Page 152 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

‘Is that true?’ she cooed, joyously, her cheeks still wet
with tears.
‘It is true.’
‘True on the life?’
‘As true as that; but thou must not ask me to swear it on
the Madonna that stands in thy room.’ And the Capataz
laughed a little in response to the grins of the crowd.
She pouted—very pretty—a little uneasy.
‘No, I will not ask for that. I can see love in your eyes.’ She
laid her hand on his knee. ‘Why are you trembling like this?
From love?’ she continued, while the cavernous thundering
of the gombo went on without a pause. ‘But if you love her
as much as that, you must give your Paquita a gold-mount-
ed rosary of beads for the neck of her Madonna.’
‘No,’ said Nostromo, looking into her uplifted, begging
eyes, which suddenly turned stony with surprise.
‘No? Then what else will your worship give me on the day
of the fiesta?’ she asked, angrily; ‘so as not to shame me be-
fore all these people.’
‘There is no shame for thee in getting nothing from thy
lover for once.’
‘True! The shame is your worship’s—my poor lover’s,’ she
flared up, sarcastically.
Laughs were heard at her anger, at her retort. What an
audacious spitfire she was! The people aware of this scene
were calling out urgently to others in the crowd. The circle
round the silver-grey mare narrowed slowly.
The girl went off a pace or two, confronting the mocking
curiosity of the eyes, then flung back to the stirrup, tiptoe-

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