Page 321 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

tromo remarked, in answer to Decoud’s regrets, it was too
late! It could not be done without noise, especially in the
ignorance of the man’s exact position. Wherever he had
elected to crouch and tremble, it was too hazardous to go
near him. He would begin probably to yell for mercy. It was
much better to leave him quite alone since he was keeping
so still. But to trust to his silence became every moment a
greater strain upon Decoud’s composure.
‘I wish, Capataz, you had not let the right moment pass,’
he murmured.
‘What! To silence him for ever? I thought it good to hear
first how he came to be here. It was too strange. Who could
imagine that it was all an accident? Afterwards, senor, when
I saw you giving him water to drink, I could not do it. Not
after I had seen you holding up the can to his lips as though
he were your brother. Senor, that sort of necessity must not
be thought of too long. And yet it would have been no cruel-
ty to take away from him his wretched life. It is nothing but
fear. Your compassion saved him then, Don Martin, and
now it is too late. It couldn’t be done without noise.’
In the steamer they were keeping a perfect silence, and
the stillness was so profound that Decoud felt as if the slight-
est sound conceivable must travel unchecked and audible to
the end of the world. What if Hirsch coughed or sneezed?
To feel himself at the mercy of such an idiotic contingency
was too exasperating to be looked upon with irony. Nos-
tromo, too, seemed to be getting restless. Was it possible, he
asked himself, that the steamer, finding the night too dark
altogether, intended to remain stopped where she was till

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