Page 390 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

Only the slight limping shuffle could be heard. There was
an air of moody detachment in that painful prowl kept up
without a pause. When the door of the prison was suddenly
flung open and his name shouted out he showed no surprise.
He swerved sharply in his walk, and passed out at once, as
though much depended upon his speed; but Captain Mitch-
ell remained for some time with his shoulders against the
wall, quite undecided in the bitterness of his spirit whether
it wouldn’t be better to refuse to stir a limb in the way of
protest. He had half a mind to get himself carried out, but
after the officer at the door had shouted three or four times
in tones of remonstrance and surprise he condescended to
walk out.
Sotillo’s manner had changed. The colonel’s off-hand
civility was slightly irresolute, as though he were in doubt
if civility were the proper course in this case. He observed
Captain Mitchell attentively before he spoke from the big
armchair behind the table in a condescending voice—
‘I have concluded not to detain you, Senor Mitchell. I am
of a forgiving disposition. I make allowances. Let this be a
lesson to you, however.’
The peculiar dawn of Sulaco, which seems to break far
away to the westward and creep back into the shade of the
mountains, mingled with the reddish light of the candles.
Captain Mitchell, in sign of contempt and indifference, let
his eyes roam all over the room, and he gave a hard stare to
the doctor, perched already on the casement of one of the
windows, with his eyelids lowered, careless and thought-
ful—or perhaps ashamed.