Page 264 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

man or beast,’ said the girl, passing her hand gently over her
sister’s hair.
‘But he lets people call him so,’ remarked Decoud.
‘Not in this house,’ retorted the child.
‘Ah! well, I shall call him the Capataz then.’
Decoud gave up the point, and after writing steadily for
a while turned round again.
‘When do you expect him back?’ he asked.
‘After he brought you here he rode off to fetch the Senor
Doctor from the town for mother. He will be back soon.’
‘He stands a good chance of getting shot somewhere on
the road,’ Decoud murmured to himself audibly; and Linda
declared in her high-pitched voice—
‘Nobody would dare to fire a shot at Gian’ Battista.’
‘You believe that,’ asked Decoud, ‘do you?’
‘I know it,’ said the child, with conviction. ‘There is no
one in this place brave enough to attack Gian’ Battista.’
‘It doesn’t require much bravery to pull a trigger behind
a bush,’ muttered Decoud to himself. ‘Fortunately, the night
is dark, or there would be but little chance of saving the sil-
ver of the mine.’
He turned again to his pocket-book, glanced back
through the pages, and again started his pencil.
‘That was the position yesterday, after the Minerva with
the fugitive President had gone out of harbour, and the riot-
ers had been driven back into the side lanes of the town. I sat
on the steps of the cathedral with Nostromo, after sending
out the cable message for the information of a more or less
attentive world. Strangely enough, though the offices of the