certainly inquire as to the extent of Laurence's influence upon the other aviators of their party, and Temeraire's upon the other dragons, information which Laurence rather wished Hammond to convey than to conceal.
"I will not urge you to act in any way contrary to your conscience; I would reject any such suasion on my own part," Laurence said to Granby, when he had returned to camp; and with a look he extended the scope of his words to Demane, who raised his head from where Roland was sketching for him on paper the outlines of a maneuver for a heavy-weight beast: he had suddenly of late grown surprisingly intent on furthering his education as an aviator, and now in every open moment was to be found harassing the senior officers for any scrap of knowledge.
"I am not going to attack the Tswana to help these slave-takers," Demane said flatly, recalling to Laurence that Demane's own people had suffered similar insult at the hands of the Dutch settlers of Capetown, if not abduction from their native country. "I would as soon fight with them, instead; why shouldn't we?" he demanded, to Roland's sitting back on her heels outraged. "Kulingile and I aren't going to fight Temeraire or Iskierka, but I don't mind attacking the Portuguese, if they should start the fighting."
"Oh! As far as that goes, I will say that I shouldn't mind it, either," Temeraire said, overhearing. "While I do see that it would be quite inconvenient that the Portuguese should be beat, since they are helping us against Napoleon otherwise, perhaps the Tswana would agree to help us against him instead: and I should just as soon fight with Kefentse. Even if he did snatch you, that time," he added to Laurence, "he has very handsomely apologized for that, and explained the misunderstanding. And one cannot really blame the Tswana for being so upset; they have the far better cause, it seems to me."
"I suppose that is a call for me to ask Iskierka," Granby said, "but I know very well that she will be perfectly willing to fight anyone whosomever. Well, if it helps you make them see sense, I will go as far as saying I plan to be sitting on my heels; but Laurence, I can't give you my word: there are those reinforcements to think of, which Hammond claimed would be sent us from the Channel. I didn't believe that they would ever arrive, when I thought we needed them to make any sort of go of things here; but now that they would be inconvenient, I think we must expect them at any moment. And if they do arrive before you have talked all these fellows round to this scheme of yours, and there are British dragons going into battle, I am not going to watch them square off against the Tswana while I sit here and twiddle my thumbs. Thumb," he added, rueful.
Laurence nodded silently: he wondered, himself, if he could under such circumstances remain a mere observer, without doing whatever he could to persuade Temeraire to join the battle; it could scarcely be borne.
Hammond returned later that afternoon and began a determined pursuit of private inquiry with Granby; who eeled away from him energetically as far as he was able, until finally cornered just before the dinner-hour: Hammond went away from the conversation dissatisfied and anxious, to be taken back to Paraty by one of the Mexican couriers.
"Well, he has made me commit myself," Granby said, sighing as he swung a leg over the planed log which made one of their benches and dropped himself unceremoniously into his seat: they ate in the open air, their handful of tarpaulins gone for shelter from the sun, and very little cover otherwise. They had established their camp in the hills a little distance from the coast, to avoid the eyes of the French sailors and also their guns, and without relief of wind coming off the water or any shade from trees which had long since been felled to put up the city, the tropical sun was punishing.
"I only hope you shan't get me dismissed the service, Laurence," Granby added, reaching across the table, and then winced for the indelicacy: poor Ferris had flinched, and now sat staring down at his trencher of flat wood.
Laurence looked at him, soberly: he could not see another course, but impossible not to recognize that he could scarcely have prejudiced Ferris's chances of reinstatement more effectively. There would