The Star of India

By Tony Alan Grayson

The Star of India traces the life of a young Frenchman of noble birth. He is trained to become a world shaper. Set in the colorful time of the 18th century European East India Companies, Jean-Louis Dupon perseveres as he strives to take his place as a royal of France. From a life of privilege to life on the run as a hunted fugitive, the young world shaper adapts and overcomes every obstruction to his life's purpose. As he gains experience, he learns to shape the world that he believes to will his subordination or death. Marvel at how he glides down the razor's edge that separates two paths. He might become a leader for great good. He could become an instrument of the downfall of mankind. He is never alone during his incredible journey. Many goodhearted and gracious people help him along the way. Yet, as he learns to cheat destiny, he is tempted to use or betray those who have helped him. Enjoy the excitement of a royal's quest while the Kings of Europe battle for supremacy throughout the world. The Star of India is the second novel of a three novel drama series called A Voice from New Mill Creek. After the introduction of the world shaper is complete, this novel continues the story of The Methodists that began in the first book of the series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tony Alan Grayson
• Release date: May 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311732248

Tony Alan Grayson

Tony Alan Grayson is a native of South Carolina, residing in Virginia. "I have always been an adventure seeker. As a kid, I was the one who formed a "tribe", led expeditions to find other tribes, and I regularly roamed more than ten miles from my house. In high school, I convinced the U.S. Navy to pay for my college degree at The Citadel. I was a lifeguard at The Isle of Palms, a Navy Pilot, a Logistician, a Program Manager, and a Joint Armed Forces Operational Planner. Through the Navy and Navy Reserve, I have seen and experienced diverse people, cultures, food, entertainment, joy, danger, and settings in North, Central, and South America, Europe, Southwest & Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Those experiences swirl in my memory, enabling me to craft diverse and detailed stories for your entertainment. I have written and published 3 full length novels in the e-book format, a guide on how I wrote and published two of the novels, and 110 articles (see them at http://ezinearticles.com/expert/Tony_A_Grayson/1798235), all of which have been published and promoted worldwide. I write for you. Take a chance. Step into a story and experience the thrill of adventure!"

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The Star of India

Tony Alan Grayson

Smashwords Edition

Copyright

This book is protected with Copyright © TXu 1-918-554, May 10, 2014 by Tony Alan Grayson.

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this e-book with another person, purchase an additional copy of it, and provide the purchased copy for each recipient. Please respect my years of hard work by refusing to participate in the piracy of books. My books are available online for the price of a vending machine snack. I ask for your support as I continue to craft new stories for you to enjoy. Thank you.

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Dedication

I dedicate this book to those who persevere.

Prologue

You may acquaint yourself with the characters and the general story line before you read the story. Find this information in short paragraphs at the end of the book, prior to the bibliography.

This book is a work of fiction. However, it contains historical facts, and historical people are referenced and involved in the story, within their character, and true to the plot. Refer to the bibliography at the end of the book. Use it like a treasure map to discover truth behind fiction.

I wrote this story for you. I hope that you enjoy it.

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Prelude

They walk among us; they always have done so. Quick they are to tell us that they are better, close to perfect as man can be. They look fabulous, say that they are happy, seem to live well, and they tell us that their future is assured. God smiles on them, or so they say. They seem to be all powerful; they tell us that they are wealthy beyond our poor imagination.

You can be like me.

There is no goodness in what they do; no graciousness for those who help them. It is wealth that they seek, and power, which they wield as a weapon against all who stand in their way!

Taste of the fruit that I offer and ye shall be omnipotent.

They sugar their words with lies to tempt us to follow their example. They walk among us polished and sure. We want to believe them, trust them, and be like them.

And so ye shall.

We become slaves for them and know it not, gatherers of the good in this world. We bring them gold, with which they weave terrible power. Without remorse, they use us to twist the truth on a massive scale so that legions of others are ensnared in their web of deceit. Therein lies our culpability, for we have willingly combined our goodness with their lies. As they did to us, we sprinkle our sugar to poison the words that innocents swallow. Power consumes us. We see the world through the eyes of evil. We believe that we have achieved just as they said. Yet, we have become grease for the gears of their engine of power that consumes the souls of God’s children, denying them their chance to create goodness that they might have done.

They have names: prince, captain, closer, manager, picaroon, multi-level marketer, overseer, consultant, governor, and endless other names. Dark Angels have many names. Watch carefully, and listen to your heart. It is when you are their confidant, when they whisper to you that you are special, and when they betray others in front of you that you stand at the edge of the abyss from which they came! You are poised to step.

Do not listen to them. Walk away, run! They are evil incarnate, black hearts that walk upright to foment their handiwork, or worse. A darker and more powerful angel may be behind them!

Be warned. If you let one touch your soul, your freedom may be forever lost.

Distance means nothing to them. They can cross oceans. One of them was so powerful that he crossed an ocean, of time.

