Page 334 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

in aim, in view, in character, and in position, into abso-
lute prominence in the private vision of each. There was no
bond of conviction, of common idea; they were merely two
adventurers pursuing each his own adventure, involved in
the same imminence of deadly peril. Therefore they had
nothing to say to each other. But this peril, this only incon-
trovertible truth in which they shared, seemed to act as an
inspiration to their mental and bodily powers.
There was certainly something almost miraculous in
the way the Capataz made the cove with nothing but the
shadowy hint of the island’s shape and the vague gleam of
a small sandy strip for a guide. Where the ravine opens be-
tween the cliffs, and a slender, shallow rivulet meanders out
of the bushes to lose itself in the sea, the lighter was run
ashore; and the two men, with a taciturn, undaunted en-
ergy, began to discharge her precious freight, carrying each
ox-hide box up the bed of the rivulet beyond the bushes to
a hollow place which the caving in of the soil had made be-
low the roots of a large tree. Its big smooth trunk leaned
like a falling column far over the trickle of water running
amongst the loose stones.
A couple of years before Nostromo had spent a whole
Sunday, all alone, exploring the island. He explained this
to Decoud after their task was done, and they sat, weary in
every limb, with their legs hanging down the low bank, and
their backs against the tree, like a pair of blind men aware
of each other and their surroundings by some indefinable
sixth sense.
‘Yes,’ Nostromo repeated, ‘I never forget a place I have