16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
get there before nightfall. You are starting
more than three hours late.' Stephen bent his
head; he could not but admit it. 'And there is a
cruel wind blowing right in your face,' added
Gayongos. He led Stephen through a daedal
of passages and stables to a courtyard where
the mule was standing, a tall, intelligent animal
that recognized their destination after their
first two or three turns through Lima streets,
making his way through the gate beyond the
Misericordia convent without guidance and
striking into the road that ran a little north of
east towards the mountains along the left of
the river, a fine turbulent great stream, growing
day by day as the season advanced. The
road was not much frequented at present,
though on Friday and Saturday it would be full
of people going up to the shrine of Our Lady
of Huenca; and it grew less beyond the limits
of irrigated land. The mule was an ambler