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Table of Contents

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue

Prelude

Part I: The French East India Company

Chapter 1: A Prince of France

Chapter 2: In the Service of The French Company

Chapter 3: To Live in Interesting Times

Chapter 4: War

Chapter 5: A Plan

Part II: Journey to the Caribbean Sea

Chapter 1: The Hunted

Chapter 2: Statia

Chapter 3: The Picaroons

Part III: The Continuing Story of the Methodists

Chapter 1: Preparing for Whitefield

Chapter 2: The Water Witch

Chapter 3: Shunned

Chapter 4: Sharon Ann Haynes Wilkins

Epilogue

Afterword

List of Principle Characters

Bibliography

Abbreviations

Vita

Description of e-books by Tony Alan Grayson

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Part I: The French East India Company

Historical Context:

Founded in 1664, La Compagnie Française des Indes Orientales (The French Company) was the French East India Company. The Latin motto of The French Company was Florebo quocumque fera, which stated the hope of French King Louis XIV to expand French presence well beyond Europe. The motto means I shall flower wherever I'm planted.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert was the finance minister of King Louis XIV. His main task was to lead France out of a financial crisis that was caused partly by banking mismanagement. Poor factory decisions, trade practices that were uncompetitive with other European nations, and the high cost of logistics and defense of French trade ships contributed to the French financial malaise. Colbert could not resolve the contributing problem of King Louis XIV, himself, who would not be bothered with financial constraints when he decided to make war. French company East Indiamen (trade ships) returned to France from the far off colonies with property and goods in their cargo holds. Colbert did his best to channel that immense wealth to the suffering French people, for he knew that only they could lift France up to a balanced world-standing with Britain, France’s principal rival. War with Britain squandered wealth. Britain’s empire was so vast that it could prosper even as it conducted war. France could not do that.

Colbert took control of the three French overseas trading companies. He combined them into a single company that would conduct French trade in the eastern hemisphere. Europe, Africa, India, Asia, Australia, and all ocean waters between those land masses were designated as that company’s sphere of trade. The three companies that Colbert collapsed were La Compagnie de Chine, La Compagnie d’Orient and La Compagnie de Madagascar. The newly created single company was called The French East India Company (aka The French Company). It was headquartered in the most central location of its defined area of operation: Pondicherry, India.

Other European nations operated trading companies in that same French area of operation. The Portuguese, Danes, Dutch, and the British established factories and trading ports throughout Southeast and Southwest Asia. The subcontinent of India was especially prized by European nations for acquisition as a colonial possession. The British Honourable East India Company (HEIC), in particular, continually attempted to imperialize India, beginning in 1498.

The French Company had a short time to establish and entrench itself in India while the powerful HEIC was preoccupied with grander world conquest. In India, the HEIC embarked on an enduring campaign to cooperate with and gain lordship over the many regional leaders of the Indian subcontinent’s indigenous Maratha Empire. As the HEIC established and expanded a trade enterprise with them, they played the Marathas against the older and competing Indian Mughal Empire.

Part I of this story begins in 1740 France as the War of the Austrian Succession became an excuse to begin the Carnatic Wars in India. The HEIC and The French Company trading assets fought each other by sea (combat between East Indiamen) and on the soil of India (company and allied native troops) during the Carnatic Wars.

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Chapter 1: A Prince of France

Sail! a seaman aloft shouted, three points off the port beam!

Distance? the officer of the deck responded. He steadied himself by placing his hand on the shoulder of the helmsman. The deck officer glanced up at the seaman aloft who had made the sighting. The lookout strained his eyes. Standing at the edge of the forward mast crow's nest with one hand gripping the bitter end of a shroud line and the other fixed at his eyebrows, he estimated the distance to the other ship.

Ten nautical miles distant! he shouted. She is heavy, cargo-constrained, and burdened by a fouling wind! The sighted ship sailed a northwest course that was foul to a prevailing wind out of the west.

Other seamen hurriedly climbed the ratlines aloft to add their eyes and voices to that of their brother. Six men each filled the two crow’s nests. They shared their opinions in a quieter tone, drew upon their collective experience to devise consensus-based guidance. After they agreed, they shouted details down to the officer on deck. The officers and crew of the French ship Pluton (named for the Greek god Pluto) worked together like a machine today to solve the riddle of the other ship and how they might take her! Pluton was an East Indiaman of La Compagnie Française des Indes Orientales, (The French Company of the East Indies).

The men aloft determined the other ship to be an Indiaman like their own ship, but so far, the flag of the foreign vessel alluded them. Suddenly, a seaman caught sight of it and an instant later, so did another seaman. They both shouted their find simultaneously!

Elle est Britannique (She is British)! Specifically, she was an HEIC East Indiaman, probably filled to the scuppers with valuable cargo gotten in trade from China.

Only a couple of months ago, Joseph-Francois Dupleix learned of The War of the Austrian Succession from an arriving company ship. Seething from insults and allegations, the sovereigns of Britain and France took opposing positions in this new war. Still, neither the directors of the HEIC nor The French Company had an interest or plans to escalate their commercial competition into a shooting war. Some isolated combat had taken place at sea, but those were tactical decisions of ship captains. The directors of both companies saw the combat that way, individual duels, not a war that would disrupt trade.

Dupleix was the foremost candidate to become the Governor-General of French India. Along with the new title, he also would be appointed as director of The French Company. He shared the vision of the current director, to expand French influence by creating new trading ports throughout the trading zone. He happened to be aboard Pluton. Although he could do it, he did not interfere with decisions of the ship’s captain. Advice, yes. He would give advice if the captain sought it.

