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

clothed in the fair robes of an idea.‘Late at night we formed a small junta of four—the twowomen, Don Carlos, and myself—in Mrs. Gould’s blue-andwhiteboudoir.‘El Rey de Sulaco thinks himself, no doubt, a very honestman. And so he is, if one could look behind his taciturnity.Perhaps he thinks that this alone makes his honesty unstained.Those Englishmen live on illusions which somehowor other help them to get a firm hold of the substance. Whenhe speaks it is by a rare ‘yes’ or ‘no’ that seems as impersonalas the words of an oracle. But he could not impose on me byhis dumb reserve. I knew what he had in his head; he has hismine in his head; and his wife had nothing in her head buthis precious person, which he has bound up with the GouldConcession and tied up to that little woman’s neck. No matter.The thing was to make him present the affair to Holroyd(the Steel and Silver King) in such a manner as to securehis financial support. At that time last night, just twentyfourhours ago, we thought the silver of the mine safe in theCustom House vaults till the north-bound steamer cameto take it away. And as long as the treasure flowed north,without a break, that utter sentimentalist, Holroyd, wouldnot drop his idea of introducing, not only justice, industry,peace, to the benighted continents, but also that pet dreamof his of a purer form of Christianity. Later on, the principalEuropean really in Sulaco, the engineer-in-chief of therailway, came riding up the Calle, from the harbour, andwas admitted to our conclave. Meantime, the Junta of theNotables in the great sala was still deliberating; only, one of