Page 450 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

CHAPTER SEVEN

T ABOUT that time, in the Intendencia of Sulaco,
ACharles Gould was assuring Pedrito Montero, who had
sent a request for his presence there, that he would never
let the mine pass out of his hands for the profit of a Gov-
ernment who had robbed him of it. The Gould Concession
could not be resumed. His father had not desired it. The son
would never surrender it. He would never surrender it alive.
And once dead, where was the power capable of resuscitat-
ing such an enterprise in all its vigour and wealth out of
the ashes and ruin of destruction? There was no such power
in the country. And where was the skill and capital abroad
that would condescend to touch such an ill-omened corpse?
Charles Gould talked in the impassive tone which had for
many years served to conceal his anger and contempt. He
suffered. He was disgusted with what he had to say. It was
too much like heroics. In him the strictly practical instinct
was in profound discord with the almost mystic view he
took of his right. The Gould Concession was symbolic of
abstract justice. Let the heavens fall. But since the San Tome
mine had developed into world-wide fame his threat had
enough force and effectiveness to reach the rudimentary in-
telligence of Pedro Montero, wrapped up as it was in the
futilities of historical anecdotes. The Gould Concession was
a serious asset in the country’s finance, and, what was more,