he had been ready

[shootingstar]

Little did I suppose that I was leaving Act I., Scene 1. of the drama of my life; and yet the scene - or, rather, the captain's face - lingered for some time in my memory. I was no prophet, as I say; but I was something else - I was an observer; and one thing I knew - I knew when a man was terrified. Captain Trent, of the British brig Flying Scud had been glib; he had been ready; he had been loud; but in his blue eyes I could detect the chill, and in the lines of his countenance spy the agitation, of perpetual terror.
(The Wrecker by R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, chapter viii, Faces On The City Front, published 1892)

I much appreciate your help.
Please, what do you take ready to mean there?

 

[SoothingDave]

Ready for whatever war or battle this is talking about.

 

[shootingstar]

Ready for whatever war or battle this is talking about.

No, I think that doesn't work. There isn't any 'war' or 'battle' around the situation cited. I think it's meant captain Trent was ready per se - he wasn't ready for anything; at the very most he was ready for idle talk. However, I can't think of a fitting expression there. It has to complement the adjective glib in a sense in my opinion

 

[SoothingDave]

Well, you can read what happened next and see what he was ready for. I can't. The point is that he had been in a state of readiness.

It has nothing to do with modifying "glib." There are semicolons. These are three things:

He had been glib
He had been ready
He had been loud

 

[shootingstar]

It has nothing to do with modifying "glib."

Not modifying - I mean complementing in a sense.

The point is that he had been in a state of readiness

Maybe that works - he was alert. Can ready mean alert in a sense?

(By the by I have used the term state of readiness for engines etc. not for persons actually)