowning. I thought I could rely on two brother captains. May I ask what your implying, sir? I make no implications, but others may read implications into a simple statement of fact. I consider that an offensive remark, sir. I congratulate you on your perspicacity, sir. Apparently, I shall have to send a friend to wait on you, sir. He will be welcome. Sad amused. Listening to two British captains planning to duel with each other on top of everything that had happened. They didn't speak to each other again. And Foster came after and sat beside me. For some time we drifted along in silence, and my thoughts went to my interrupted examination for lieutenant. I had a wild hope. I had, after all, it seemed to me, behaved rather well that night, and Captain Foster was certainly in a position to know it. I had, as I say, a wild hope. And finally, Foster spoke to me. Hongrove. Hi, sir. I shall have much to do before morning. You, sir, Mr. Hongrove, will carry out my orders. Hi, sir. These prisoners. I want you to find someone who can speak their lingo and have it explained to them that I shall send them back to Cartagena under cartel, free, without exchange. They saved our lives, and that's the least we can do in return. I think that's very just, sir. And you, my fire-breathing friend. May I offer you my thanks? Thank you, sir. You did well. Shall I leave beyond tomorrow? I shall see that the proper authorities are informed of your worthy action. Oh, thank you, sir. And, um, that's, sir. Well, um... My examination for lieutenant, sir, my certificate, um... That particular examining board will never reassemble, of course. You must wait your opportunity to go before another one. But, sir, I... Well, I thought possibly, well... I thought, sir, that in view of all that's happened... Well, you yourself, sir, said that I did all right tonight, sir, and, I mean, now look he here, Mr. Hornblub. The examination is a thing entirely separate from the events of this evening. Yes, sir. In the examination, the rest of my recollection, you were flattered back about to lose your spouse and with silver cliffs under your knee. One moment you would have failed. It was the Spanish attack that saved you. Isn't that so? I... I suppose it is quite... quite, sir. Ah, then be thankful for small mercies and even more thankful for big ones, Mr. Hornblub. Aye, aye, sir. Aye. Well, I suppose you're right, sir. Of course, sir. Oh. Well, I suppose that when I've acquired the viewpoint of a... Well, as a true man, more completely, but... Well, then, sir, I suppose I can fully realize when I look back that... Well, on the whole, I was... Well, a very fortunate midshipman tonight, sir. Calling Michael Redgrave is based on the novels by C. S. Forrester. Music composed and conducted by Sidney Torch by Harry Allen Towers.