Page 281 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

to drive away the stray dogs from their cooking-pots. Car-
amba! I could tell by her voice that death had forgotten her.
But, old or young, they like money, and will speak well of
the man who gives it to them.’ He laughed a little. ‘Senor,
you should have felt the clutch of her paw as I put the piece
in her palm.’ He paused. ‘My last, too,’ he added.
‘I made no comment. He’s known for his liberality and
his bad luck at the game of monte, which keeps him as poor
as when he first came here.
‘I suppose, Don Martin,’ he began, in a thoughtful, spec-
ulative tone, ‘that the Senor Administrador of San Tome
will reward me some day if I save his silver?’
‘I said that it could not be otherwise, surely. He walked
on, muttering to himself. ‘Si, si, without doubt, without
doubt; and, look you, Senor Martin, what it is to be well
spoken of! There is not another man that could have been
even thought of for such a thing. I shall get something great
for it some day. And let it come soon,’ he mumbled. ‘Time
passes in this country as quick as anywhere else.’
‘This, soeur cherie, is my companion in the great escape
for the sake of the great cause. He is more naive than shrewd,
more masterful than crafty, more generous with his person-
ality than the people who make use of him are with their
money. At least, that is what he thinks himself with more
pride than sentiment. I am glad I have made friends with
him. As a companion he acquires more importance than he
ever had as a sort of minor genius in his way—as an origi-
nal Italian sailor whom I allowed to come in in the small
hours and talk familiarly to the editor of the Porvenir while

0 Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard