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

in aim, in view, in character, and in position, into absoluteprominence in the private vision of each. There was nobond of conviction, of common idea; they were merely twoadventurers pursuing each his own adventure, involved inthe same imminence of deadly peril. Therefore they hadnothing to say to each other. But this peril, this only incontrovertibletruth in which they shared, seemed to act as aninspiration to their mental and bodily powers.There was certainly something almost miraculous inthe way the Capataz made the cove with nothing but theshadowy hint of the island’s shape and the vague gleam ofa small sandy strip for a guide. Where the ravine opens betweenthe cliffs, and a slender, shallow rivulet meanders outof the bushes to lose itself in the sea, the lighter was runashore; and the two men, with a taciturn, undaunted energy,began to discharge her precious freight, carrying eachox-hide box up the bed of the rivulet beyond the bushes toa hollow place which the caving in of the soil had made belowthe roots of a large tree. Its big smooth trunk leanedlike a falling column far over the trickle of water runningamongst the loose stones.A couple of years before Nostromo had spent a wholeSunday, all alone, exploring the island. He explained thisto Decoud after their task was done, and they sat, weary inevery limb, with their legs hanging down the low bank, andtheir backs against the tree, like a pair of blind men awareof each other and their surroundings by some indefinablesixth sense.‘Yes,’ Nostromo repeated, ‘I never forget a place I have