The foremast must go,' said Jack. 'Forshaw, jump to the quarterdeck and ask the captain's permission and for the carpenter's crew. Forshaw- where is Forshaw?' Nobody answered for a moment and then Babbington said, 'Gone, sir. Blasted over the side.' 'Oh, Christ,' said Jack; a very slight pause, and then, 'Holles, cut along.'
Patrick O’Brian from The Fortune of War, Aubreyad 6
And in a few short lines, O’Brian has broken my heart completely and probably won’t stitch it up until the end of this book if and when Jack and Stephen make it back to England to Sophie, Charlotte, Fanny and George.