The immense Indian Ocean rarely permitted encounters between ships like this opportunity. Pluton’s captain must not squander such an opportunity while Dupleix was aboard. The captain demonstrated to Dupleix that he was a quick thinker. With no hesitation, he proposed to maneuver Pluton to a position of advantage on the HEIC vessel. He asked Dupleix if he could prepare his crew for combat. Dupleix dug his thumb into the palm of his hand as he quietly reminded the captain that he (Dupleix) was a passenger. The captain was unassured by that answer. It meant that repercussions were his alone to bear and that Dupleix could cleanly state in a report to the king that he had not caused the outcome. The captain withheld permission to attack, but he instructed his crew to demonstrate (make the other captain believe that Pluton would attack). This was a shrewd order for it might cause the HEIC ship to fire on them first. Both the French and the British company recognized the right of any crew to defend their ship.

Dupleix felt the eyes of everyone upon him. He remained calm while the ship captain’s officers and men swirled about him excitedly. Even during impending combat, Dupleix concentrated on devising criteria that would permit him to take the moral high ground if this encounter resulted in shooting. His job was to give The French Company competitive advantage in any circumstance. Silently, he prayed for the HEIC ship’s captain to fire first! Although Dupleix was not yet the governor or The French Company director, a tactical victory today would make him look bold and decisive, qualities that could sway the king and his court to appointment him. If the British believed he had acted in anticipation of those titles, the incident might spark full scale war between the two merchant fleets. The worst outcome would be for Pluton to both initiate an attack and lose the combat.

Pluton was the newest addition to The French Company fleet. It was Dupleix's habit to bring staff and guests aboard each of the new ships as soon as they arrived. This practice was somewhat cruel to a captain and crew that had just completed the grueling journey from France. But, it allowed Dupleix to give each new crew his full attention, so that he could make a clear impression on them (they felt the heat of his power). It also let Dupleix test the seamanship of a newly arrived captain and crew during arduous conditions (while they were exhausted).

A newly arrived captain, his officers, and crew got this one early opportunity to demonstrate their prowess in an operational setting. If they were good at their professional craft, they might bond with Dupleix, and gain his confidence forever. Dupleix was more likely to send captains that he trusted on politically sensitive or on lucrative missions. Those were the assignments that captains craved, for they provided the settings for a captain to achieve glory. This is how they would advance in status, not by giving briefings about their trade journeys to Dupleix in a stuffy Pondicherry boardroom.

Already, Dupleix sensed something special about this Pluton crew, and even about their curious mix of passengers. There was an élan, a blend of thrill and esprit de corps in them as they prepared for combat and possibly their deaths! The officers and crew rose to the occasion and supported their captain smartly. A few heeded the natural instinct for self-preservation by shrinking near or behind structures on the ship’s deck. But, every ship had some people like that aboard. Dupleix made sure that the shirkers saw that he saw them. He shamed them by showing them that he took personal risks. Dupleix remained conspicuous on the command deck, demonstrating that he did not see himself as more important than any of them. Along with his small staff, Dupleix occupied the after portion of deck space behind the captain and his helmsman. Curiously, some of guests from Pondicherry and a few of the passengers who had paid to sail on Pluton from France joined him up there.

Sir, a paying passenger said, I am Ignacio Dupon. This is my son, Jean-Louis. Might we experience this unfolding drama at your side?

You may do as you wish, sir, Dupleix replied flatly. Be warned that drama of this sort may be hurtful to you and your son.

Jean-Louis is a prince of the House of Bourbon, Ignacio replied quietly, but proudly. He can learn his station by watching you. Dupleix outwardly appeared to melt like Irish butter in a saucepan. Inwardly, he took note of yet another butt kisser in his presence. Still, this was an unexpected encounter, and many of his best experiences started out like this. He smiled for the young prince and his father.

Ten-year-old Jean-Louis marveled at how the seamen moved with purpose. They had names for every line and equipment on the ship. Their officers simply shouted a seaman’s name and the name of a line or device. The seaman knew what to do with those things. They all understood the transition from efficient cargo transport to a war condition. Their captain must have maximum maneuver no matter what the wind did. Jean-Louis knew all of the crew, having just sailed with them from France. Now and then, one of them winked at him or waved to him. Such welcoming gestures stirred his blood! After it happened for a third time, the boy broke free of his father to join the seamen!

Dupleix had only just met this boy. Now, he realized that there was zing in the lad’s spirit! Sir, your boy is all about in harm's way, yet you do nothing?

He becomes whom he is, Ignacio replied without emotion. An effective prince learns by getting his hands dirty along with those who follow orders. One day he will lead with confidence because he will have a clear understanding of what men can do.

Dupleix admired Ignacio’s courage. He hoped that he would not see Ignacio bury his son this day. Still, this was a small show at hand. Readily, Dupleix accepted a spyglass from a member of his staff. Carefully, he studied the ant-like figures of the HEIC crew. The fully loaded HEIC East Indiaman plowed through the sea toward Madras (the India headquarters of the HEIC). She likely had come from China or Indonesia. Just as Pluton’s seamen began to get full sails on, Dupleix spotted the HEIC captain on the quarterdeck of the enemy ship.

