16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
paced forward towards the belfry to strike the
bell. But both gangways were obstructed with
spars, cordage and a crowd of straining bodies,
and he had to go down into the waist and
pick his way among the carpenter and his
crew as they worked sweating under the sun,
now half-way to its height and terrible in the
copper-coloured sky. They were shaping not
only the new crosstrees but also the heel of the
new topgallantmast, an intent body of men,
working to very fine limits in a rolling ship, plying
sharp-edged tools and impatient of the
slightest interruption. But the quartermaster
was a dogged soul; he had served with Nelson
in the Agamemnon and the Vanguard; he
was not going to be stopped by a parcel of
carpenters; and presently four bells rang out
their double chime. The quartermaster returned,
followed by oaths and bringing with
him the two helmsmen who were to take their