Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard
tation. "He must come forward now. He must," he added, in a mutter which Nostromo did not catch.
"What did you say, señor?"
The doctor started. "I say that you must be true to yourself, capataz. It would be worse than folly to fail now."
"True to myself," repeated Nostromo. "How do you know that I would not be true to myself if I told you to go to the devil with your propositions?"
"I do not know. Maybe you would," the doctor said, with a roughness of tone intended to hide the sinking of his heart and the faltering of his voice. "All I know is that you had better get away from here. Some of Sotillo's men may turn up here looking for me."
He slipped off the table, listening intently. The capataz, too, stood up.
"Suppose I went to Cayta, what would you do meantime?" he asked.
"I would go to Sotillo directly you had left—in the way I am thinking of."
"A very good way if only that engineer-in-chief consents. Remind him, señor, that I looked after the rich old Englishman who pays for the railway, and that I saved the lives of some of his people that time when a gang of thieves came from the south to wreck one of his pay-trains. It was I who discovered it all, at the risk of my life, by pretending to enter into their plans. Just as you are doing with Sotillo."
"Yes. Yes, of course. But I can offer him better arguments," the doctor said, hastily. "Leave it to me."
"Ah, yes! True. I am nothing."
"Not at all. You are everything."
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