Black Sea September 1854
"We ask for sailing orders," Captain Evans said.
"Will we ever get to this blasted war?" Elliot asked.
"Once you do, Elliot," Snodgrass said seriously, "you will almost certainly wish that you had not."
With the young officers openly bemoaning their bad luck, Captain Evans returned to Poseidon and sailed fifteen miles north to Balchik Bay. They arrived just as dawn was breaking from the sea to the east, sending shafts of rosy light onto the ships that rode at anchor.
"Painted ships upon a painted ocean," Jack misquoted Coleridge as he stared overboard.
"Dear Lord in heaven; there"s a sight for the eyes to behold," Elliot said.
Even the prospect of incurring the wrath of Major Snodgrass could not prevent the officers from crowding into the bows. Warships and
