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Nostromo - A Tale of the Seaboard.pdf - Planet eBook

Nostromo - A Tale of the Seaboard.pdf - Planet eBook

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inland towns in <strong>the</strong> fulfilment <strong>of</strong> its patriotic mission, andleaving behind a united land wherein <strong>the</strong> evil taint <strong>of</strong> Federalismcould no longer be detected in <strong>the</strong> smoke <strong>of</strong> burninghouses and <strong>the</strong> smell <strong>of</strong> spilt blood. Don Jose Avellanos hadsurvived that time. Perhaps, when contemptuously signifyingto him his release, <strong>the</strong> Citizen Saviour <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Countrymight have thought this benighted aristocrat too broken inhealth and spirit and fortune to be any longer dangerous. Or,perhaps, it may have been a simple caprice. Guzman Bento,usually full <strong>of</strong> fanciful fears and brooding suspicions, hadsudden accesses <strong>of</strong> unreasonable self-confidence when heperceived himself elevated on a pinnacle <strong>of</strong> power and safetybeyond <strong>the</strong> reach <strong>of</strong> mere mortal plotters. At such timeshe would impulsively command <strong>the</strong> celebration <strong>of</strong> a solemnMass <strong>of</strong> thanksgiving, which would be sung in great pompin <strong>the</strong> ca<strong>the</strong>dral <strong>of</strong> Sta. Marta by <strong>the</strong> trembling, subservientArchbishop <strong>of</strong> his creation. He heard it sitting in a gilt armchairplaced before <strong>the</strong> high altar, surrounded by <strong>the</strong> civiland military heads <strong>of</strong> his Government. The un<strong>of</strong>ficial world<strong>of</strong> Sta. Marta would crowd into <strong>the</strong> ca<strong>the</strong>dral, for it wasnot quite safe for anybody <strong>of</strong> mark to stay away from <strong>the</strong>semanifestations <strong>of</strong> presidential piety. Having thus acknowledged<strong>the</strong> only power he was at all disposed to recognize asabove himself, he would scatter acts <strong>of</strong> political grace in asardonic wantonness <strong>of</strong> clemency. There was no o<strong>the</strong>r wayleft now to enjoy his power but by seeing his crushed adversariescrawl impotently into <strong>the</strong> light <strong>of</strong> day out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> dark,noisome cells <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Collegio. Their harmlessness fed his insatiablevanity, and <strong>the</strong>y could always be got hold <strong>of</strong> again.

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