16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
with a long easy motion and Stephen sat quite
relaxed upon his back: the river-banks had a
reasonable population of birds, while the occasional
reptile crossed the road and large flying
beetles were common as long as the
carob-groves lasted. Part of Stephen's mind
recorded them, but the strong east wind and
the dust made it hard to see with any sharp
definition and in any case the rest of his being
was so taken up with the possibility, indeed
the strong probability, of a brilliant success for
his mission within the next eight days or even
less that he never stopped or reached for his
pocket-glass. The whole scheme had matured
so quickly, because of his excellent relations
with Hurtado and O'Higgins and above all
because of the Viceroy's departure, that his
spirits, usually so well under control, were now
in something of a fluster. This was a condition
he had seen often enough in his colleagues,