16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
his mind: just in what order had things happened?
Not that it signified. The ship was
swimming in clear water. He sent Reade to ask
the carpenter to sound the well and then
looked for the destruction here on deck. There
was surprisingly little. The mizen had gone as
clean as a whistle, and the bosun, together
with his mates, was knotting and splicing.
'What damage did it do among the people?'
he asked Wilkins.
'None this last bout, sir. The ice missed us by
a shaver.'
Pullings came aft, smiling, curiously talkative,
a marline-spike in his hand. 'Give you joy of
our passage, sir,' he said. 'At one moment I
did not think she could do it, and my heart
was fairly in my mouth. And then when the ice
came down I said, 'All up with you, Pullings,
old cock' But, however, it missed.'