Page 557 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

yet without tremor; and the effect of that physical condition
gave to his movements an unhesitating, deliberate dignity.
He acted as if accomplishing some sort of rite. He descend-
ed into the gully; for the fascination of all that silver, with
its potential power, survived alone outside of himself. He
picked up the belt with the revolver, that was lying there,
and buckled it round his waist. The cord of silence could
never snap on the island. It must let him fall and sink into
the sea, he thought. And sink! He was looking at the loose
earth covering the treasure. In the sea! His aspect was that
of a somnambulist. He lowered himself down on his knees
slowly and went on grubbing with his fingers with industri-
ous patience till he uncovered one of the boxes. Without a
pause, as if doing some work done many times before, he
slit it open and took four ingots, which he put in his pockets.
He covered up the exposed box again and step by step came
out of the gully. The bushes closed after him with a swish.
It was on the third day of his solitude that he had
dragged the dinghy near the water with an idea of rowing
away somewhere, but had desisted partly at the whisper of
lingering hope that Nostromo would return, partly from
conviction of utter uselessness of all effort. Now she wanted
only a slight shove to be set afloat. He had eaten a little ev-
ery day after the first, and had some muscular strength left
yet. Taking up the oars slowly, he pulled away from the cliff
of the Great Isabel, that stood behind him warm with sun-
shine, as if with the heat of life, bathed in a rich light from
head to foot as if in a radiance of hope and joy. He pulled
straight towards the setting sun. When the gulf had grown

Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard