Now the court was legally in existence, and Gowers sorted through his papers once more, found what he wanted and, when he glanced across at Captain Edwards, received an approving nod. He half turned towards the four prisoners and as if guessing what was coming, three of them stared down at the deck; the fourth, standing at the far end of the line and the oldest among them, almost bald with the round face of a village grocer, kept his eyes on the deputy judge advocate.

 It was not the stare of defiance, Ramage was certain of that. The other three now seemed to be shrinking, as though fear was slowly wilting them, but the fourth man appeared to be gaining confidence as the others were losing it.

 Gowers began reading out the charge. It was brief. After naming the four men and saying they had been part of the Jocasta's ship's company on the day of the mutiny, it first accused them of taking part in the mutiny and "aiding and assisting" in the murder of Captain Wallis, four lieutenants, master, midshipman, surgeon and the lieutenant of Marines. It then went on to accuse them of "aiding and assisting" in running away with the ship and handing her over to the enemy, deserting, "holding intelligence with the enemy", and "concealing mutinous designs". All, the charge concluded, in breach of the third, fifteenth, sixteenth, nineteenth, twenty-eighth and thirty-sixth Articles of War.

 That death was the penalty in all but one case the men well knew, having heard the Articles read to them at least once a month. Ramage had watched the four closely while Gowers was reading, and the deputy judge advocate had, probably without realizing it, given a slight emphasis to each key word - mutiny, murder, deserting - like a carpenter - hammering home the nails of a box. Three men had gone pale; perspiration was now running down their faces. The fourth man was calm, as though his conscience was clear or, perhaps, because he knew he had a cast-iron defence.

 It was getting hot in the great cabin: the ship being moored with her stern towards the beach presented her broad transom to the east, and the sun was beating through the sternlights on to their backs. As soon as Gowers finished reading the charges, Captain Edwards signalled the provost marshal to have the curtains drawn. The material was thick - it had to stop light escaping at night when the Admiral was at sea and wanted lanterns in his cabin - and the cabin was soon only dimly lit by sunlight sparkling on the water and reflecting through the four gun ports.

 Captain Edwards tapped the table with his gavel: "All witnesses save the first will withdraw." He said it with a curious intonation which made Ramage glance up: as far as he knew Aitken was the only witness, yet three officers rose from the chairs behind the prisoners and left the cabin. They left noisily, scraping the chairs, and all the prisoners glanced behind them, alarmed and curious, obviously puzzled over who they could be.

 Captain Edwards was obviously going to be a good president of the court: his voice was authoritative but not abrupt, his orders brief without being curt. "Call the first witness, " he said.

 "Lieutenant James Aitken, " Gowers said, picking up the Bible and selecting a card, which he handed Aitken. "Place your right hand on the Bible and make the oath written here."

 Aitken took the oath and then went to the chair facing the president and only six or eight feet from Ramage.

 "You are James Aitken, a lieutenant of the Royal Navy, and formerly the acting commanding officer of the Juno frigate on the fifth of June this year?"

 "I am, " Aitken replied, only the broadness of his Scottish burr betraying his nervousness.

 Edwards leaned forward, indicating that he was about to take over the questioning: "Relate to the court what happened on the fifth day of June."

 "The Juno was on passage from off Martinique to Antigua and we were four leagues west of the north-western tip of Guadeloupe. We sighted a brig to the east of us and gave chase."

 "What colours was she flying?"

 "None at first, but she soon hoisted an American flag."

 "Did she try to avoid you?"

 "No, sir. We came up to her and I ordered her to heave-to."

 "What was your purpose in doing that?"

 "I wanted to see if she had any British subjects in her ship's company, sir."

 "Very well, then what happened?"

 "I boarded her with ten men. I was short of officers, " he explained. "I took the list of the Jocasta’s ship's company and inspected the American brig's papers."

 "Did you find any of the Jocasta's men on board?"

 "At first I found one name, Albert Summers. I told the American master that this man was a mutineer from the Jocasta and demanded that he be produced."

 "Was he produced?"

 "Yes, sir, and at the same time - or, rather a few minutes before, because he was waiting nearby - another man came up to me and said he was from the Jocasta and wanted to give himself up."

 "What was his name?"

 "He said it was George Weaver."

 "Did that name appear on your list?"

 "No, sir."

 "Point him out."

 Aitken indicated the round-faced man at the other end of the line.

 "What did you do then?"

 "When Albert Summers was brought before me I accused him of being one of the Jocastas and told him I was putting him under an arrest."

 "Then what happened?" Edwards asked quietly.

 "He became very excited. He admitted he had served in the Jocasta but said he wasn't the only one."

 "What did you understand by that?"

 "It was a slip of the tongue but I assumed from his manner and gestures that there were others on board the brig using false names. I told him to identify them, but he refused."

 "How did you discover them?"

 "I asked the American master where his men had been signed on. Weaver and Summers were among the last names in the ship's articles, so I suspected they had been signed on while the ship had been in La Guaira or Barcelona - the log showed they were her last ports."

 "What did you do then?"

 "I instructed the American master to muster all the men he had signed on in any port on the Main."

 "And he did so?"

 "He did not agree readily, " Aitken said dryly, "but Weaver offered to point them out - the former Jocastas."

 "Did he do so?"

 "After a few minutes. He was most savagely attacked by Summers, who tried to strangle him and called him a traitor."

 "Point out the prisoner Summers."

 Aitken indicated the man nearest to him. Ramage had been speculating which of the men he was, and had finally guessed he was this man who had an air of evil and viciousness about him. Thin-faced with thinning black hair, his eyes too close together and his nose long and thin, the skin over the bridge stretched tight, he was the man that any officer would watch. Shifty, lazy, troublesome, he was typically the worst in a press-gang's harvest. Indeed, Ramage thought, he was probably a jailbird, released from prison into the custody of the press-gang.

 Edwards nodded and Aitken resumed his evidence. "We secured Summers and tended Weaver. He then pointed out two more men - the other prisoners, " he said, gesturing to the two standing in the middle of the line. "I asked the American master if he had signed those men on in La Guaira, and he admitted taking on two there and two at Barcelona. That agreed with what was written in the ship's articles."

 "Only these four, then?"

 "So he said, and Weaver confirmed it, sir. The master signed a document to that effect, and his mate witnessed the signature."

 As Aitken produced a paper from his pocket Gowers interrupted: "The witness must speak more slowly. I have to write down every word, and . . ."

 The paper was handed over the table to the president, who read it and passed it to Gowers. "This is an exhibit, so keep it safely." Gowers gave a sniff, as though the instruction was a slur on his competence.