Why keep it secret? After all, giving it to the Monterists might save his life. No reasons are given for this decision, and we are free to deduce our own. On the practical level, if the silver is revealed so too is Decoud. But Nostromo's protective interest seems to lie in the silver itself rather than Decoud. The hidden silver, of course, represents the partial success of his mission , and its betrayal to the Monterists would mean his failure, so it is Nostromo's last thread of unsullied reputation. But already in this line there is also the subtle sense that Nostromo wants the silver for himself.

Symbolically, the line has another meaning, with "treasure" corresponding to character, in this case Nostromo's own. The line is something of a symbolic manifesto for Nostromo's (and by extension the People's) vow to be exploited no longer: the "treasure" of their intrinsic worth must not be "betrayed." But the competing meanings of "treasure" set up Nostromo's tragic dynamic, in which by appropriating the material treasure, he loses the spiritual one.