Читать книгу Men Against the Sea – Book Set. The Greatest Maritime Adventure Novels: The Bounty Trilogy, Lost Island, The Hurricane, Botany Bay, The Far Lands, Tales of the South Seas… онлайн

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“How shall you lay your course, sir?” I asked. “About Cape Horn?”

“I shall make the attempt, though the season will be advanced beyond the time of easterly winds. We shall return from Tahiti by way of the East Indies and the Cape of Good Hope.”

My mother gave me a glance and we rose as she took leave of us. While he cracked walnuts and sipped my father’s Madeira, Bligh questioned me, in the agreeable manner he knew so well how to assume, as to my knowledge of languages. At last he seemed satisfied, finished the wine in his glass, and shook his head at the man who would have filled it. He was moderate in the use of wine, in an age when nearly all the officers of His Majesty’s Navy drank to excess. Finally he spoke.

“Young man,” he said seriously, “how would you like to sail with me?”

I had been thinking, ever since his first mention of the voyage, that I should like nothing better, but his words took me aback.

“Do you mean it, sir?” I stammered. “Would it be possible?”

“It rests with you and Mrs. Byam to decide. It would be a pleasure to make a place for you among my young gentlemen.”