Page:Nostromo (1904).djvu/467

 ran the risk of being intercepted. It was by no means certain that a messenger could reach the mine, and, besides, there was no one to send. It was on the tip of Charles's tongue to say that only the late capataz of cargadores could have been employed with some chance of success and the certitude of discretion. But he did not say that. He pointed out to the doctor that it would have been bad policy. Directly Don Pépé let it be supposed that he could be bought over, the administrador's personal safety and the safety of his friends would become endangered. For there would be then no reason for moderation. The incorruptibility of Don Pépé was the essential and restraining thing. The doctor hung his head and admitted that in a way it was so.

He couldn't deny to himself that the reasoning was sound enough. Don Pépé's usefulness consisted in his unstained character. As to his own usefulness, he reflected bitterly it was also in his own character. He declared to Charles Gould that he had the means of keeping Sotillo from joining his forces with Montero, at least for the present. "If you had had all this silver here," the doctor said, "or even if it had been known to be at the mine, you could have bribed Sotillo to throw off his recent Monterism. You could have induced him either to go away in his steamer or even to join you."

"Certainly not that last," Charles Gould declared, firmly. "What could one do with a man like that afterwards—tell me, doctor? The silver is gone and I am glad of it. It would have been an immediate and strong temptation. The scramble for that visible