Page 508 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

You are safe because you are needed. I would not give you
away for any conceivable reason, because I want you.’
In the dark Nostromo bit his lip. He had heard enough
of that. He knew what that meant. No more of that for him.
But he had to look after himself now, he thought. And he
thought, too, that it would not be prudent to part in an-
ger from his companion. The doctor, admitted to be a great
healer, had, amongst the populace of Sulaco, the reputa-
tion of being an evil sort of man. It was based solidly on his
personal appearance, which was strange, and on his rough
ironic manner—proofs visible, sensible, and incontrovert-
ible of the doctor’s malevolent disposition. And Nostromo
was of the people. So he only grunted incredulously.
‘You, to speak plainly, are the only man,’ the doctor pur-
sued. ‘It is in your power to save this town and … everybody
from the destructive rapacity of men who—‘
‘No, senor,’ said Nostromo, sullenly. ‘It is not in my pow-
er to get the treasure back for you to give up to Sotillo, or
Pedrito, or Gamacho. What do I know?’
‘Nobody expects the impossible,’ was the answer.
‘You have said it yourself—nobody,’ muttered Nostromo,
in a gloomy, threatening tone.
But Dr. Monygham, full of hope, disregarded the
enigmatic words and the threatening tone. To their eyes, ac-
customed to obscurity, the late Senor Hirsch, growing more
distinct, seemed to have come nearer. And the doctor low-
ered his voice in exposing his scheme as though afraid of
being overheard.
He was taking the indispensable man into his full-

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