16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
he took the air in the forenoon after a trying,
anxious time with the sick-berth, where neither
burns nor foot were doing well, and with his
collections, where a vile moth was breeding
among the feathers and no pepper, no pepper
left in the entire ship to discourage it. He arrived
on deck not by climbing the companionladder
to the quarterdeck in the usual way but
by the fore-hatchway, having traversed the
berth-deck to consider Dutourd's former cabin
for the amputation in case his suspicion of an
incipient pneumonia (that frequent sequel)
should prove to be true. This brought him into
the waist of the ship, filled with hands. They
touched their hats and wished him good-day,
but mechanically, with barely a smile, and returned
to their low, anxious, intent conversations,
frequently calling up in subdued voices
to their companions thick along the starboard
gangway.