Page 180 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

formed that she ventured to treat slightingly his pose of dis-
abused wisdom. On one occasion, as though she had lost all
patience, she flew out at him about the aimlessness of his life
and the levity of his opinions. He was twenty then, an only
son, spoiled by his adoring family. This attack disconcert-
ed him so greatly that he had faltered in his affectation of
amused superiority before that insignificant chit of a school-
girl. But the impression left was so strong that ever since all
the girl friends of his sisters recalled to him Antonia Avel-
lanos by some faint resemblance, or by the great force of
contrast. It was, he told himself, like a ridiculous fatality.
And, of course, in the news the Decouds received regularly
from Costaguana, the name of their friends, the Avella-
nos, cropped up frequently—the arrest and the abominable
treatment of the ex-Minister, the dangers and hardships en-
dured by the family, its withdrawal in poverty to Sulaco, the
death of the mother.
The Monterist pronunciamento had taken place before
Martin Decoud reached Costaguana. He came out in a
roundabout way, through Magellan’s Straits by the main
line and the West Coast Service of the O.S.N. Company.
His precious consignment arrived just in time to convert
the first feelings of consternation into a mood of hope and
resolution. Publicly he was made much of by the familias
principales. Privately Don Jose, still shaken and weak, em-
braced him with tears in his eyes.
‘You have come out yourself! No less could be expected
from a Decoud. Alas! our worst fears have been realized,’ he
moaned, affectionately. And again he hugged his god-son.

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