The HEIC captain was intent on denying his French counterpart an opportunity to press close or to cross his ship’s T (sail across the bow so that all guns on your ship can fire down the length of an opposing ship). He sheared away, forgoing his course to Madras in order to get the wind behind him wherever it might take him. He could not get away, not with a fully loaded ship. Dupleix watched to see if the enemy might begin to dump cargo. That did not happen, be that because the cargo was bulky and heavy to dump or because it was valuable. Inside of an hour of sailing and counter-sailing, everyone on both ships understood that Pluton would catch the laden HEIC vessel.

Young Jean-Louis found employment by joining the dozen or so powder monkeys, orphans who were about his age or younger. He fetched bags of powder and shot for the gun crews and for the musket men aloft who prepared to kill the HEIC officers, and to pick off any efficient opposing gun crews. Jean-Louis’ seamen friends and the other powder monkeys warned him that HEIC sharpshooters would pick off the powder monkeys, not because they wished to kill children, but because the young boys carried the means for all of the French sharpshooters to function.

Bravely, Jean-Louis climbed the ratlines with leather straps of small powder and shot bags clenched tightly in his teeth. The ships were close to each other now. Although neither ship had let cannonballs fly, the sharpshooters aloft in both ships began to fire on each other and occasionally on men on the main deck. Bags bounced on the back of Jean-Louis’ thighs as he weaved and dodged musket balls while he climbed a ratline. He was confident and skilled (or lucky) at spoiling the aim of the HEIC marksmen. Dupleix marveled at the lad’s bravery, plus he was utterly astounded that the boy took such risks, for he was not an orphan compelled to do such in order to eat. The words of the father resonated in Dupleix’s head. He was compelled to watch the lad, even though the boy’s role in this thing was nothing.

Such a prince of France, if properly schooled by me, could wield power abroad, Dupleix thought, the like of which has never entered the minds of the hemophiliac-laden cushion sitters that rule now!

Ignacio and his son, members of the Dupon family were of the House of Bourbon. They traced their heritage to the Kingdom of Pamplona, a 15th century realm that straddled the Pyrenees. The kingdom was unstable due to a population mix of Franks and Basques. The Dupons originated from the Basques. Their ancestors figured prominently in Basque victories that subsumed Pamplona in order to create the Kingdom of Navarre. However, Navarre could not long stand. It was situated between two growing giants of the European continent: Spain and France.

Navarre kings installed leaders among the Basques in the part of the kingdom that was most at risk for revolution. Thus, it was a family trait, the ability of some Dupon men to be visionaries and natural leaders, to put the family on the wrong side of the Pyrenees, north of that great range of mountains. There, they could lead Navarre forces to crush dissent among the Franks. In the lives of men, the lives of their sons, during times of victory, good weather, and strong harvests, generations of the Dupon family lived well. However, the Kingdom of Navarre did not withstand the trace of time.

Ironically, it was the Spanish, in 1513, who initiated the split in the kingdom. They cropped off the portion of Navarre that was on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees. This annexation set in motion the fate of future generations of the Dupon family. France subsumed the northern portion of Navarre, where they lived. The family suffered reprisals for their roles as leaders of the former kingdom. The only ones to survive among them were the cunning, those who persevered, and those who made their way in life by educating themselves. It was in all of those ways that a single line of the Dupon clan became outliers in the House of Bourbon, which had begun a long-running succession of monarchs in France beginning in 1589.

Ignacio Dupon decided with the naming of his newborn son that he had bettered himself enough. He intended to focus on infant Jean-Louis, to be French in name, but Basque by bloodline. While he maintained his family in the French town of Bayonne, Ignacio made appearances at the court of King Louis XV, in Versailles, whenever he believed that he had a chance to improve Jean-Louis' station in life. His initial focus was on getting the boy recognized and sponsored for an education that was suitable for a prince of the House of Bourbon. In that, he succeeded well enough. In 1735, at age five, Jean-Louis began schooling in the arts, sciences, and in the languages and cultures of Spain, England, and Rome (Latin). Conspicuously, he received no training in religions. France was Roman Catholic. That would seem to be the proper religion for Jean-Louis. However, Europe was racked by religious reformists. Protestors, or Protestants as they became known, were religious purists who took issue with the doctrine and dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. Ignacio feared connecting his son to either view of Christianity, for it would be too easy to pick the wrong side in that ongoing war over who was God's favorite.

Ignacio understood that centuries of disruptive warfare had convinced most of the European powers to seek ways to avoid conflict. One way they did that was to form alliances between kingdoms through marriage. Other European monarchies recognized moderation in the Bourbon lineage and welcomed intermarriage as a congenial way to bond with that line. Over time, the French kingdom and its people prospered as the monarchy concentrated on improvements to the economy. Through marriage, it was possible for other kingdoms to connect their monarchy with the Bourbons, not only to maintain peace with France, but to learn the Bourbon way of administration that led to France's prosperity. By the early 18th century, the reach of the House of Bourbon extended from French sovereign borders to the thrones of Luxembourg, Sicily, Naples, and Spain. This was an extraordinary time for Ignacio to seek a place for Jean-Louis. His preference was to get the family to Spain.

