Tearing a Small Hole in the Blockade Chain (Asking for Double Monthly

Tearing a Small Hole in the Blockade Chain (Asking for Double Monthly Tickets)

At dawn the next day, the "Leisure" turned toward Sweden, intending to replenish its cargo there.

That would certainly cost some time, but it was still better than heading to North America with an empty hold.

Yet the brigantine had barely sailed twenty nautical miles north when the lookout once again raised a shrill alarm.

It was only two minutes later that Martin finally saw a British frigate charging toward the "Leisure" from her front-left.

Over the past two months, the waters from the English Channel to the North Sea had been crawling with wolfish British warships. With bad luck, one could run into several at once.

The "Leisure" was clearly not very lucky.

And this British warship was especially cunning. It had used a reef to block the line of sight and was now less than eight cables away.

One nautical mile was ten cables. On the vast Atlantic Ocean, the two ships were practically face to face.

The "Leisure" desperately turned left, but a sailing ship needed to carve a wide arc to change course. By the time it was moving in the same direction as the British warship, Martin could already make out the color of the British uniforms with his naked eye.

The British sailors were clearly more skilled at handling a ship. Just twenty minutes later, the frigate had moved to a position over two hundred yards off the "Leisure's" rear quarter and hoisted the signal flags: "Stop immediately and submit to inspection."

Naturally, the "Leisure" was not about to obediently stop.

A month earlier, the United Kingdom had declared a "total trade embargo" against France. The British Navy could seize and detain any French merchant ships.

Stopping now meant being arrested