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

could set in motion mighty machines, men’s muscles, andawaken also in human breasts an unbounded devotion tothe task. Of the young fellows at the table, to whom the surveyof the track was like the tracing of the path of life, morethan one would be called to meet death before the work wasdone. But the work would be done: the force would be almostas strong as a faith. Not quite, however. In the silenceof the sleeping camp upon the moonlit plateau forming thetop of the pass like the floor of a vast arena surrounded bythe basalt walls of precipices, two strolling figures in thickulsters stood still, and the voice of the engineer pronounceddistinctly the words—‘We can’t move mountains!’Sir John, raising his head to follow the pointing gesture,felt the full force of the words. The white Higuerota soaredout of the shadows of rock and earth like a frozen bubbleunder the moon. All was still, till near by, behind the wall ofa corral for the camp animals, built roughly of loose stonesin the form of a circle, a pack mule stamped his forefoot andblew heavily twice.The engineer-in-chief had used the phrase in answer tothe chairman’s tentative suggestion that the tracing of theline could, perhaps, be altered in deference to the prejudicesof the Sulaco landowners. The chief engineer believed thatthe obstinacy of men was the lesser obstacle. Moreover, tocombat that they had the great influence of Charles Gould,whereas tunnelling under Higuerota would have been a colossalundertaking.‘Ah, yes! Gould. What sort of a man is he?’