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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Sir Joseph’s reply to my message was an invitation to dinner on the same evening, and I found him in company with Captain Montague, of the Hector. We discussed for a time the events taking place in Europe, which pointed to an early outbreak of war. Presently Sir Joseph turned to me.

“What are your plans, Byam?” he asked. “Shall you return to the Navy, or go up to Oxford, as your father hoped?”

“Neither, sir,” I replied. “I have decided to return to the South Sea.”

Montague set down his glass at my words, and Sir Joseph looked at me in astonishment, but neither man spoke.

“There is nothing, now, to keep me in England,” I added.

Sir Joseph shook his head slowly. “It had not occurred to me that you were considering Tahiti,” he said. “I feared that, in your present state, you might intend to give up the sea for the seclusion of an academic career. But the islands ... no, my lad!”

“Why not, sir?” I asked. “I am free of obligations at home, and I should be happy there. Saving yourself and Captain Montague and a handful of other friends, there is no one in England I wish to see again.”