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

anything it was out of the question. They could not see eachother. Even the lighter’s sail, which remained set, was invisible.Very often they rested.‘Caramba!’ said Nostromo, suddenly, during one of thoseintervals when they lolled idly against the heavy handles ofthe sweeps. ‘What is it? Are you distressed, Don Martin?’Decoud assured him that he was not distressed in theleast. Nostromo for a time kept perfectly still, and then in awhisper invited Martin to come aft.With his lips touching Decoud’s ear he declared his beliefthat there was somebody else besides themselves uponthe lighter. Twice now he had heard the sound of stifled sobbing.‘Senor,’ he whispered with awed wonder, ‘I am certainthat there is somebody weeping in this lighter.’Decoud had heard nothing. He expressed his incredulity.However, it was easy to ascertain the truth of the matter.‘It is most amazing,’ muttered Nostromo. ‘Could anybodyhave concealed himself on board while the lighter waslying alongside the wharf?’‘And you say it was like sobbing?’ asked Decoud, loweringhis voice, too. ‘If he is weeping, whoever he is he cannotbe very dangerous.’Clambering over the precious pile in the middle, theycrouched low on the foreside of the mast and groped underthe half-deck. Right forward, in the narrowest part, theirhands came upon the limbs of a man, who remained as silentas death. Too startled themselves to make a sound, theydragged him aft by one arm and the collar of his coat. He