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

had risen, and, waiting for Antonia, listened with a slightlyworried graciousness to the engineer-in-chief of the railway,who stooped over her, relating slowly, without the slightestgesture, something apparently amusing, for his eyes had ahumorous twinkle. Antonia, before she advanced into theroom to join Mrs. Gould, turned her head over her shouldertowards Decoud, only for a moment.‘Why should any one of us think his aspirations unrealizable?’she said, rapidly.‘I am going to cling to mine to the end, Antonia,’ he answered,through clenched teeth, then bowed very low, alittle distantly.The engineer-in-chief had not finished telling his amusingstory. The humours of railway building in South Americaappealed to his keen appreciation of the absurd, and he toldhis instances of ignorant prejudice and as ignorant cunningvery well. Now, Mrs. Gould gave him all her attention as hewalked by her side escorting the ladies out of the room. Finallyall three passed unnoticed through the glass doors inthe gallery. Only a tall priest stalking silently in the noiseof the sala checked himself to look after them. Father Corbelan,whom Decoud had seen from the balcony turninginto the gateway of the Casa Gould, had addressed no onesince coming in. The long, skimpy soutane accentuated thetallness of his stature; he carried his powerful torso thrownforward; and the straight, black bar of his joined eyebrows,the pugnacious outline of the bony face, the white spot of ascar on the bluish shaven cheeks (a testimonial to his apostoliczeal from a party of unconverted Indians), suggested