He made a mistake, but not an obvious one. Ignacio took a key role and obligated himself, during planning and execution of France's part in support of Polish King Stanisław I. Leszczyński. French King Louis XV was Stanislaw's son-in-law. When August III, the Saxon, the son of the previous Polish king (who had died) challenged Stanislaw's legitimacy, France stood against the challenger. The Russian Monarchy backed August III in a conflict known as the War of the Polish Succession. The Russians besieged Warsaw. A French fleet arrived to disembark a small French army, but they arrived too late to dislodge the Russians. Stanislaw abdicated the Polish crown.

Someone in the French court must be blamed for making France look impotent. A higher level Bourbon discreetly informed Ignacio Dupon that he would be that person. Yet, the informant assured Ignacio that he would receive only a slap on the wrist. A later reward would be given to him for being so noble by stepping up to take the the public fall. Ignacio suspected a trap. He stalled as long as he could, in order to gather intelligence that would reveal who had sent the informant. He discovered that a powerful, ensconced Bourbon, with much to lose, was the source. That man was well-placed in court, yet King Louis XV would hold him responsible if the king understood that his man from his inner circle of trust had tricked Ignacio into taking unwarranted blame.

The risk was clear. Once blamed, the conniving Bourbon would want to get rid of Ignacio and his family. Ignacio had but three choices: The first choice was to take the blame as he had agreed to do. His second choice was to do nothing and hope that the other Bourbon would get blamed for the fiasco. The third, bolder choice was for Ignacio to mount his own political initiative to link the other man to what had happened in Poland. Ignacio chose to confront and draw out the powerful Bourbon antagonist. This was a far worse mistake, for the higher placed Bourbon had anticipated such a maneuver. When it happened, blame and a charge of disloyalty to his seniors were levied against Ignacio. These stuck to to him.

Doggedly, Ignacio sought to clear his name as his status in the French royal court weakened. He thought the matter might subside when Stanislaw formally abdicated on January 26, 1736. The royals rebuffed Ignacio. They shunned him as the Polish matter subsided. For the next two years, he became a political non-person. Still, Ignacio would not quit. From every possible angle, he tried to regain status. Nothing worked. Someone always blocked his moves. In 1738, a tragedy befell the Dupon family. Jean-Louis, now eight-years-old, was only five miles from his home in Bayonne when his mother fell ill from what appeared to be food poisoning. The boy had come home from his schooling to celebrate his birthday with his family. He did not have a single moment with his mother that day. She was so violently ill that she could not see him. She died less than ten hours after the first symptoms.

Ignacio was beside himself with grief. He kept Jean-Louis near him for several weeks after the funeral, for his own sake as well as the boy's. Jean-Louis missed his mother's touch, her voice, and the way she had showered him with love every day. He cried himself to sleep at night. Within a few weeks following the funeral, a friend told Ignacio that he had gotten word that Mrs. Dupon was a victim of murder by poison!

Take your family out of France soon, the friend advised. Your wife’s death was not a warning. The plot was, and still is to kill your entire family!

Unable to trust anyone, Ignacio had no means to investigate the claim. If true, he could not defend against hidden murderers. Ignacio decided to flee, to preserve Jean-Louis' status as a prince at the fringes of the House of Bourbon. He sold or gave away everything that the two of them possessed that would not fit into a small cabin on an East Indiaman called Pluton, bound for Pondicherry, the principal base of The French Company in India.

Pluton looked like a French warship of the line, by her trim, paint, and gun ports. She had 38 guns. Her crew performed drills on how to use them, although the primary purpose of an Indiaman was to transport bulk cargo. Indiamen were the largest merchant ships of the 18th century. Pluton grossed 1440 tons, was 176 feet long and had a 144 foot keel. She was 43 feet wide at the beam, and she drafted 17 feet of water depth when she was fully loaded with cargo. She had a generous cargo hold plus two raised decks aft to accommodate paying passengers and the ship's officers. Her hull was wide at the waterline, but trimmer at the main and upper decks where her cannon were mounted to be close to the centerline, for stability.

More or less, the journey was expected to take half-a-year. The average speed of the ship was sixteen knots (nautical miles per hour). The distance between Bayonne, France and Pondicherry, India was known. Divide the distance by the speed to determine the number of days to sail. Wind speed was unknown. Prevailing wind direction was known. It was best to get the prevailing trade winds of the southern Atlantic Ocean to fill the ship's sails than it was to try to sail along the western African coast (the shortest distance to India from France). By sailing southwest from Bayonne to a point near to the South American coast, they would encounter the prevailing trade wind from the southeast that would propel them to the southern tip of Africa and the Cape of Storms (later called the Cape of Good Hope).

Ignacio did not appreciate how fortunate he was to depart from France in the month of November. East Indiamen of all European countries seasonally sailed to India in November, all planning to arrive in India in the spring of the following year. Thus, Pluton joined other French Company ships to form a convoy and during the voyage they encountered HEIC and Vereenigde Oost-Indishe Compagnie (VOC, The Dutch East India Company) convoys. All ships sailed to the coast of Brazil in order to find the trade winds.

Ignacio loved his son all the more now, because he was all that he had. He made Jean-Louis his confidant and shared with the boy the details behind his personal successes and failures. Together they walked about the ship and met someone new as often as possible. He taught Jean-Louis to notice the little things about people (their mannerisms) and he encouraged his son to let others do most of the talking. People invariably revealed what they loved and what they feared. Ignacio explained how to remember details by forming associations from disassociated details. Often, he made a rhyme from what should be remembered, a person’s name, skill, history, and ambitions.

