Page 513 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

miserable invention! Ah! you are all alike, you fine men of
intelligence. All you are fit for is to betray men of the people
into undertaking deadly risks for objects that you are not
even sure about. If it comes off you get the benefit. If not,
then it does not matter. He is only a dog. Ah! Madre de Dios,
I would—‘ He shook his fists above his head.
The doctor was overwhelmed at first by this fierce, hiss-
ing vehemence.
‘Well! It seems to me on your own showing that the men
of the people are no mean fools, too,’ he said, sullenly. ‘No,
but come. You are so clever. Have you a better place?’
Nostromo had calmed down as quickly as he had flared
up.
‘I am clever enough for that,’ he said, quietly, almost with
indifference. ‘You want to tell him of a hiding-place big
enough to take days in ransacking—a place where a trea-
sure of silver ingots can be buried without leaving a sign on
the surface.’
‘And close at hand,’ the doctor put in.
‘Just so, senor. Tell him it is sunk.’
‘This has the merit of being the truth,’ the doctor said,
contemptuously. ‘He will not believe it.’
‘You tell him that it is sunk where he may hope to lay
his hands on it, and he will believe you quick enough. Tell
him it has been sunk in the harbour in order to be recov-
ered afterwards by divers. Tell him you found out that I had
orders from Don Carlos Gould to lower the cases quietly
overboard somewhere in a line between the end of the jetty
and the entrance. The depth is not too great there. He has

1 Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard