read above the waters of the gulf.

Sotillo, on the bridge, muttered from time to time angrily to the
captain. The other, in an apologetic and cringing tone, begged su merced
the colonel to take into consideration the limitations put upon human
faculties by the darkness of the night. Sotillo swelled with rage and
impatience. It was the chance of a lifetime.

"If your eyes are of no more use to you than this, I shall have them put
out," he yelled.

The captain of the steamer made no answer, for just then the mass of the
Great Isabel loomed up darkly after a passing shower, then vanished, as
if swept away by a wave of greater obscurity preceding another downpour.
This was enough for him. In the voice of a man come back to life again,
he informed Sotillo that in an hour he would be alongside the Sulaco
wharf. The ship was put then full speed on the course, and a great
bustle of preparation for landing arose among the soldiers on her deck.

It was heard distinctly by Decoud and Nostromo. The Capataz understood
its meaning. They had made out the Isabels, and were going on now in
a straight line for Sulaco. He judged that they would pass close; but
believed that lying still like this, with the sail lowered, the lighter
could not be seen. "No, not even if they rubbed sides with us," he
muttered.

The rain began to fall again; first like a wet mist, then with a heavier
touch, thickening into a smart, perpendicular downpour; and the hiss and
thump of the approaching steamer was coming extremely near. Decoud,
with his eyes full of water, and lowered head, asked himself how long
it would be before she drew past, when unexpectedly he felt a lurch.
An inrush of foam broke swishing over the stern, simultaneously with
a crack of timbers and a staggering shock. He had the impression of
an angry hand laying hold of the lighter and dragging it along to
destruction. The shock, of course, had knocked him down, and he found
himself rolling in a lot of water at the bottom of the lighter. A
violent churning went on alongside; a strange and amazed voice cried out
something above him in the night. He heard a piercing shriek for help
from Senor Hirsch. He kept his teeth hard set all the time. It was a
collision!

The steamer had struck the lighter obliquely, heeling her over till she
was half swamped, starting some of her timbers, and swinging her head
parallel to her own course with the force of the blow. The shock of
it on board of her