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

used to abuse him to me frequently, which, of course, is notinconsistent with my idea. Not at all. It looked to me as ifshe were always thinking of him. He was something importantin her life. You know, I have seen a lot of those people.Whenever I came down from the mine Mrs. Gould used toask me to keep my eye on them. She likes Italians; she haslived a long time in Italy, I believe, and she took a specialfancy to that old Garibaldino. A remarkable chap enough.A rugged and dreamy character, living in the republicanismof his young days as if in a cloud. He has encouraged muchof the Capataz’s confounded nonsense—the high-strung,exalted old beggar!’‘What sort of nonsense?’ wondered the chief engineer. ‘Ifound the Capataz always a very shrewd and sensible fellow,absolutely fearless, and remarkably useful. A perfecthandy man. Sir John was greatly impressed by his resourcefulnessand attention when he made that overland journeyfrom Sta. Marta. Later on, as you might have heard, he renderedus a service by disclosing to the then chief of policethe presence in the town of some professional thieves, whocame from a distance to wreck and rob our monthly paytrain. He has certainly organized the lighterage service ofthe harbour for the O.S.N. Company with great ability. Heknows how to make himself obeyed, foreigner though he is.It is true that the Cargadores are strangers here, too, for themost part—immigrants, Islenos.’‘His prestige is his fortune,’ muttered the doctor, sourly.‘The man has proved his trustworthiness up to the hilton innumerable occasions and in all sorts of ways,’ argued