At first, Jean-Louis did these things because his father wished it. Then, he began to see the power in it. A seaman's face lit up like Christmas Day when one of his betters complimented him or his work, or only noticed him with a smile. Seamen were not used to being treated as human beings. Well treated seamen imparted their knowledge to the boy, and they even shared their few comforts. More important, they introduced Jean-Louis to their friends, the other seamen. Hidden in the background, Ignacio admired his son's courage, his obedience, and his confidence in the boy rose as the lad made legions of friends aboard Pluton. Regrettably, at night, when he and his son were alone in the cabin, Ignacio could not stop himself from poisoning his son’s gracious heart.

They live as they do because it does not occur to them that they have a choice, Ignacio explained. You must have a target, something truly unobtainable, and relentlessly pursue it. These people who know you and like you will become your means to get to that place. Use them, but do not take them with you. No matter how kind or how helpful they are to you, do not permit them to distort your purpose with their needs and wants. They do not matter.

At a young age, Jean-Louis knew the other nations were often at odds with France, and especially the British. Yet, Ignacio, with the help of the captain of Pluton and his officers, was able to explain that all of them, be they French, British, or Dutch, were merchants, were interested in trade, and not in making war on each other. To bear that point out, nearly two months after they sailed from Bayonne, the convoy put in at the harbor of St. Helena Island, a speck of an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that was owned by Britain and managed by the HEIC.

St. Helena Island's port was a way-station, a place of rest for weary ship crews. The island had a hospital where sick seamen could be nursed back to health while damage to their ships was repaired at a well-equipped island shipyard. Some cargo trading was done there too, but not so much between such large numbers of ships that had left Europe. Their cargos were similar, and already promised to someone at their final destinations. Everyone on the ships badly wanted to stand once more on dry land. The captain of Pluton and other French captains petitioned the convoy Admiral to keep them all at St. Helena Island for a full week before they resumed their tiresome journey. Ignacio was elated to have so much time to roam the island. He continued his son's education there.

First, they aided the sick seamen, helping them to get to the island hospital. Most of the illnesses were of a scurvy type (malnutrition from a poor diet). Ignacio wanted the boy to learn how sick people were especially beholding to anyone who did a kindness for them. He also wanted the boy to understand why his father had hidden dry fruit at the beginning of the voyage. They ate it in secret after all of the fresh fruit and vegetables brought aboard in Bayonne were consumed. The other reason that Ignacio took Jean-Louis to the hospital was so that he could try to charm the British doctors and staff there. In that, he was immediately successful. The caregivers thought Jean-Louis to be the ship's loyal mascot. They were happy to oblige his curiosity about British citizens and they described interesting details about the island.

The thing that intrigued Ignacio and Jean-Louis the most was the island's coffee. It was called green-tipped bourbon Arabica coffee. First offered to them at the hospital, they both found it to be robust and clean, with hints of fruit and chocolate. A doctor told them that long ago an HEIC ship brought coffee seed from the Yemeni Red Sea port of Mocha. The beans of that pure coffee strain thrived on the island. The doctor promised to take the two on a tour of the small estate where it was grown, an offer that they accepted.

Although it was an island, and a small one at that, the overland trek through thick vegetation plus the rise in elevation taxed Ignacio considerably. Jean-Louis thrived on the adventure. Questions; he had a thousand questions for the British doctor and his companions and he flexed his understanding and use of English words to the maximum. Being a young Bourbon prince, he was schooled in the English language, but there had been no chance to use English words, let alone reason like a Brit, until now.

Abruptly, the party crested a ridge at the highest elevation! After having followed a winding ascending trail for hours, the shock of seeing a collapsed volcano with a spectacular ruin within overwhelmed them! While even those familiar with the place stood in awe, Jean-Louis soaked up information like a sponge in water as he beheld the panoramic view. He listened to the coffee growers explain how to plant and nurture the seed, how the rich volcanic soil improved the plant growth, and how high elevation and moisture control improved the plants. Then, he learned how and when to harvest coffee, plus how to prepare the ripened, harvested beans for roasting.

When they returned to the ship two days later, Ignacio arranged an audience with Pluton's captain and his officers. After a sumptuous dinner in the captain's cabin, Jean-Louis told the story. Then, he answered questions in the English language! In this way, Ignacio let Jean-Louis see how power, the use of an education, and oratory skill impressed a higher class of men. This enabled the father to later compare and contrast that with how kindness and undivided personal interest won over the lowly seaman.

It seemed a little sad to leave the island of St. Helena and the sweet memories that the Dupons made there. Yet, as the days at sea passed, they and everyone on the ship got excited about continuing their journey. Because the winds were so favorable, they made good speed to their next port-of-call, the VOC way-station of Cape Town, at the southern tip of Africa.

There, the Dutch were savvy about their efficient conduct of business. Dutchmen lured the Dupons into deal-making deals in the Cape Town marketplace. If Ignacio was caught off guard, but he turned the experience into a teaching lesson. Essentially, the friendly, and knowledgeble Dutch merchants had employed techniques of personal influence on them that were similar to the methods that Ignacio taught to Jean-Louis.

