16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
the red cutter be lowered down at once.'
'On deck, there,' hailed Norton, his voice
squeaking with emotion. 'On deck, sir. It is the
Doctor – he is overboard – no, he is back
again – I believe his tiller has come unshipped.'
The balsa, though wildly overloaded, was by
definition unsinkable, and they brought him
aboard to the heartiest cheers, helped him up
the side with so zealous a welcome that he
would have been pitched into the waist if Jack
had not clasped him with both hands. 'Welcome
aboard, Doctor,' he cried, and the ship's
company called out, 'Welcome aboard – aye,
aye – hear him – welcome aboard – huzzay,
huzzay!' in defiance of all good order and discipline.
As soon as he was in the cabin, and even
while Killick and Padeen were taking away his