Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard
"How in the name of all that's marvellous did that confounded fellow got wind of the affair?" was the first ion he asked directly after the bang, clatter, and Hush of the open door (which was closed again almost before he could lift his dropped head) informed him that he had a companion of captivity. Dr. Monyg- ham'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 confidences.
" Yes," the doctor related, in a low tone, to Captain Mitchell'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 fireplace and I went up-stairs to have a look. I hadn't heard any sound from there for a long time. Old Viola, as soon
377
