16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
NINE
Early on Wednesday the east wind, which
had been dying all night, at last expired in a
peaceful calm: no more whirling dust, no
more banging shutters, falling tiles; a blessed
quietness. By the time the sun had risen ten
degrees or so the sea-breeze began to waft in
and by mid-morning it was blowing a moderate
gale from the south-west: the Surprise
could have carried full topsails, but Tom Pullings,
less given to cracking-on than his Captain,
would have had a reef in them.
It blew steadily all that day and the next and
on Friday Tom pulled over to San Lorenzo
once more, walked across the island and so