"Aye, aye, sir!" the senior quartermaster agreed, enthusiastic.

"Well," Lewrie crowed, clapping his hands and trying to justify his arrant stupidity, "that should draw their teeth for four or five minutes at any rate. A good broadside wasted, and them slow as treacle at reloadin'. Spare Captain her attention too. Mister Crewe, do you secure the larboard battery for now. Reload and stand easy."

"Aye, aye, sir!"

"Five minutes more, we'll have some other ships up to us," Lewrie went on, pacing aft to peer at the reinforcements which were positively: bounding over the sea by then. "Mister Hyde? What signal flags are we flying?" he asked, craning his neck to look aloft up the mizzenmast.

"You said anything'd do, sir, so I grabbed the first four near to hand, sir." Hyde smirked. "Accident, really, but it's… It, uhm… means… 'Start Excess Water,' sir."

Lewrie looked aloft once more, hands on his hips, shaking his head in wonder, and began to bray with laughter! "Take it down, Mister Hyde… take it down. 'Fore the others think we're passing the word from Nelson to pump out and lighten ship. Run up more, as if we were speakin' the flagship. Meaningless strings of rubbish, mind, no real legible orders to anyone. Serve 'em gibberish, to keep our Dons on the hop. Good, God… 'Start Excess Water'! Hah!"

"Aye, sir." Hyde chuckled.

"Well, we won't be trying that on again anytime soon," Lewrie told Knolles, once he'd paced back to the nettings overlooking the waist at the forrud end of the quarterdeck. "Discretion above valour is our watchword. How is Captain faring?"

"Her fore topmast's shot away, sir, but it appears she's gunnel-to-gunnel with one of theirs. And boarding her!" Knolles relished to relate. "A real neck-or-nothing day, sir."

And by five in the afternoon it was over. The Spanish never managed to unite, and the smaller body of ships which had lain to leeward had turned about and sailed off to the South, out of sight. The bulk of the main body had limped away towards Cadiz, with the British squadron too cut up to pursue But it was a day of victory.