Joseph Conrad: Nostromo

PART THIRD: THE LIGHTHOUSE 2. CHAPTER TWO (continued)

"What! The excellent Senor Mitchell!" he cried, in affected
dismay. The pretended anger of his swift advance and of his
shout, "Release the caballero at once," was so effective that the
astounded soldiers positively sprang away from their prisoner.
Thus suddenly deprived of forcible support, Captain Mitchell
reeled as though about to fall. Sotillo took him familiarly under
the arm, led him to a chair, waved his hand at the room. "Go out,
all of you," he commanded.

When they had been left alone he stood looking down, irresolute
and silent, watching till Captain Mitchell had recovered his
power of speech.

Here in his very grasp was one of the men concerned in the
removal of the silver. Sotillo's temperament was of that sort
that he experienced an ardent desire to beat him; just as
formerly when negotiating with difficulty a loan from the
cautious Anzani, his fingers always itched to take the shopkeeper
by the throat. As to Captain Mitchell, the suddenness,
unexpectedness, and general inconceivableness of this experience
had confused his thoughts. Moreover, he was physically out of
breath.

"I've been knocked down three times between this and the wharf,"
he gasped out at last. "Somebody shall be made to pay for this."
He had certainly stumbled more than once, and had been dragged
along for some distance before he could regain his stride. With
his recovered breath his indignation seemed to madden him. He
jumped up, crimson, all his white hair bristling, his eyes
glaring vengefully, and shook violently the flaps of his ruined
waistcoat before the disconcerted Sotillo. "Look! Those uniformed
thieves of yours downstairs have robbed me of my watch."

The old sailor's aspect was very threatening. Sotillo saw himself
cut off from the table on which his sabre and revolver were
lying.

"I demand restitution and apologies," Mitchell thundered at him,
quite beside himself. "From you! Yes, from you!"

For the space of a second or so the colonel stood with a
perfectly stony expression of face; then, as Captain Mitchell
flung out an arm towards the table as if to snatch up the
revolver, Sotillo, with a yell of alarm, bounded to the door and
was gone in a flash, slamming it after him. Surprise calmed
Captain Mitchell's fury. Behind the closed door Sotillo shouted
on the landing, and there was a great tumult of feet on the
wooden staircase.