26th May morning - Perry's punishment

Fletcher did not think it fit to acknowledge a salute from a man in irons, and instead waited for the Marine to answer him.

Allen had been so riled up about Perry's comment that he had not heard Fletcher come up. When the midshipman addressed him, he quickly snapped to attention and saluted.

"Th' Captain ordered Perry t' be put down here t' await punishment, sir," Allen said, "His wife came all th' way out t' th' ship an' was raisin' a ruckus on deck tryin' t' get him out o' his duty. Don't think it worked out quite th' way she intended, though, sir."

Fletcher's brow creased slightly, as he endeavoured to follow Allen's narrative.

"So Perry tried to run? Is that what all the noise was about on deck a moment ago?"

"No, he didn't try t' run, sir. Th' noise was because his wife started weepin' an' wailin' when Mister Bush told Perry that since he signed up as a volunteer, whatever sort o' protection he had wouldn't make no diff'rence, an' he had t' stay in th' crew."

Simon's eyebrows inched upwards. Protection? Perry'd had protection? He looked at the sailor in surprise, wondering then why on earth the man had signed up anyway if he'd known that he could get out of it later... but then he remembered that it was not only rude to stare, but not the sort of thing that officers did either. He would ask Chandos about it later.

He turned back to Allen and nodded in what he hoped was a thoughtful manner.

"Very good. Carry on, Allen."

After which he left the men to it, continuing on his way up on deck.

[Fletcher comes up on deck here.]

"Yes sir. Thank you."

Allen saluted even though Fletcher had already turned away. While he was not fond of being under an officer's scrutiny, the midshipman's presence had distracted him from Perry and his annoying comments. Now that they were alone again, he knew it would only be a matter of time before the sailor started up again.

But instead, Perry yawned and made himself more comfortable. By pushing himself forward, he was able to bend his knees and lay back, his head resting on his arms.

Allen raised an eyebrow, surprised that Perry was silent. Good, go on and rest, he thought. It would definitely make his duty more bearable if the sailor went and nodded off for a while...