16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
binnacle drawers.
Yet as his conscious mind accepted this so
yesterday came flooding back, and the extravagance
of the sailors' activity disappeared.
Mr West had died. He was to be buried at sea
in the forenoon watch, and they were seeing
to it that he should go over the side from a
ship in tolerably good order. He was not an
outstandingly popular officer; nor was he very
clever, either, and sometimes he did tend to
top it the knob, being more quarterdeck than
tarpaulin; but he was not in the least illnatured
– never had a man brought up before
the Captain as a defaulter – and there was no
question at all of his courage. He had distinguished
himself when the Surprise cut the
Diane out at St Martin's, while in this last affair
at Moahu he had done everything a good, active
officer could do. But above all they were
used to him: they had sailed with him for a