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

(which were accessible to His Excellency’s intelligence) in acoldblooded manner which made one shudder.A long course of reading historical works, light andgossipy in tone, carried out in garrets of Parisian hotels,sprawling on an untidy bed, to the neglect of his duties,menial or otherwise, had affected the manners of PedroMontero. Had he seen around him the splendour of theold Intendencia, the magnificent hangings, the gilt furnitureranged along the walls; had he stood upon a dais ona noble square of red carpet, he would have probably beenvery dangerous from a sense of success and elevation. Butin this sacked and devastated residence, with the three piecesof common furniture huddled up in the middle of thevast apartment, Pedrito’s imagination was subdued by afeeling of insecurity and impermanence. That feeling andthe firm attitude of Charles Gould who had not once, so far,pronounced the word ‘Excellency,’ diminished him in hisown eyes. He assumed the tone of an enlightened man ofthe world, and begged Charles Gould to dismiss from hismind every cause for alarm. He was now conversing, he remindedhim, with the brother of the master of the country,charged with a reorganizing mission. The trusted brother ofthe master of the country, he repeated. Nothing was furtherfrom the thoughts of that wise and patriotic hero than ideasof destruction. ‘I entreat you, Don Carlos, not to give wayto your anti-democratic prejudices,’ he cried, in a burst ofcondescending effusion.Pedrito Montero surprised one at first sight by the vastdevelopment of his bald forehead, a shiny yellow expanse