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

the steamers of the Compania comes upon the boat withthe two dead men who have saved the treasure. That, senor,is the only way to save it; for, don’t you see? for us tocome to the land anywhere in a hundred miles along thiscoast with this silver in our possession is to run the nakedbreast against the point of a knife. This thing has been givento me like a deadly disease. If men discover it I am dead,and you, too, senor, since you would come with me. Thereis enough silver to make a whole province rich, let alone aseaboard pueblo inhabited by thieves and vagabonds. Senor,they would think that heaven itself sent these riches intotheir hands, and would cut our throats without hesitation.I would trust no fair words from the best man around theshores of this wild gulf. Reflect that, even by giving up thetreasure at the first demand, we would not be able to saveour lives. Do you understand this, or must I explain?’‘No, you needn’t explain,’ said Decoud, a little listlessly.‘I can see it well enough myself, that the possession of thistreasure is very much like a deadly disease for men situatedas we are. But it had to be removed from Sulaco, and youwere the man for the task.’‘I was; but I cannot believe,’ said Nostromo, ‘that its losswould have impoverished Don Carlos Gould very much.There is more wealth in the mountain. I have heard it rollingdown the shoots on quiet nights when I used to ride toRincon to see a certain girl, after my work at the harbourwas done. For years the rich rocks have been pouring downwith a noise like thunder, and the miners say that there isenough at the heart of the mountain to thunder on for years