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

infuriated. Captain Mitchell, however, had not been arrestedat once; a vivid curiosity induced him to remainon the wharf (which is nearly four hundred feet long) tosee, or rather hear, the whole process of disembarkation.Concealed by the railway truck used for the silver, whichhad been run back afterwards to the shore end of the jetty,Captain Mitchell saw the small detachment thrown forward,pass by, taking different directions upon the plain.Meantime, the troops were being landed and formed into acolumn, whose head crept up gradually so close to him thathe made it out, barring nearly the whole width of the wharf,only a very few yards from him. Then the low, shuffling,murmuring, clinking sounds ceased, and the whole massremained for about an hour motionless and silent, awaitingthe return of the scouts. On land nothing was to be heardexcept the deep baying of the mastiffs at the railway yards,answered by the faint barking of the curs infesting the outerlimits of the town. A detached knot of dark shapes stood infront of the head of the column.Presently the picket at the end of the wharf began tochallenge in undertones single figures approaching fromthe plain. Those messengers sent back from the scoutingparties flung to their comrades brief sentences and passedon rapidly, becoming lost in the great motionless mass, tomake their report to the Staff. It occurred to Captain Mitchellthat his position could become disagreeable and perhapsdangerous, when suddenly, at the head of the jetty, therewas a shout of command, a bugle call, followed by a stir anda rattling of arms, and a murmuring noise that ran right up