Page 162 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

It was the rule for all the women of their families to present
thanks afterwards in a special audience. The incarnation
of that strange god, El Gobierno Supremo, received them
standing, cocked hat on head, and exhorted them in a men-
acing mutter to show their gratitude by bringing up their
children in fidelity to the democratic form of government,
‘which I have established for the happiness of our country.’
His front teeth having been knocked out in some accident
of his former herdsman’s life, his utterance was spluttering
and indistinct. He had been working for Costaguana alone
in the midst of treachery and opposition. Let it cease now
lest he should become weary of forgiving!
Don Jose Avellanos had known this forgiveness.
He was broken in health and fortune deplorably enough
to present a truly gratifying spectacle to the supreme chief
of democratic institutions. He retired to Sulaco. His wife
had an estate in that province, and she nursed him back to
life out of the house of death and captivity. When she died,
their daughter, an only child, was old enough to devote her-
self to ‘poor papa.’
Miss Avellanos, born in Europe and educated partly in
England, was a tall, grave girl, with a self-possessed man-
ner, a wide, white forehead, a wealth of rich brown hair, and
blue eyes.
The other young ladies of Sulaco stood in awe of her char-
acter and accomplishments. She was reputed to be terribly
learned and serious. As to pride, it was well known that all
the Corbelans were proud, and her mother was a Corbelan.
Don Jose Avellanos depended very much upon the devotion

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