till we have eaten
and drunk all that has been put on board here. And if we miss her by
some mischance, we must keep away from the land till we grow weak,
and perhaps mad, and die, and drift dead, until one or another of the
steamers of the Compania comes upon the boat with the two dead men who
have saved the treasure. That, senor, is the only way to save it; for,
don't you see? for us to come to the land anywhere in a hundred miles
along this coast with this silver in our possession is to run the naked
breast against the point of a knife. This thing has been given to me
like a deadly disease. If men discover it I am dead, and you, too,
senor, since you would come with me. There is enough silver to make a
whole province rich, let alone a seaboard pueblo inhabited by thieves
and vagabonds. Senor, they would think that heaven itself sent these
riches into their hands, and would cut our throats without hesitation.
I would trust no fair words from the best man around the shores of this
wild gulf. Reflect that, even by giving up the treasure at the first
demand, we would not be able to save our lives. Do you understand this,
or must I explain?"

"No, you needn't explain," said Decoud, a little listlessly. "I can see
it well enough myself, that the possession of this treasure is very
much like a deadly disease for men situated as we are. But it had to be
removed from Sulaco, and you were the man for the task."

"I was; but I cannot believe," said Nostromo, "that its loss would have
impoverished Don Carlos Gould very much. There is more wealth in the
mountain. I have heard it rolling down the shoots on quiet nights when
I used to ride to Rincon to see a certain girl, after my work at the
harbour was done. For years the rich rocks have been pouring down with a
noise like thunder, and the miners say that there is enough at the heart
of the mountain to thunder on for years and years to come. And yet, the
day before yesterday, we have been fighting to save it from the mob,
and to-night I am sent out with it into this darkness, where there is no
wind to get away with; as if it were the last lot of silver on earth to
get bread for the hungry with. Ha! ha! Well, I am going to make it the
most famous and desperate affair of my life--wind or no wind. It shall
be talked about when the little children are grown up and the grown
men are old. Aha! the Monterists must not get hold of it, I am told,
whatever happens to Nostromo the Capataz