Page 317 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

explained the Capataz. ‘The silver must be saved from the
Monterists. I told Captain Mitchell three times that I pre-
ferred to go alone. I told Don Carlos Gould, too. It was in
the Casa Gould. They had sent for me. The ladies were there;
and when I tried to explain why I did not wish to have you
with me, they promised me, both of them, great rewards for
your safety. A strange way to talk to a man you are send-
ing out to an almost certain death. Those gentlefolk do not
seem to have sense enough to understand what they are giv-
ing one to do. I told them I could do nothing for you. You
would have been safer with the bandit Hernandez. It would
have been possible to ride out of the town with no greater
risk than a chance shot sent after you in the dark. But it was
as if they had been deaf. I had to promise I would wait for
you under the harbour gate. I did wait. And now because
you are a brave man you are as safe as the silver. Neither
more nor less.’
At that moment, as if by way of comment upon Nostro-
mo’s words, the invisible steamer went ahead at half speed
only, as could be judged by the leisurely beat of her propeller.
The sound shifted its place markedly, but without coming
nearer. It even grew a little more distant right abeam of the
lighter, and then ceased again.
‘They are trying for a sight of the Isabels,’ muttered Nos-
tromo, ‘in order to make for the harbour in a straight line
and seize the Custom House with the treasure in it. Have
you ever seen the Commandant of Esmeralda, Sotillo? A
handsome fellow, with a soft voice. When I first came here
I used to see him in the Calle talking to the senoritas at the

1 Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard