balderdash must form part of the price he had to pay for being left
unmolested, the obligation of uttering balderdash personally was by
no means included in the bargain. He drew the line there. To these
provincial autocrats, before whom the peaceable population of
all classes had been accustomed to tremble, the reserve of that
English-looking engineer caused an uneasiness which swung to and fro
between cringing and truculence. Gradually all of them discovered that,
no matter what party was in power, that man remained in most effective
touch with the higher authorities in Sta. Marta.

This was a fact, and it accounted perfectly for the Goulds being by
no means so wealthy as the engineer-in-chief on the new railway could
legitimately suppose. Following the advice of Don Jose Avellanos,
who was a man of good counsel (though rendered timid by his horrible
experiences of Guzman Bento's time), Charles Gould had kept clear of the
capital; but in the current gossip of the foreign residents there he
was known (with a good deal of seriousness underlying the irony) by the
nickname of "King of Sulaco." An advocate of the Costaguana Bar, a
man of reputed ability and good character, member of the distinguished
Moraga family possessing extensive estates in the Sulaco Valley, was
pointed out to strangers, with a shade of mystery and respect, as
the agent of the San Tome mine--"political, you know." He was tall,
black-whiskered, and discreet. It was known that he had easy access to
ministers, and that the numerous Costaguana generals were always anxious
to dine at his house. Presidents granted him audience with facility. He
corresponded actively with his maternal uncle, Don Jose Avellanos;
but his letters--unless those expressing formally his dutiful
affection--were seldom entrusted to the Costaguana Post Office. There
the envelopes are opened, indiscriminately, with the frankness of a
brazen and childish impudence characteristic of some Spanish-American