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

drowning man catches at a straw. Father Corbelan was unexpectedlyoffering them a refuge from Pedrito Monterowith his llaneros allied to Senores Fuentes and Gamachowith their armed rabble.All the latter part of the afternoon an animated discussionwent on in the big rooms of the Amarilla Club. Eventhose members posted at the windows with rifles and carbinesto guard the end of the street in case of an offensivereturn of the populace shouted their opinions and argumentsover their shoulders. As dusk fell Don Juste Lopez,inviting those caballeros who were of his way of thinkingto follow him, withdrew into the corredor, where at a littletable in the light of two candles he busied himself in composingan address, or rather a solemn declaration to bepresented to Pedrito Montero by a deputation of such membersof Assembly as had elected to remain in town. His ideawas to propitiate him in order to save the form at least ofparliamentary institutions. Seated before a blank sheet ofpaper, a goose-quill pen in his hand and surged upon fromall sides, he turned to the right and to the left, repeatingwith solemn insistence—‘Caballeros, a moment of silence! A moment of silence!We ought to make it clear that we bow in all good faith tothe accomplished facts.’The utterance of that phrase seemed to give him a melancholysatisfaction. The hubbub of voices round him wasgrowing strained and hoarse. In the sudden pauses the excitedgrimacing of the faces would sink all at once into thestillness of profound dejection.