16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
'The pass is now swept quite clear, and there is
Tupec coming down, with two other men.' He
pulled the poor beast away. Light came flooding
in and Stephen looked at his morbid leg.
'Eduardo, my dear,' he said hesitantly, after a
careful examination, 'I grieve to tell you that
my leg is deeply frostbitten. If I am fortunate I
may lose no more than some toes; but even in
that case I cannot do more than creep. Pray
pass me a handful of snow.'
As he chafed the pallid leg and the ominously
blueing foot with snow Eduardo
agreed. 'But,' he said, 'pray do not take it to
heart. Many of us have lost toes on the puna
without great harm; and as for your reaching
Arica, why, never concern yourself at all. You
shall have a Peruvian chair. I shall send down
to the village and you will travel like Pachacutic
Inca himself, cross the bridge, the hills and
the valleys in a Peruvian chair.'