Joseph Conrad: Nostromo

PART THIRD: THE LIGHTHOUSE 13. CHAPTER THIRTEEN (continued)

There was no one with the wounded man but the pale photographer,
small, frail, bloodthirsty, the hater of capitalists, perched on
a high stool near the head of the bed with his knees up and his
chin in his hands. He had been fetched by a comrade who, working
late on the wharf, had heard from a negro belonging to a lancha,
that Captain Fidanza had been brought ashore mortally wounded.

"Have you any dispositions to make, comrade?" he asked,
anxiously. "Do not forget that we want money for our work. The
rich must be fought with their own weapons."

Nostromo made no answer. The other did not insist, remaining
huddled up on the stool, shock-headed, wildly hairy, like a
hunchbacked monkey. Then, after a long silence--

"Comrade Fidanza," he began, solemnly, "you have refused all aid
from that doctor. Is he really a dangerous enemy of the people?"

In the dimly lit room Nostromo rolled his head slowly on the
pillow and opened his eyes, directing at the weird figure perched
by his bedside a glance of enigmatic and profound inquiry. Then
his head rolled back, his eyelids fell, and the Capataz de
Cargadores died without a word or moan after an hour of
immobility, broken by short shudders testifying to the most
atrocious sufferings.

Dr. Monygham, going out in the police-galley to the islands,
beheld the glitter of the moon upon the gulf and the high black
shape of the Great Isabel sending a shaft of light afar, from
under the canopy of clouds.

"Pull easy," he said, wondering what he would find there. He
tried to imagine Linda and her father, and discovered a strange
reluctance within himself. "Pull easy," he repeated.

* * * * * *

From the moment he fired at the thief of his honour, Giorgio
Viola had not stirred from the spot. He stood, his old gun
grounded, his hand grasping the barrel near the muzzle. After the
lancha carrying off Nostromo for ever from her had left the
shore, Linda, coming up, stopped before him. He did not seem to
be aware of her presence, but when, losing her forced calmness,
she cried out--