'This proposition seemed to embarrass the scrupulous Pepito extremely, and he remained some time lost in thought.
''But, if you only receive four hundred, and give me four hundred, what the deuce will you make out of such an operation?'
''Trust entirely to your generosity.'
''What! leave me to do what I like! I take you up—by Jupiter! Pedro, that is a noble trait in your character—I take you up.'
''Then it is a bargain. Will you wait here for me, or would you prefer to meet me at our usual Monte in the Calle de los Meradores?'
''I prefer the Monte.'
''You will swear on the cross, to relate fully and truly every particular relating to your journey?'
''Of course—every thing.'
''I will be there in a couple of hours.'
'After his friend's departure, Pepito sat silent; his brow was knit, and yet a mocking sneer played around his lips; he seemed to be pursuing two trains of thought at once; suspicion and merriment were clearly working in his mind.
''This is a droll affair, Caballero; I can't clearly see the bottom of it'
''There is nothing very unusual in it that I see,' I replied, 'for every day men sacrifice honor for gold.'
''True, nothing more common, and yet this proposition beats all I ever met with.'
''In what respect?'
''Why, the interest that these folks who employ Pedro, take in this journey that I undertook for your friend, Señor Pride.'
''But, if this journey has some valuable secret object in view?'
''Valuable secret!' repeated Pepito, bursting into a fit of laughter; 'Yes, a valuable secret indeed! Oh! the joke of offering four hundred dollars for what, 'twixt you and me, is not worth a cent. But who can it be that is behind Pedro, in this matter? He must be some rival doctor, or else a naturalist, on the same scent.'
''Is Señor Pride,' I inquired, 'a doctor—are you sure of that?'
''Yes—he must be—but I don't know,' exclaimed Pepito; 'I am at my wits' end. If he is not, I have been working in the dark, and he has deceived me with a false pretext; I am at a loss—dead beat. But one thing is plain—I can make four hundred dollars, if I like.'
''And will you betray your employer?' said I indignantly.
''Time enough—never decide rashly, Caballero; I shall deliberate—nothing like sleeping on important affairs; to-morrow—who knows what to-morrow may bring forth?'
'So saying, Pepito arose, took his traveling sword under his arm, placed his hat jauntily on his head, cast an admiring eye at the looking-glass, and then brushed off some of the dust that still clung to his left sleeve.
''The smile of Heaven abide with you, Señor,' said he, with a most graceful bow. 'As for your friend's secret, do not be uneasy about it; I am not going to meet Pedro to-night. I shall take advantage of his absence to make a call on my lady-love. Pedro is a good fellow, but shockingly self-conceited; he fancies himself far smarter than I—perhaps he is—but somehow I fancy, this time he must be early if he catches me asleep.'
'On his departure, I paid the bill, which both my friends had overlooked, then walked out and seated myself on the Alameda, which at that hour was thronged with promenaders. Isolated, buried in thought, in the midst of that teeming throng, the various episodes in the drama of which my mysterious neighbor was the principal character, passed before my mind. I again and again reviewed the strange events which, by some freak of fortune, I had been a witness to. What was the basis on which my friend, with two sets of names, founded his dream of inexhaustible wealth, this mission he had intrusted to Pepito? What the mission which the agent laughed at, and which to gain a clue to, others were tempting him with glittering bribes? And again, why the deceit practiced on Pepito, by assuming the guise of a doctor? Each of these facts was a text on which I piled a mountain of speculation.
'Vexed and annoyed at finding myself becoming entangled in this web of mystery, as well as piqued at my failure to unravel it, I determined to avoid all further connection with any of the actors; and full of this resolve, I wended my way homeward, to have a final and decisive interview with Mr. Livermore.
'The worthy Donna Teresa Lopez confronted me as I entered the inner door:
''Plenty of news, is there not?' she asked; 'I heard a good deal of squabbling, last night; that man in the cloak was noisy.'
''Yes; they had an interesting discussion.'
''You can not make me believe that was all. Discussion, indeed! When there is a pretty woman in the case, and two men talk as loudly as they did, it generally ends in a serious kind of discussion. 'When love stirs the fire, anger makes the blood boil.' Tell me, now, will they fight here, in the Señor Pride's room?'
'This question, which Donna Teresa put in the most matter-of-fact sort of way, staggered me considerably, and confirmed me in the resolution to avoid the whole business.
''I sincerely trust, Señora, that such an event is not probable. On what do you base your supposition?'
''There is nothing so very astounding in rivals fighting; but it is all the same to me. I only asked that I might take precautions.'
''Precautions! what, inform the police?'
''No, no! I thought it might be as well to take down the new curtains—the blood might spoil them.'
'Need I say I terminated my interview with my hostess, more impressed with admiration of her business qualities than of her sympathetic virtues? But let me do the poor woman justice; life is held so cheap, and the knife acts so large a part in Mexico, that violence and sudden death produce a mere transient effect.
IX
'Instead of going to my own apartments, I went direct to Mr. Livermore's, intending thus to show him that I wished no longer to be looked upon as the man in the next room.
''We were dying with anxiety to see you,' he said, as I entered; 'walk into the other room, you will find Adéle there.'
''Well, Mr. Rideau,' said she, with intense anxiety visible on her countenance, 'what passed between those two men?'
''Little of importance. Pedro offered Pepito four hundred dollars if he would divulge the particulars of his journey; to which offer Pepito has acceded. That is about all.'
'I was far from anticipating the effect my answer would produce on my hearers. They were overwhelmed—thunderstruck. Adéle was the first to recover.
''Fool! fool that I was,' she exclaimed, 'why did I select in such an enterprise a man worn down by sickness and disease?'
'The look she cast on Arthur, rapid as it was, was so full of menace and reproach, that it startled me.
''Well, Arthur,' she said, laying her hand on his arm; 'do you feel ill again?'
'Roused by the sound of her voice, Arthur placed his hand on his heart, and mutely plead excuse for the silence which his sufferings imposed on him.
'As for me, I spoke no word, but mentally consigned my mysterious neighbors to a distant port, whence consignments never return.
''My dear sir,' I replied at length, 'Pepito's treachery, which appears so deeply to affect you, is not yet carried into execution, it is only contemplated. I will give you word for word what transpired.'
'When I had concluded my narrative, to which they listened with breathless attention, Adéle exclaimed:
''Our hopes are not yet crushed, the case is not utterly desperate; but alas! it is evident our secret is suspected, if not known. Arthur,' she continued, 'now is the time to display all our energy. We have some enemy to dread, as I have long suspected. If we do not at once steal a march on him, then farewell forever to all our dreams of happiness, of wealth, or even of subsistence.'
''Sir,' said she, again addressing me; 'your honor alone has kept