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loss; and if to live, the fewer men the greater share of honor. O do not wish one more? But he, which hath no stomach to this fight, let him depart. His passport shall be made and crowns for convoy put into his purse. We would not die in that man’s company that fears his fellowship to die with us.’ “ Robert paused and gave the boy a chance to think and saw that he didn’t understand what King Henry meant.
    “ Look, Brian,” he said. “In that speech King Henry said he forgave any man afraid to fight because the odds were so overwhelming against the English army. The king even paid for passage back to England for any man who did not want to fight.
    “ If you want to leave, I’ll speak up for you. If a king can offer a way out, I don’t see why you can’t have the same choice.”
    Brian shook hi s head. “No sir,” he said in a heavy cockney accent. “I’m going to stay with my mates. They’d think I was a coward if I left now. Besides, I am not in this for the honor like that king talked about. You heard. There is going to be a bonus. That means more money I can send home to my mum. You see my dad died before I learned the trade.”
    “ That’s my boy,” Robert said, and gave Brian’s arm a squeeze. “Look, Aristotle, a famous Greek philosopher, thought that a courageous person is not one who has no fear, and not one who is overcome by fear, but one who can control fear and act according to a sense of duty. I can see that you know your duty to your mum and your family and are determined not to disappoint. I feel the same way. Stay near me when we get into this fight. I’ll watch out for you.”
    “ I have seven brothers and three sisters,” Brian said. “This will be one tale I’ll be telling in front of the fire when I get home.” He smiled showing that he had some missing teeth and a few half-rotten ones.
    “ Who’s talking?” Unwyn said. He stood in the bow of the boat and Robert sat in the stern, wedged in so tightly that he had no room to move. Unwyn’s eyes darted from man to man and stopped on Robert the longest. When his gaze shifted to Brian, Robert felt the boy tremble.
    “ If anyone gives us away so we lose our surprise, I’ll shoot the bastard between the eyes myself. Keep silent!”
    Robert squeezed the boy to reassure him that all was well . There must have been twenty men crammed in that boat. His heart pounded in panic when he couldn’t free the four double-barreled pistols tucked under his belt. Even the twenty-seven-inch cutlass was pinned against a leg. The only weapon he could free was a twelve-inch double-edged dagger in a leather scabbard between his shoulder blades.
    Brian ’s weapon was a pike. He had no pistol or cutlass.
    Looking over his shoulder, Robert saw the masts of the ships ou tlined by the half-moon and a sky full of stars. If he saw them, so could the Taipings. That was a chilling thought. The sky had cleared, and there was twice as much light compared to when they left the ships. If they were discovered before reaching shore, they would sink to the bottom of the river and drowned. It would be a slaughter. If the Taiping campfires indicated the numbers waiting onshore, the odds were horrible. It looked as if the rebels numbered more than a thousand.
    His thoughts were interrupted when the boats swung t oward the far side of the river away from the rebel camp. When they reached a position opposite the designated landing place, the boats turned. The banks of oars rose and dipped and the boats shot forward one behind the other.
    The orange glow of campfires revealed the moving figures of men. Most wore red jackets and blue trousers. Someone laughed sounding like a hyena. Luck was with them at least for the moment. It looked like Patridge had been correct. Most of the Taiping defenses faced away from the river. Their sentries stood watching for Imperials or Ward ’s army expecting an attack from land.
    Unwyn gestured to the man at the tiller to guide the