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

tromo remarked, in answer to Decoud’s regrets, it was toolate! It could not be done without noise, especially in theignorance of the man’s exact position. Wherever he hadelected to crouch and tremble, it was too hazardous to gonear him. He would begin probably to yell for mercy. It wasmuch better to leave him quite alone since he was keepingso still. But to trust to his silence became every moment agreater strain upon Decoud’s composure.‘I wish, Capataz, you had not let the right moment pass,’he murmured.‘What! To silence him for ever? I thought it good to hearfirst how he came to be here. It was too strange. Who couldimagine that it was all an accident? Afterwards, senor, whenI saw you giving him water to drink, I could not do it. Notafter I had seen you holding up the can to his lips as thoughhe were your brother. Senor, that sort of necessity must notbe thought of too long. And yet it would have been no crueltyto take away from him his wretched life. It is nothing butfear. Your compassion saved him then, Don Martin, andnow it is too late. It couldn’t be done without noise.’In the steamer they were keeping a perfect silence, andthe stillness was so profound that Decoud felt as if the slightestsound conceivable must travel unchecked and audible tothe end of the world. What if Hirsch coughed or sneezed?To feel himself at the mercy of such an idiotic contingencywas too exasperating to be looked upon with irony. Nostromo,too, seemed to be getting restless. Was it possible, heasked himself, that the steamer, finding the night too darkaltogether, intended to remain stopped where she was till