Page 574 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

that incorruptible Capataz. Moreover, both father and sis-
ter were anxious to get Giselle away from the attentions of
a certain Ramirez.’
‘Ah!’ said Mrs. Gould, interested. ‘Ramirez? What sort of
man is that?’
‘Just a mozo of the town. His father was a Cargador. As
a lanky boy he ran about the wharf in rags, till Nostromo
took him up and made a man of him. When he got a lit-
tle older, he put him into a lighter and very soon gave him
charge of the No. 3 boat—the boat which took the silver
away, Mrs. Gould. Nostromo selected that lighter for the
work because she was the best sailing and the strongest boat
of all the Company’s fleet. Young Ramirez was one of the
five Cargadores entrusted with the removal of the treasure
from the Custom House on that famous night. As the boat
he had charge of was sunk, Nostromo, on leaving the Com-
pany’s service, recommended him to Captain Mitchell for
his successor. He had trained him in the routine of work
perfectly, and thus Mr. Ramirez, from a starving waif, be-
comes a man and the Capataz of the Sulaco Cargadores.’
‘Thanks to Nostromo,’ said Mrs. Gould, with warm ap-
proval.
‘Thanks to Nostromo,’ repeated Dr. Monygham. ‘Upon
my word, the fellow’s power frightens me when I think of
it. That our poor old Mitchell was only too glad to appoint
somebody trained to the work, who saved him trouble, is
not surprising. What is wonderful is the fact that the Sulaco
Cargadores accepted Ramirez for their chief, simply be-
cause such was Nostromo’s good pleasure. Of course, he is