16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
some degree or another – are most uneasy at
the thought of his being taken back to England
and perhaps taken up before the Admiralty
Court on a point of law and ending up at
Execution Dock, hanged for a pirate, just because
he did not have a piece of paper. Mr
Dutourd a pirate? It makes no sense, Doctor.
Those wicked men in the Alastor were pirates,
not Mr Dutourd. They were the sort of people
you see hanging in chains at Tilbury Point, a
horrid warning to them as sails by; not Mr
Dutourd, who is a learned man, and who
loves his fellow-beings.'
Grainger's drift was clear enough, and he
could not be allowed to reach a direct request.
Stephen had the medical man's recourse:
during a pause for emphasis he desired
Grainger to hold his breath, took his
pulse, and having counted it, watch in hand,
he said, 'Do you know we parted company an