16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
whose cheer could now be heard, though faint
and thin.
But these two shots, reverberating through
the ship's hollow belly, sent poor Martin's
weakened mind clear off its precarious balance
and into a delirium. His distress became
very great, reaching the screaming pitch.
Stephen quickly fastened him into his cot with
two bandages and ran towards the sick-berth.
He met Padeen on his way to tell him that
quarters had been beaten. 'I know it,' he replied.
'Go straight along and sit with Mr Martin.
I shall come back.'
He returned with the fittest of his patients, a
recent hernia. 'See that all is well below,
Padeen,' he said, and when Padeen had gone
he measured out a powerful dose from his secret
store of laudanum, the tincture of opium
to which he and Padeen had once been so
addicted. 'Now, John,' he said to the seaman,