JК
Sharpes Devil :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 113 из 209Sharpe and Harper, restored to grace as passengers, nevertheless worked the sodden handles for three muscle-torturing hours duringthe night. Besides the women and children, only Cochrane and Captain Ardiles were spared the agony of the endless pumps. Ardiles, suffering the pangs of defeat, had closeted himself in his old cabin which Cochrane, with a generosity that seemed typical of the man, had surrendered to his beaten opponent.
In the gray morning, when the wind was whistling to blow the wavetops ragged, Lord Cochrane edged the broken frigate nearer to land so that, at times, a dark sliver on the eastern horizon betrayed high ground. He had not wanted to close the coast, for fear that the captured Espiritu Santo might be seen by a Spanish pinnace or fishing boat that could warn Valdivia of his approach, but now he sacrificed that caution for the security of land. "If worse comes to worst," he explained, "then perhaps we might be able to beach this wreck in the channels. Though God knows if we'd survive them."
"Channels?" Sharpe asked.
Cochrane showed Sharpe a chart which revealed that the Chilean coast, so far as it was known, was a nightmare tangle of islands and hidden seaways. "There are thousands of natural harbors if you can get into the channels," Cochrane explained, "but the channel entrances are as wicked as any in the world. As dreadful as the western coast of Scotland! There are cliffs on this coast that are as tall as mountains! And God only knows what's waiting inside the channels. This is unexplored country. The old maps said that monsters lived here, and maybe they do, for no one's ever explored this coast. Except the savages, of course, and they don't count. Still, maybe the O'Higgins will find us first."
"Is she close?"
"Christ only knows where she is, though she's supposed to rendezvous with us off Valdivia. I've left a good man in charge of her, so perhaps he'll have the wits to come south and look for us if we're late, and if he does, and finds us sinking, then he can take us off." He stared bleakly at the chart which he had draped over the Espiritu Santos shot-torn binnacle. "It's a devil of a long way to Valdivia," he said under his breath.
Sharpe heard a sigh of despair in Cochrane's voice. "You're not serious about Valdivia, are you?" Sharpe asked.
"Of course I am."
"You're going to attack with this broken ship?"
"This and the O'Higgins."
"For God's sake," Sharpe protested, "Valdivia Harbor has more fortresses than London!"
"Aye, I know.
In the gray morning, when the wind was whistling to blow the wavetops ragged, Lord Cochrane edged the broken frigate nearer to land so that, at times, a dark sliver on the eastern horizon betrayed high ground. He had not wanted to close the coast, for fear that the captured Espiritu Santo might be seen by a Spanish pinnace or fishing boat that could warn Valdivia of his approach, but now he sacrificed that caution for the security of land. "If worse comes to worst," he explained, "then perhaps we might be able to beach this wreck in the channels. Though God knows if we'd survive them."
"Channels?" Sharpe asked.
Cochrane showed Sharpe a chart which revealed that the Chilean coast, so far as it was known, was a nightmare tangle of islands and hidden seaways. "There are thousands of natural harbors if you can get into the channels," Cochrane explained, "but the channel entrances are as wicked as any in the world. As dreadful as the western coast of Scotland! There are cliffs on this coast that are as tall as mountains! And God only knows what's waiting inside the channels. This is unexplored country. The old maps said that monsters lived here, and maybe they do, for no one's ever explored this coast. Except the savages, of course, and they don't count. Still, maybe the O'Higgins will find us first."
"Is she close?"
"Christ only knows where she is, though she's supposed to rendezvous with us off Valdivia. I've left a good man in charge of her, so perhaps he'll have the wits to come south and look for us if we're late, and if he does, and finds us sinking, then he can take us off." He stared bleakly at the chart which he had draped over the Espiritu Santos shot-torn binnacle. "It's a devil of a long way to Valdivia," he said under his breath.
Sharpe heard a sigh of despair in Cochrane's voice. "You're not serious about Valdivia, are you?" Sharpe asked.
"Of course I am."
"You're going to attack with this broken ship?"
"This and the O'Higgins."
"For God's sake," Sharpe protested, "Valdivia Harbor has more fortresses than London!"
"Aye, I know.