Nostromo - A Tale of the Seaboard.pdf - Planet eBook

In the featureless night Nostromo was not even certainwhich way the lighter headed after the wind had completelydied out. He peered for the islands. There was not a hint ofthem to be seen, as if they had sunk to the bottom of thegulf. He threw himself down by the side of Decoud at last,and whispered into his ear that if daylight caught them nearthe Sulaco shore through want of wind, it would be possibleto sweep the lighter behind the cliff at the high endof the Great Isabel, where she would lie concealed. Decoudwas surprised at the grimness of his anxiety. To him the removalof the treasure was a political move. It was necessaryfor several reasons that it should not fall into the hands ofMontero, but here was a man who took another view of thisenterprise. The Caballeros over there did not seem to havethe slightest idea of what they had given him to do. Nostromo,as if affected by the gloom around, seemed nervouslyresentful. Decoud was surprised. The Capataz, indifferentto those dangers that seemed obvious to his companion,allowed himself to become scornfully exasperated by thedeadly nature of the trust put, as a matter of course, intohis hands. It was more dangerous, Nostromo said, witha laugh and a curse, than sending a man to get the treasurethat people said was guarded by devils and ghosts inthe deep ravines of Azuera. ‘Senor,’ he said, ‘we must catchthe steamer at sea. We must keep out in the open lookingfor her till we have eaten and drunk all that has been puton board here. And if we miss her by some mischance, wemust keep away from the land till we grow weak, and perhapsmad, and die, and drift dead, until one or another of