Page 293 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

a word, had gone up the narrow stairs, he said—
‘Why, Capataz! I thought you could never fail in any-
thing.’
Nostromo, glancing contemptuously at the doctor, lin-
gered in the doorway rolling a cigarette, then struck a match,
and, after lighting it, held the burning piece of wood above
his head till the flame nearly touched his fingers.
‘No wind!’ he muttered to himself. ‘Look here, senor—do
you know the nature of my undertaking?’
Dr. Monygham nodded sourly.
‘It is as if I were taking up a curse upon me, senor doctor.
A man with a treasure on this coast will have every knife
raised against him in every place upon the shore. You see
that, senor doctor? I shall float along with a spell upon my
life till I meet somewhere the north-bound steamer of the
Company, and then indeed they will talk about the Capa-
taz of the Sulaco Cargadores from one end of America to
another.’
Dr. Monygham laughed his short, throaty laugh. Nos-
tromo turned round in the doorway.
‘But if your worship can find any other man ready and fit
for such business I will stand back. I am not exactly tired of
my life, though I am so poor that I can carry all I have with
myself on my horse’s back.’
‘You gamble too much, and never say ‘no’ to a pretty face,
Capataz,’ said Dr. Monygham, with sly simplicity. ‘That’s
not the way to make a fortune. But nobody that I know ever
suspected you of being poor. I hope you have made a good
bargain in case you come back safe from this adventure.’

Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard