Page 577 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

Mrs. Gould sat up, opening her eyes very wide.
‘What do you mean, Dr. Monygham? Do you mean to say
that you suspect the younger sister?’
‘Quien sabe! Who can tell?’ said the doctor, shrugging
his shoulders like a born Costaguanero. ‘Ramirez came up
to me on the wharf. He reeled—he looked insane. He took
his head into his hands. He had to talk to someone—sim-
ply had to. Of course for all his mad state he recognized me.
People know me well here. I have lived too long amongst
them to be anything else but the evil-eyed doctor, who can
cure all the ills of the flesh, and bring bad luck by a glance.
He came up to me. He tried to be calm. He tried to make it
out that he wanted merely to warn me against Nostromo. It
seems that Captain Fidanza at some secret meeting or other
had mentioned me as the worst despiser of all the poor—of
the people. It’s very possible. He honours me with his undy-
ing dislike. And a word from the great Fidanza may be quite
enough to send some fool’s knife into my back. The Sani-
tary Commission I preside over is not in favour with the
populace. ‘Beware of him, senor doctor. Destroy him, se-
nor doctor,’ Ramirez hissed right into my face. And then he
broke out. ‘That man,’ he spluttered, ‘has cast a spell upon
both these girls.’ As to himself, he had said too much. He
must run away now—run away and hide somewhere. He
moaned tenderly about Giselle, and then called her names
that cannot be repeated. If he thought she could be made
to love him by any means, he would carry her off from the
island. Off into the woods. But it was no good…. He strode
away, flourishing his arms above his head. Then I noticed

Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard