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

senora had given into her charge the girls belonging to thatItalian posadero. She, Leonarda, had put them to bed inher own room. The fair girl had cried herself to sleep, butthe dark one—the bigger—had not closed her eyes yet. Shesat up in bed clutching the sheets right up under her chinand staring before her like a little witch. Leonarda did notapprove of the Viola children being admitted to the house.She made this feeling clear by the indifferent tone in whichshe inquired whether their mother was dead yet. As to thesenora, she must be asleep. Ever since she had gone into herroom after seeing the departure of Dona Antonia with herdying father, there had been no sound behind her door.The doctor, rousing himself out of profound reflection,told her abruptly to call her mistress at once. He hobbled offto wait for Mrs. Gould in the sala. He was very tired, but tooexcited to sit down. In this great drawing-room, now empty,in which his withered soul had been refreshed after manyarid years and his outcast spirit had accepted silently thetoleration of many side-glances, he wandered haphazardamongst the chairs and tables till Mrs. Gould, enveloped ina morning wrapper, came in rapidly.‘You know that I never approved of the silver being sentaway,’ the doctor began at once, as a preliminary to the narrativeof his night’s adventures in association with CaptainMitchell, the engineer-in-chief, and old Viola, at Sotillo’sheadquarters. To the doctor, with his special conception ofthis political crisis, the removal of the silver had seemedan irrational and ill-omened measure. It was as if a generalwere sending the best part of his troops away on the eve of