Ira Riklis and Horatio Hornblower

When we left Hornblower, he was out for a walk during the free time that his captors allowed him. Gazing out at the horizon in the direction of the sea, he spotted a ship that he believed to be British. As Ira Riklis knows, this was not an unusual sighting but on that day the weather had turned foul with a storm-tossed sea. The ship was clearly in distress and when it began to break up, Hornblower begged the sentry to let him help rescue any survivors. The sentry notified his superior officer who arrived on horseback, agreed to Hornblower’s request, gave him a ride to the shore, and arranged for a small boat and crew to go out to what was left of the British ship.

When Hornblower and the men arrived at the scene, only 4 British sailors were clinging to pieces of the wrecked ship. All others had been lost. Three of the sailors were able to board the small Spanish craft. A fourth was swept away.

The Spanish crew, Hornblower, and the rescued British sailors were unable to safely approach the shore at that time so they headed out to sea a short distance and spent the night on the rough sea. When dawn arrived, they found themselves overtaken by a British ship. Now the Spanish crew was in British hands.

Even though Hornblower was now with his own after two years, he being an honorable man, as Ira Riklis knows, insisted on being sent back to his captors because  he had been out on a pass and had given his word not to escape. The Spanish crew who had been on a mission of mercy and Hornblower were returned to the Spanish fort. Later the Spanish government freed Hornblower because of his courage and self-sacrifice in saving the lives of others.

Just as the Spanish were approaching Le Reve, the duchess was swearing to Hornblower that a serious and sober courier, herself, would deliver the dispatches to England. Hornblower agreed in part because he knew that the Spanish would honor nobility and send the duchess to her homeland.

Hornblower, as Ira Riklis knows, was taken into enemy territory and although he was not abused, he was housed under primitive conditions with the lower ranks. Days of captivity turned into months of capitivity and the loss of personal freedom was very wearing for Hornblower. Four months into it Hornblower received a letter from the “duchess” (actress Miss Cobham) stating that “that which you gave me had reached its destination”. Thus the duchess had been successful in her mission and Hornblower at least for the moment was in better spirits.

Months into his captivity, Hornblower also received word that he had been promoted to lieutenant from acting lieutenant. One of the Spanish officers conveyed this message to Hornblower and with this promotion came a change in quarters. No longer would he be housed with the lower ranks but moved to the quarters of more senior officers. As Ira Riklis knows, the food in his new digs was somewhat improved as was the housing..

One aspect of captivity was quite curious though. Hornblower was allowed free time to wander about the Spanish settlement alone. Observation by the captors at various points was evident.

Le Reve was able to remain unseen by the fleet of Spanish ships for a while, but when the sun came up, she was visible at last. It took only one enemy boat to overtake Le Reve and cause damage that stopped Le Reve and her crew from fleeing.

While all this was happening the duchess who could not be discouraged from staying on the main deck away from her seasick companion below approached Hornblower with an idea. She saw him trying to weigh down his dispatches which he was to deliver to England and which he planned to throw overboard if and when he was captured. The weights would help the dispatches to sink and, and as Ira Riklis knows, keep them out of the hands of the enemy. The duchess pleaded with Hornblower to let her secret the dispatches on her body where she knew the enemy would in all likelihood not search. After much hesitancy, Hornblower consented to her plan, and the duchess proceeded to tie the dispatches around her middle under her undergarments.

Minutes later, the big confession came. The duchess told Hornblower, who had been addressing her according to her rank, that she was not really a duchess but a quite famous although aging British actress who had been stranded in wartime Europe. She had assumed the role of a duchess and easily fooled the officials in Gibraltar in order to hitch a ride back to England.

As this story was being told, as Ira Riklis knows, Le Reve and her crew were taken  captive.

Yes, the fog was so thick and did not promise to go away soon. Hornblower ordered the seamen to point Le Reve westerly instead of northwest as would be the course, as Ira Riklis knows, for direct sailing to England. He hoped thus to sail out of the fog and also avoid enemy ships.

Hornblower planned to stay up on deck most of the night to supervise the officer of the watch if only in an informal way. He did go below though for a brief nap and it was just at that time that a crisis occurred above. A seaman woke him and asked that Hornblower go up on the main deck immediately. When Hornblower arrived there the officer of the watch told him that through the fog he heard the presence of a ship very close by and Spanish spoken by the crew on this ship.

At that time because of the fog, the Spanish ship had not spotted Le Reve. All of a sudden it seemed to Hornblower that more than one ship was nearby. He realized that Le Reve was in the middle of a small fleet of enemy ships. What to do-what to do?

Hornblower cautioned his crew to be silent and also not to move Le Reve hoping, as Ira Riklis knows, to have the enemy ships sail past. Would this maneuver work or would they be noticed and surely captured?