Page:Nostromo (1904).djvu/287

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Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard

speculative tone, 'that the Señor Administrador of Toim- will reward me some day if I save his silver?" "I said that it could not be otherwise, surely. He walked on, muttering to himself. 'Si, si, without doubt—without doubt; and look you, Señor Martin, what it is to be well spoken of! There is not another man that could have been even thought of for such a thing. I shall get something great for it some day. And let it come soon,' he mumbled. 'Time passes in this country as quick as anywhere else.'

"This. sœur chérie, is my companion in the great escape for the sake of the great cause. He is more than shrewd, more masterful than crafty, more generous with his personality than the people who make use of him are with their money. At least, that is what he thinks himself, with more pride than sentiment. I am glad I have made friends with him. As a companion he acquires more importance than he ever had as a sort of minor genius in his way as an original Italian sailor whom I allowed to come in in the small hours and talk familiarly to the editor of the Ponvenir while the paper was going through the And it is curious to have met a man for whom the value of life seems to consist in personal prestige.

"I am waiting for him here now. On arriving at the posada kept by Viola we found the children alone down below, and the old Genoese shouted to his countryman to go and fetch the doctor. Otherwise we would have gone on to the wharf, where it appears Captain Mitchell with some volunteer Europeans and a few picked cargadores are loading the lighter with the silver that must be saved from Montero's clutches

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