He turned to the rail, unencumbered by hammocks at this time of day, and looked at the merchantmen: they were all there, straggling over not too vast an area of sea; and what he had taken for a far stern lantern or an uncommonly big top-light was old Saturn, low on the horizon and tangled in their rigging. To windward now, and he saw a sleepy line of gulls, squabbling languidly over a ripple on the sea – sardines or anchovies or maybe those little spiny mackerel. The sound of the creaking blocks, the gently straining cordage and sailcloth, the angle of the living deck and the curved line of
...more
Why I love O'Brian.
