Page 310 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

angry and threatening voice, ordered him forward. Hirsch
was one of those men whom fear lashes like a whip, and he
must have had an appalling idea of the Capataz’s ferocity.
He displayed an extraordinary agility in disappearing for-
ward into the darkness. They heard him getting over the
tarpaulin; then there was the sound of a heavy fall, followed
by a weary sigh. Afterwards all was still in the fore-part of
the lighter, as though he had killed himself in his headlong
tumble. Nostromo shouted in a menacing voice—
‘Lie still there! Do not move a limb. If I hear as much as a
loud breath from you I shall come over there and put a bul-
let through your head.’
The mere presence of a coward, however passive,
brings an element of treachery into a dangerous situa-
tion. Nostromo’s nervous impatience passed into gloomy
thoughtfulness. Decoud, in an undertone, as if speaking to
himself, remarked that, after all, this bizarre event made no
great difference. He could not conceive what harm the man
could do. At most he would be in the way, like an inanimate
and useless object—like a block of wood, for instance.
‘I would think twice before getting rid of a piece of wood,’
said Nostromo, calmly. ‘Something may happen unexpect-
edly where you could make use of it. But in an affair like
ours a man like this ought to be thrown overboard. Even if
he were as brave as a lion we would not want him here. We
are not running away for our lives. Senor, there is no harm
in a brave man trying to save himself with ingenuity and
courage; but you have heard his tale, Don Martin. His being
here is a miracle of fear—‘ Nostromo paused. ‘There is no

0