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

Sharing in the anti-priestly freethought of the masses,his mind used the pious formula from the superficial forceof habit, but with a deep-seated sincerity. The popular mindis incapable of scepticism; and that incapacity delivers theirhelpless strength to the wiles of swindlers and to the pitilessenthusiasms of leaders inspired by visions of a high destiny.She was dead. But would God consent to receive her soul?She had died without confession or absolution, becausehe had not been willing to spare her another moment ofhis time. His scorn of priests as priests remained; but afterall, it was impossible to know whether what they affirmedwas not true. Power, punishment, pardon, are simple andcredible notions. The magnificent Capataz de Cargadores,deprived of certain simple realities, such as the admirationof women, the adulation of men, the admired publicity ofhis life, was ready to feel the burden of sacrilegious guilt descendupon his shoulders.Bareheaded, in a thin shirt and drawers, he felt the lingeringwarmth of the fine sand under the soles of his feet.The narrow strand gleamed far ahead in a long curve, definingthe outline of this wild side of the harbour. He flittedalong the shore like a pursued shadow between the sombrepalm-groves and the sheet of water lying as still as death onhis right hand. He strode with headlong haste in the silenceand solitude as though he had forgotten all prudence andcaution. But he knew that on this side of the water he ranno risk of discovery. The only inhabitant was a lonely, silent,apathetic Indian in charge of the palmarias, who broughtsometimes a load of cocoanuts to the town for sale. He lived