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

Sir John had heard much of Charles Gould in Sta. Marta,and wanted to know more. The engineer-in-chief assuredhim that the administrator of the San Tome silver mine hadan immense influence over all these Spanish Dons. He hadalso one of the best houses in Sulaco, and the Gould hospitalitywas beyond all praise.‘They received me as if they had known me for years,’ hesaid. ‘The little lady is kindness personified. I stayed withthem for a month. He helped me to organize the surveyingparties. His practical ownership of the San Tome silvermine gives him a special position. He seems to have the earof every provincial authority apparently, and, as I said, hecan wind all the hidalgos of the province round his littlefinger. If you follow his advice the difficulties will fall away,because he wants the railway. Of course, you must be carefulin what you say. He’s English, and besides he must beimmensely wealthy. The Holroyd house is in with him inthat mine, so you may imagine—‘He interrupted himself as, from before one of the littlefires burning outside the low wall of the corral, arose thefigure of a man wrapped in a poncho up to the neck. Thesaddle which he had been using for a pillow made a darkpatch on the ground against the red glow of embers.‘I shall see Holroyd himself on my way back through theStates,’ said Sir John. ‘I’ve ascertained that he, too, wantsthe railway.’The man who, perhaps disturbed by the proximity of thevoices, had arisen from the ground, struck a match to lighta cigarette. The flame showed a bronzed, black-whiskered