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

the stairs backwards, with the usual sense of having beensomehow baffled by this woman’s disparagement of thisreputation he had obtained and desired to keep.Downstairs in the big kitchen a candle was burning, surroundedby the shadows of the walls, of the ceiling, but noruddy glare filled the open square of the outer door. Thecarriage with Mrs. Gould and Don Martin, preceded bythe horseman bearing the torch, had gone on to the jetty.Dr. Monygham, who had remained, sat on the corner of ahard wood table near the candlestick, his seamed, shavenface inclined sideways, his arms crossed on his breast, hislips pursed up, and his prominent eyes glaring stonily uponthe floor of black earth. Near the overhanging mantel of thefireplace, where the pot of water was still boiling violently,old Giorgio held his chin in his hand, one foot advanced, asif arrested by a sudden thought.‘Adios, viejo,’ said Nostromo, feeling the handle of hisrevolver in the belt and loosening his knife in its sheath.He picked up a blue poncho lined with red from the table,and put it over his head. ‘Adios, look after the things in mysleeping-room, and if you hear from me no more, give upthe box to Paquita. There is not much of value there, exceptmy new serape from Mexico, and a few silver buttons onmy best jacket. No matter! The things will look well enoughon the next lover she gets, and the man need not be afraid Ishall linger on earth after I am dead, like those Gringos thathaunt the Azuera.’Dr. Monygham twisted his lips into a bitter smile. Afterold Giorgio, with an almost imperceptible nod and without