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

emaining forces had melted away during the night. Bonifacioand he rode hard on horses towards the Cordillera; thenthey obtained mules, entered the passes, and crossed theParamo of Ivie just before a freezing blast swept over thatstony plateau, burying in a drift of snow the little shelterhutof stones in which they had spent the night. Afterwardspoor Ribiera had many adventures, got separated from hisguide, lost his mount, struggled down to the Campo onfoot, and if he had not thrown himself on the mercy of aranchero would have perished a long way from Sulaco. Thatman, who, as a matter of fact, recognized him at once, lethim have a fresh mule, which the fugitive, heavy and unskilful,had ridden to death. And it was true he had beenpursued by a party commanded by no less a person thanPedro Montero, the brother of the general. The cold windof the Paramo luckily caught the pursuers on the top of thepass. Some few men, and all the animals, perished in the icyblast. The stragglers died, but the main body kept on. Theyfound poor Bonifacio lying half-dead at the foot of a snowslope, and bayoneted him promptly in the true Civil Warstyle. They would have had Ribiera, too, if they had not, forsome reason or other, turned off the track of the old CaminoReal, only to lose their way in the forests at the foot of thelower slopes. And there they were at last, having stumbledin unexpectedly upon the construction camp. The engineerat the railhead told his chief by wire that he had PedroMontero absolutely there, in the very office, listening tothe clicks. He was going to take possession of Sulaco in thename of the Democracy. He was very overbearing. His men