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- Джозеф Конрад
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But
in
the
end
,
during
the
long
turmoil
of
pronunciamentos
that
followed
the
death
of
the
famous
Guzman
Bento
,
the
native
miners
,
incited
to
revolt
by
the
emissaries
sent
out
from
the
capital
,
had
risen
upon
their
English
chiefs
and
murdered
them
to
a
man
.
The
decree
of
confiscation
which
appeared
immediately
afterwards
in
the
Diario
Official
,
published
in
Sta
.
Marta
,
began
with
the
words
:
"
Justly
incensed
at
the
grinding
oppression
of
foreigners
,
actuated
by
sordid
motives
of
gain
rather
than
by
love
for
a
country
where
they
come
impoverished
to
seek
their
fortunes
,
the
mining
population
of
San
Tome
,
etc.
.
.
.
"
and
ended
with
the
declaration
:
"
The
chief
of
the
State
has
resolved
to
exercise
to
the
full
his
power
of
clemency
.
The
mine
,
which
by
every
law
,
international
,
human
,
and
divine
,
reverts
now
to
the
Government
as
national
property
,
shall
remain
closed
till
the
sword
drawn
for
the
sacred
defence
of
liberal
principles
has
accomplished
its
mission
of
securing
the
happiness
of
our
beloved
country
.
"
And
for
many
years
this
was
the
last
of
the
San
Tome
mine
.
What
advantage
that
Government
had
expected
from
the
spoliation
,
it
is
impossible
to
tell
now
.
Costaguana
was
made
with
difficulty
to
pay
a
beggarly
money
compensation
to
the
families
of
the
victims
,
and
then
the
matter
dropped
out
of
diplomatic
despatches
.
But
afterwards
another
Government
bethought
itself
of
that
valuable
asset
.
It
was
an
ordinary
Costaguana
Government
--
the
fourth
in
six
years
--
but
it
judged
of
its
opportunities
sanely
.
It
remembered
the
San
Tome
mine
with
a
secret
conviction
of
its
worthlessness
in
their
own
hands
,
but
with
an
ingenious
insight
into
the
various
uses
a
silver
mine
can
be
put
to
,
apart
from
the
sordid
process
of
extracting
the
metal
from
under
the
ground
.
The
father
of
Charles
Gould
,
for
a
long
time
one
of
the
most
wealthy
merchants
of
Costaguana
,
had
already
lost
a
considerable
part
of
his
fortune
in
forced
loans
to
the
successive
Governments
.
He
was
a
man
of
calm
judgment
,
who
never
dreamed
of
pressing
his
claims
;
and
when
,
suddenly
,
the
perpetual
concession
of
the
San
Tome
mine
was
offered
to
him
in
full
settlement
,
his
alarm
became
extreme
.
He
was
versed
in
the
ways
of
Governments
.
Indeed
,
the
intention
of
this
affair
,
though
no
doubt
deeply
meditated
in
the
closet
,
lay
open
on
the
surface
of
the
document
presented
urgently
for
his
signature
.
The
third
and
most
important
clause
stipulated
that
the
concession-holder
should
pay
at
once
to
the
Government
five
years
'
royalties
on
the
estimated
output
of
the
mine
.
Mr.
Gould
,
senior
,
defended
himself
from
this
fatal
favour
with
many
arguments
and
entreaties
,
but
without
success
.
He
knew
nothing
of
mining
;
he
had
no
means
to
put
his
concession
on
the
European
market
;
the
mine
as
a
working
concern
did
not
exist
.
The
buildings
had
been
burnt
down
,
the
mining
plant
had
been
destroyed
,
the
mining
population
had
disappeared
from
the
neighbourhood
years
and
years
ago
;
the
very
road
had
vanished
under
a
flood
of
tropical
vegetation
as
effectually
as
if
swallowed
by
the
sea
;
and
the
main
gallery
had
fallen
in
within
a
hundred
yards
from
the
entrance
.
It
was
no
longer
an
abandoned
mine
;
it
was
a
wild
,
inaccessible
,
and
rocky
gorge
of
the
Sierra
,
where
vestiges
of
charred
timber
,
some
heaps
of
smashed
bricks
,
and
a
few
shapeless
pieces
of
rusty
iron
could
have
been
found
under
the
matted
mass
of
thorny
creepers
covering
the
ground
.
Mr.
Gould
,
senior
,
did
not
desire
the
perpetual
possession
of
that
desolate
locality
;
in
fact
,
the
mere
vision
of
it
arising
before
his
mind
in
the
still
watches
of
the
night
had
the
power
to
exasperate
him
into
hours
of
hot
and
agitated
insomnia
.
It
so
happened
,
however
,
that
the
Finance
Minister
of
the
time
was
a
man
to
whom
,
in
years
gone
by
,
Mr.
Gould
had
,
unfortunately
,
declined
to
grant
some
small
pecuniary
assistance
,
basing
his
refusal
on
the
ground
that
the
applicant
was
a
notorious
gambler
and
cheat
,
besides
being
more
than
half
suspected
of
a
robbery
with
violence
on
a
wealthy
ranchero
in
a
remote
country
district
,
where
he
was
actually
exercising
the
function
of
a
judge
.
Now
,
after
reaching
his
exalted
position
,
that
politician
had
proclaimed
his
intention
to
repay
evil
with
good
to
Senor
Gould
--
the
poor
man
.
He
affirmed
and
reaffirmed
this
resolution
in
the
drawing-rooms
of
Sta
.
Marta
,
in
a
soft
and
implacable
voice
,
and
with
such
malicious
glances
that
Mr.
Gould
's
best
friends
advised
him
earnestly
to
attempt
no
bribery
to
get
the
matter
dropped
.
It
would
have
been
useless
.
Indeed
,
it
would
not
have
been
a
very
safe
proceeding
.
Such
was
also
the
opinion
of
a
stout
,
loud-voiced
lady
of
French
extraction
,
the
daughter
,
she
said
,
of
an
officer
of
high
rank
(
officier
superieur
de
l'armee
)
,
who
was
accommodated
with
lodgings
within
the
walls
of
a
secularized
convent
next
door
to
the
Ministry
of
Finance
.
That
florid
person
,
when
approached
on
behalf
of
Mr.
Gould
in
a
proper
manner
,
and
with
a
suitable
present
,
shook
her
head
despondently
.
She
was
good-natured
,
and
her
despondency
was
genuine
.
She
imagined
she
could
not
take
money
in
consideration
of
something
she
could
not
accomplish
.
The
friend
of
Mr.
Gould
,
charged
with
the
delicate
mission
,
used
to
say
afterwards
that
she
was
the
only
honest
person
closely
or
remotely
connected
with
the
Government
he
had
ever
met
.
"
No
go
,
"
she
had
said
with
a
cavalier
,
husky
intonation
which
was
natural
to
her
,
and
using
turns
of
expression
more
suitable
to
a
child
of
parents
unknown
than
to
the
orphaned
daughter
of
a
general
officer
.
"
No
;
it
's
no
go
.
Pas
moyen
,
mon
garcon
.
C'est
dommage
,
tout
de
meme
.
Ah
!
zut
!
Je
ne
vole
pas
mon
monde
.
Je
ne
suis
pas
ministre
--
moi
!
Vous
pouvez
emporter
votre
petit
sac
.
"
For
a
moment
,
biting
her
carmine
lip
,
she
deplored
inwardly
the
tyranny
of
the
rigid
principles
governing
the
sale
of
her
influence
in
high
places
.
Then
,
significantly
,
and
with
a
touch
of
impatience
,
"
Allez
,
"
she
added
,
"
et
dites
bien
a
votre
bonhomme
--
entendez-vous
?
--
qu'il
faut
avaler
la
pilule
.
"
After
such
a
warning
there
was
nothing
for
it
but
to
sign
and
pay
.
Mr.
Gould
had
swallowed
the
pill
,
and
it
was
as
though
it
had
been
compounded
of
some
subtle
poison
that
acted
directly
on
his
brain
.
He
became
at
once
mine-ridden
,
and
as
he
was
well
read
in
light
literature
it
took
to
his
mind
the
form
of
the
Old
Man
of
the
Sea
fastened
upon
his
shoulders
.
He
also
began
to
dream
of
vampires
.
Mr.
Gould
exaggerated
to
himself
the
disadvantages
of
his
new
position
,
because
he
viewed
it
emotionally
.
His
position
in
Costaguana
was
no
worse
than
before
.
But
man
is
a
desperately
conservative
creature
,
and
the
extravagant
novelty
of
this
outrage
upon
his
purse
distressed
his
sensibilities
.
Everybody
around
him
was
being
robbed
by
the
grotesque
and
murderous
bands
that
played
their
game
of
governments
and
revolutions
after
the
death
of
Guzman
Bento
.
His
experience
had
taught
him
that
,
however
short
the
plunder
might
fall
of
their
legitimate
expectations
,
no
gang
in
possession
of
the
Presidential
Palace
would
be
so
incompetent
as
to
suffer
itself
to
be
baffled
by
the
want
of
a
pretext
.
The
first
casual
colonel
of
the
barefooted
army
of
scarecrows
that
came
along
was
able
to
expose
with
force
and
precision
to
any
mere
civilian
his
titles
to
a
sum
of
10,000
dollars
;
the
while
his
hope
would
be
immutably
fixed
upon
a
gratuity
,
at
any
rate
,
of
no
less
than
a
thousand
.
Mr.
