Ностромо
Chapter 6
Thisdesire(sincethethingwasiniquitous)seemedquitenaturaltotheboy,thoughwhytheaffairwasiniquitoushedidnotknow.Afterwards,withadvancingwisdom,hemanagedtocleartheplaintruthofthebusinessfromthefantasticintrusionsoftheOldManoftheSea,vampires,andghouls,whichhadlenttohisfather’scorrespondencetheflavourofagruesomeArabianNightstale.Intheend,thegrowingyouthattainedtoascloseanintimacywiththeSanTomemineastheoldmanwhowrotetheseplaintiveandenragedlettersontheothersideofthesea.Hehadbeenmadeseveraltimesalreadytopayheavyfinesforneglectingtoworkthemine,hereported,besidesothersumsextractedfromhimonaccountoffutureroyalties,onthegroundthatamanwithsuchavaluableconcessioninhispocketcouldnotrefusehisfinancialassistancetotheGovernmentoftheRepublic.Thelastofhisfortunewaspassingawayfromhimagainstworthlessreceipts,hewrote,inarage,whilsthewasbeingpointedoutasanindividualwhohadknownhowtosecureenormousadvantagesfromthenecessitiesofhiscountry.AndtheyoungmaninEuropegrewmoreandmoreinterestedinthatthingwhichcouldprovokesuchatumultofwordsandpassion.
Hethoughtofiteveryday;buthethoughtofitwithoutbitterness.Itmighthavebeenanunfortunateaffairforhispoordad,andthewholestorythrewaqueerlightuponthesocialandpoliticallifeofCostaguana.Theviewhetookofitwassympathetictohisfather,yetcalmandreflective.
