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

iously.‘Upon the whole,’ he continued, ‘I suppose he expectssomething to his advantage from it. You mustn’t forget thathe does not exercise his extraordinary power over the lowerclasses without a certain amount of personal risk and withouta great profusion in spending his money. One must payin some way or other for such a solid thing as individualprestige. He told me after we made friends at a dance, in aPosada kept by a Mexican just outside the walls, that he hadcome here to make his fortune. I suppose he looks upon hisprestige as a sort of investment.’‘Perhaps he prizes it for its own sake,’ Mrs. Gould said ina tone as if she were repelling an undeserved aspersion. ‘Viola,the Garibaldino, with whom he has lived for some years,calls him the Incorruptible.’‘Ah! he belongs to the group of your proteges out theretowards the harbour, Mrs. Gould. Muy bien. And CaptainMitchell calls him wonderful. I have heard no end of tales ofhis strength, his audacity, his fidelity. No end of fine things.H’m! incorruptible! It is indeed a name of honour for theCapataz of the Cargadores of Sulaco. Incorruptible! Fine,but vague. However, I suppose he’s sensible, too. And I talkedto him upon that sane and practical assumption.’‘I prefer to think him disinterested, and therefore trustworthy,’Mrs. Gould said, with the nearest approach tocurtness it was in her nature to assume.‘Well, if so, then the silver will be still more safe. Let itcome down, senora. Let it come down, so that it may gonorth and return to us in the shape of credit.’