Page 179 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

proachable!’ And he laughed immoderately.
Afterwards his sister was surprised at the earnestness
and ability he displayed in carrying out his mission, which
circumstances made delicate, and his want of special knowl-
edge rendered difficult. She had never seen Martin take so
much trouble about anything in his whole life.
‘It amuses me,’ he had explained, briefly. ‘I am beset by a
lot of swindlers trying to sell all sorts of gaspipe weapons.
They are charming; they invite me to expensive luncheons; I
keep up their hopes; it’s extremely entertaining. Meanwhile,
the real affair is being carried through in quite another
quarter.’
When the business was concluded he declared suddenly
his intention of seeing the precious consignment delivered
safely in Sulaco. The whole burlesque business, he thought,
was worth following up to the end. He mumbled his excus-
es, tugging at his golden beard, before the acute young lady
who (after the first wide stare of astonishment) looked at
him with narrowed eyes, and pronounced slowly—
‘I believe you want to see Antonia.’
‘What Antonia?’ asked the Costaguana boulevardier, in
a vexed and disdainful tone. He shrugged his shoulders,
and spun round on his heel. His sister called out after him
joyously—
‘The Antonia you used to know when she wore her hair
in two plaits down her back.’
He had known her some eight years since, shortly be-
fore the Avellanos had left Europe for good, as a tall girl of
sixteen, youthfully austere, and of a character already so

1 Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard