" It was an
alarming pronouncement, and well calculated to hurt the sensibilities of
a politician whose mind is bent upon the spoils of victory. And Charles
Gould said also that the destruction of the San Tome mine would cause
the ruin of other undertakings, the withdrawal of European capital, the
withholding, most probably, of the last instalment of the foreign loan.
That stony fiend of a man said all these things (which were accessible
to His Excellency's intelligence) in a coldblooded manner which made one
shudder.
A long course of reading historical works, light and gossipy in tone,
carried out in garrets of Parisian hotels, sprawling on an untidy bed,
to the neglect of his duties, menial or otherwise, had affected the
manners of Pedro Montero. Had he seen around him the splendour of the
old Intendencia, the magnificent hangings, the gilt furniture ranged
along the walls; had he stood upon a dais on a noble square of red
carpet, he would have probably been very dangerous from a sense of
success and elevation. But in this sacked and devastated residence, with
the three pieces of common furniture huddled up in the middle of the
vast apartment, Pedrito's imagination was subdued by a feeling of
insecurity and impermanence.
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