16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
ferred a bloodless battle; often and often he
had risked his people and his ship, yet never
when there was a real possibility of having
such a weight of metal within range that no
enemy in his right mind would resist – colours
struck, no blood shed, no harm done, valuable
powder returned to the magazine, and
honour saved all round. He was, after all, a
professional man of war, not a hero. This fellow,
however, was said to be a pirate. Shelton
had seen the black flag. And if he was a pirate
there was likely to be resistance or flight. Yet
might it not have been that the Jolly Roger was
hoisted for a cod, or as a way of disarming his
legitimate privateer's prey by terror? Jack had
known it done. True piracy was almost unheard
of in these waters, whatever might be
the case elsewhere; though some privateers,
far and far from land, might sometimes overstep
the mark. And surely no downright pirate