As he did among the British on St. Helena, Ignacio thrust Jean-Louis into the Dutch and African cultures during the three-day layover in that place. Neither of them could speak the Germanic language of the Nederlands. They relied on Dutchmen to speak to them, either in French, or in the English language. Thus, they gained for themselves an edge in negotiations for goods and for information. Ignacio thought the leap ahead in his son's continuing education was worth the investment of capital and time. He was especially fascinated by how Jean-Louis tried to unravel the distinctions in the fascinating mix of people in the marketplace that were from different African tribes. He had seen black people in France, but they were few in number and always in some form of servitude. He never spoke to one of their race until now. In Cape Town, he was bombarded by explanations about the origin of the black people who were everywhere, it seemed. They had come into the port town mostly of their own volition, looking for work. They came from more than a hundred tribes, and they had to use sign language among themselves as well as with the Dutchmen in order to communicate.

They are human like you and me, Ignacio said of black people when he and his son were back aboard Pluton. Treat them like you learned to treat the seamen. Be kind to the African tribesmen, listen and help. Use them when it suits your purpose. Do not take them with you.

When the convoy resumed its travel, Ignacio implored his son to keep his friendships fast and to learn every detail before they arrived in India. He did not tell him that they were nearly destitute and with no happy prospects awaiting them at the end of their journey. By the time their ship docked at Pondicherry, Jean-Louis Dupon knew how the ship was built, how to make it move with or in spite of the wind, how the cargo was stored, how the guns worked, and what motivated the crew. He was a favorite of the crew, and he could assume any role among them that he wished.

Now, on his first day of combat, he wished to be in the thick of it! He did what the powder monkeys did, threw his heart and soul into survival while bringing the means for the shooters to deliver death! Suddenly, an HEIC gun crew fired a cannonball into the side of Pluton!

Straight away, Dupleix suspected that the single shot was delivered by an overeager HEIC gun crew or that they had accidentally fired without orders. It did not matter. The British had fired first during a game of chicken! Pluton’s captain was ready for it. He returned fire, concentrating on the HEIC ship’s rigging. This was in accordance with French doctrine for combat at sea. He shot up the other ship’s sails, lines, and he weakened the spars. He did not want to risk damaging the hull. The captain wanted to take the ship and its cargo as a prize of combat. As was the habit of British maritime officers, the HEIC ship’s captain concentrated his fire on the French crew. Murderous canister and grape shot raked Pluton’s decks!

A gun crew of the HEIC ship fired the final shot just after their captain struck his colors. That crew got word of their ship’s surrender too late, and they fired a small cannon (a caliber designed specifically to kill crew and not substantially harm the wood of a ship). A full load of grapeshot peppered half-a-dozen unfortunates on Pluton’s main deck, starboard. Jean-Louis was there, down from his scamper on the ratlines. Fortune was with him for he happened to pass behind a tall gunner, and it was that man who took the brunt of the blast. Still, young Jean-Louis was hit in several places, all flesh, save one.

A single grapeshot hit him in the upper lip, just below his nose. The lip bled, but it was an upper front tooth, the second from the center, on his left, that absorbed the crushing blow. The force of the shot knocked Jean-Louis down onto the deck, but it did not knock out his tooth. The tooth filled with blood, ruining its health as the nerve was killed. Jean-Louis survived this wound. The blood dried in the cavity of his tooth, permanently darkening it. The seamen told him that his tooth was colored dark blue.

He stood proudly among the wounded veterans of this day’s combat! Marked for life by the dark blue enamel, the tooth remained strongly in place. Since the superstitious seamen of Pluton were compelled to account for everything that happened aboard their ship, his wounds were noted. Those men were friends, made during the long voyage from France. It was they who affixed a nickname to the brave boy. They called him Dent Bleu (Blue Tooth). That moniker stayed with Jean-Louis for the remainder of his life.

The boy did not know the tenuous poverty that awaited him and his father as soon as they got to shore. Ignacio had not told him that aristocrats of the House of Bourbon could be broke, starving, and alone, as well as driven from France and hunted. Impoverishment meant that Ignacio and his son had no station in the society of French India. Yet, magic happened.

Dupleix saw everything that happened aboard the ship in combat. He had met Ignacio and his son. Dupleix intended to use the combat victory to propel his advance to higher office in the French Company. He also planned to use the story of the brave boy. If the ship’s crew loved him so, perhaps Frenchmen and India men alike would love him too. Dupleix believed what Ignacio had told him about Jean-Louis being a lesser prince of the House of Bourbon. He also knew that cream finds its way to the top, no matter how much it is stirred. This young prince, this Dent Bleu, might go far, and Dupleix reasoned that he might go farther, quickly, if he put the young combat hero out in front for awhile.

**

Two days later, Pluton, with the HEIC prize ship in loose trail, returned to the small harbor at Thengaithittu, which was three kilometers south of Pondicherry. A well-constructed quay there permitted both ships to be simultaneously docked. Beyond the quay, mangrove trees abounded as far inland as one could see. The road north to Pondicherry was a good one, and a large crowd had gathered to welcome Dupleix. Thus began an impromptu celebration of the great man’s victory at sea. Young Dent Bleu asked his father how it could be that the people ashore knew about the victory. Ignacio pointed to a lighthouse up the road. He suggested that the lighthouse watchmen, high in the lighthouse, observed Pluton's approach over the horizon.

They would have seen that the flag of the HEIC ship that followed in Pluton's wake was struck low, Ignacio reasoned. They would have sent word of what they saw to the government and people of Pondicherry.

Ignacio kept an eye on Pluton’s captain as the ship entered the harbor. He was busy monitoring the maneuver of his ship to the quay. It would not do to win a combat and follow that by crashing the ship into an immovable object. Ignacio saw the captain relax as soon as all of the sails were furled as lines were made fast to the ship. He told his son to stay at the railing while he went to speak to the captain. Humbly, he asked the captain to permit him and his boy to continue to reside in their cabin aboard ship until he could make arrangements ashore. The captain graciously agreed to the request.

We will follow the crowd when it returns to town, the father told his son. With but little jingle in his pocket, Ignacio hoped there might be an open feast there and that he and his son could eat their fill. The meal might be their last for some time unless the crew of Pluton shared their victuals.

Monsieur Dupon, Dupleix interrupted their conversation. What arrangements do you have to stay in town? Ignacio was astounded that the powerful man would have time to speak to him. He had hoped to get some audience with him perhaps a week from now, after this hubbub subsided.

None, sir, Ignacio replied. Dupleix’s eyes fixated on Dent Bleu. The young hero smiled at him, displaying his newly-won facial blemish. If he had not been told that the boy was of noble blood, he would have sensed it now as he saw the way the lad stood with bearing, with some air of authority about him. Dupleix became confident that he would gain by propelling the Dent Bleu’s status beyond what it was now.

Forgive me, Monsieur Dupon, Dupleix explained. You have already told me that you intend to start afresh in Pondicherry. Whatever it is that you have in mind, I want you to put that aside and come work for me, to be part of my personal staff. I need someone who can capture details, which is what an accountant does. Will you consider becoming my staff chronicler?

Ignacio dug his thumbs into the palms of his hands! Pain distracted him, prevented him from jumping up and down like a child on Christmas morning! He smiled broadly, extended his hand, and bowed his head to accept the offer straight away, without hearing his wage. Dupleix accepted the offered hand. The deal was made. Ignacio kept his head bowed and hoped that no one saw tears fall on the toes of his shoes. It had been so long since kindness had come his way...so long. Dupleix asked a member of his staff to get a place in town for the Dupons and arrange for their support. Then, he was off, for the ramp was put into place. The adoring crowd enveloped the great man.

Ignacio wiped his eyesas the assigned staff member peppered him and Jean-Louis with a wealth of information. He told them that there would be days of celebratory events ahead, and they would receive written invitations to all of them! Curiously, the man said to Jean-Louis that he would be asked to recount the story of his wounding in combat when asked. The man advised the boy not to be shy. Rather, he should be bold in the telling.

Ignacio pondered that advice. The man would not have said such a thing unless his master had planted the idea in his head. The Dupons were whisked away in one of a long line of carriages that were sent from the town. Excitedly, both father and son drank in the wonders of the seacoast and the town that was known as The French Rivera of the East. Ignacio and Jean-Louis questioned staff members in the carriage, inciting a lively conversation to include several marvelous stories.

European influence in Pondicherry spanned thousands of years to a time when the Roman Empire established the settlement along the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. The indigenous people then and now were called Tamils. They were mostly farmers who grew grains and vegetables west of today's Pondicherry. Hundreds of fishermen sailed from the precise harbor they had just left, to capture the abundant silvery fishes of the bay in cast nets.

Frenchmen had been here since 1675, when Francois Martin founded Pondicherry and became its first governor. The VOC took the seacoast town away from the French in 1693. They improved the place for the nine years that they held it, pouring in lavish funding. They were the ones who straightened the streets into a grid pattern. By treaty, Pondicherry was returned to France in 1703.

By his death, Martin passed the governorship to Pierre Christophe le noir, who began to expand the town and improve its commercial viability as a trading port. Pierre Benoit Dumas became governor in 1735. Dumas transformed Pondicherry into a jewel of the Indian subcontinent! Pondicherry became a place of opulence as well as a prominent regional trading port. He was still governor on the day that a carriage wheeled the Dupons into town. It was strongly rumored that Dumas would soon retire to France. Although his replacement was uncertain, on this day, Joseph-Francois Dupleix entered Pondicherry like Julius Caesar entered Rome, triumphant in battle!

The Dupons beheld a recently established botanical garden in the French Quarter about two blocks west of a magnificent palm tree-fringed promenade. Romantics walked there to enjoy the warm sea breezes. There, spectacular red sunsets were framed by the gentle sea of the Bay of Bengal. The town was in harmony with nature and its heavenly bodies. The name of every street began with the word rue. Dumas kept the Dutch-designed grid. The streets intersected at right angles. The current governor added his hand to the local engineering when he encircled the entire French Quarter with a spectacular boulevard. Now, the French portion of Pondicherry was softened into the shape of an oval.

The carriage stopped at a colonial house with large windows with window shudders constructed of teak wood. Teak doors, twice the size of average house doors, hung in their traces. This house featured a spectacular veranda on Rue Romain Rolland. The veranda was adorned with wicker furniture. The Dupons were provided