strong sentiment for him on her part, to an unreasonable
and simple attitude a woman is apt to take up emotionally towards a
man. She used to abuse him to me frequently, which, of course, is not
inconsistent with my idea. Not at all. It looked to me as if she were
always thinking of him. He was something important in her life. You
know, I have seen a lot of those people. Whenever I came down from
the mine Mrs. Gould used to ask me to keep my eye on them. She likes
Italians; she has lived a long time in Italy, I believe, and she took
a special fancy to that old Garibaldino. A remarkable chap enough. A
rugged and dreamy character, living in the republicanism of his
young days as if in a cloud. He has encouraged much of the Capataz's
confounded nonsense--the high-strung, exalted old beggar!"

"What sort of nonsense?" wondered the chief engineer. "I found the
Capataz always a very shrewd and sensible fellow, absolutely fearless,
and remarkably useful. A perfect handy man. Sir John was greatly
impressed by his resourcefulness and attention when he made that
overland journey from Sta. Marta. Later on, as you might have heard,
he rendered us a service by disclosing to the then chief of police
the presence in the town of some professional thieves, who came from
a distance to wreck and rob our monthly pay train. He has certainly
organized the lighterage service of the harbour for the O.S.N. Company
with great ability. He knows how to make himself obeyed, foreigner
though he is. It is true that the Cargadores are strangers here, too,
for the most part--immigrants, Islenos."

"His prestige is his fortune," muttered the doctor, sourly.

"The man has proved his trustworthiness up to the hilt on innumerable
occasions and in all sorts of ways," argued the engineer. "When this
question of the silver arose, Captain Mitchell naturally was very warmly
of the opinion that his Capataz was the only man fit for the trust. As
a sailor, of course, I suppose so. But as a man, don't you know, Gould,
Decoud, and myself judged that it didn't matter in the least who went.
Any boatman would have done just as well. Pray, what could a thief do
with such a lot of ingots? If he ran off with them he would have in
the end to land somewhere, and how could he conceal his cargo from the
knowledge of the people ashore? We dismissed that consideration from our
minds. Moreover, Decoud was going. There have been occasions when the
Capataz has been more implicit