Page 335 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

carefully looked at once.’ He spoke slowly, almost lazily, as
if there had been a whole leisurely life before him, instead
of the scanty two hours before daylight. The existence of
the treasure, barely concealed in this improbable spot, laid
a burden of secrecy upon every contemplated step, upon ev-
ery intention and plan of future conduct. He felt the partial
failure of this desperate affair entrusted to the great repu-
tation he had known how to make for himself. However, it
was also a partial success. His vanity was half appeased. His
nervous irritation had subsided.
‘You never know what may be of use,’ he pursued with his
usual quietness of tone and manner. ‘I spent a whole miser-
able Sunday in exploring this crumb of land.’
‘A misanthropic sort of occupation,’ muttered Decoud,
viciously. ‘You had no money, I suppose, to gamble with,
and to fling about amongst the girls in your usual haunts,
Capataz.’
‘e vero!’ exclaimed the Capataz, surprised into the use
of his native tongue by so much perspicacity. ‘I had not!
Therefore I did not want to go amongst those beggarly peo-
ple accustomed to my generosity. It is looked for from the
Capataz of the Cargadores, who are the rich men, and, as it
were, the Caballeros amongst the common people. I don’t
care for cards but as a pastime; and as to those girls that
boast of having opened their doors to my knock, you know
I wouldn’t look at any one of them twice except for what the
people would say. They are queer, the good people of Sulaco,
and I have got much useful information simply by listening
patiently to the talk of the women that everybody believed

Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard