16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
'You saw what happened?'
'Why, yes, sir. I had just put my head over the
top of the ladder when the Yankee opened
fire: deliberate shots at first – one hit the
mizen below the hounds – and then when we
were weathering the point and running clear,
all her remaining guns at once, and some of
their shots hit the ice, or perhaps it was just
the concussion: anyway a thundering great
steeple came down, a thousand ton, I dare
say. I never seen the like nor heard it. Plunged
into our wake, soaked one and all; and some
odd fragments spoilt the gingerbread work on
the taffrail.'
Jack perceived that he was indeed deeply
soaked behind; and perhaps still somewhat
shattered by the fantastic uproar. He said,
'How I regret the mizen. But a moment's attempt
at saving it would have brought us right
on the ice. As it was we scraped most horribly,