a few days to Sulaco if only
Decoud managed to make his way at once down the coast. For the military
chief there was Barrios, who had nothing but a bullet to expect from
Montero, his former professional rival and bitter enemy. Barrios's
concurrence was assured. As to his army, it had nothing to expect from
Montero either; not even a month's pay. From that point of view the
existence of the treasure was of enormous importance. The mere knowledge
that it had been saved from the Monterists would be a strong inducement
for the Cayta troops to embrace the cause of the new State.

The doctor turned round and contemplated his companion for some time.

"This Decoud, I see, is a persuasive young beggar," he remarked at last.
"And pray is it for this, then, that Charles Gould has let the whole lot
of ingots go out to sea in charge of that Nostromo?"

"Charles Gould," said the engineer-in-chief, "has said no more about his
motive than usual. You know, he doesn't talk. But we all here know his
motive, and he has only one--the safety of the San Tome mine with the
preservation of the Gould Concession in the spirit of his compact with
Holroyd. Holroyd is another uncommon man. They understand each other's
imaginative side. One is thirty, the other nearly sixty, and they have
been made for each other. To be a millionaire, and such a millionaire
as Holroyd, is like being eternally young. The audacity of youth
reckons upon what it fancies an unlimited time at its disposal; but a
millionaire has unlimited means in his hand--which is better. One's time
on earth is an uncertain quantity, but about the long reach of millions
there is no doubt. The introduction of a pure form of Christianity into
this continent is a dream for a youthful enthusiast, and I have been
trying to explain to you why Holroyd at fifty-eight is like a man on the
threshold of life, and better, too. He's not a missionary, but the San
Tome mine holds just that for him. I assure you, in sober truth, that he
could not manage to keep this out of a strictly business conference upon
the finances of Costaguana he had with Sir John a couple of years ago.
Sir John mentioned it with amazement in a letter he wrote to me here,
from San Francisco, when on his way home. Upon my word, doctor, things
seem to be worth nothing by what they are in themselves. I begin to
believe that the only solid thing about them is the spiritual value
which everyone discovers in his own form of activity-