Page 380 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

founded fellow get wind of the affair?’ was the first question
he asked directly after the bang, clatter, and flash of the
open door (which was closed again almost before he could
lift his dropped head) informed him that he had a compan-
ion of captivity. Dr. Monygham’s voice stopped muttering
curses in English and Spanish.
‘Is that you, Mitchell?’ he made answer, surlily. ‘I struck
my forehead against this confounded wall with enough
force to fell an ox. Where are you?’
Captain Mitchell, accustomed to the darkness, could
make out the doctor stretching out his hands blindly.
‘I am sitting here on the floor. Don’t fall over my legs,’
Captain Mitchell’s voice announced with great dignity of
tone. The doctor, entreated not to walk about in the dark,
sank down to the ground, too. The two prisoners of Sotillo,
with their heads nearly touching, began to exchange confi-
dences.
‘Yes,’ the doctor related in a low tone to Captain Mitch-
ell’s vehement curiosity, ‘we have been nabbed in old Viola’s
place. It seems that one of their pickets, commanded by an
officer, pushed as far as the town gate. They had orders not
to enter, but to bring along every soul they could find on the
plain. We had been talking in there with the door open, and
no doubt they saw the glimmer of our light. They must have
been making their approaches for some time. The engineer
laid himself on a bench in a recess by the fire-place, and I
went upstairs to have a look. I hadn’t heard any sound from
there for a long time. Old Viola, as soon as he saw me come
up, lifted his arm for silence. I stole in on tiptoe. By Jove, his