Part 46 (1/2)
”Don Pacheco shrugged his shoulders without replying to me, and addressed the richest banker of Arispe, who was standing near him:--
”'Senor Don Julio Baldomero,' he said to him, 'how much do you think there is on that table?'
”The banker took a glance in my direction, and then answered:--
”'Six hundred thousand piastres, or nearly so, senor.'
”'Very good,' the other said. 'Don Julio, be good enough to give me a bill for twelve hundred thousand piastres, payable at sight, on your bank.'
”The banker bowed, took out his pocketbook, and wrote a few words on a leaf which he tore out, and handed to Don Pacheco.
”'Do you believe, sir,' the Mexican said to me, 'that this bill represents the sum before you?'
”These words were accompanied by the sarcastic smile this man constantly had on his lips, and which drove me wild.
”'Yes,' I replied haughtily, 'and I am awaiting your determination.'
”'It is formed,' he said. 'Ask for new cards, and let us begin. Still, you can recall your word, if you like.'
”'Nonsense,' I said, as I undid a fresh pack of cards.
”Although our altercation had been short, as everybody knew our feelings toward each other, the conversation had broken off, and all the guests at the tertulia had collected around us. A profound silence prevailed in the room, and the faces expressed the curiosity and interest aroused by this strange scene. After shuffling the cards for some time, I handed them to my opponent to cut. The stranger laid his right hand on the pack, and said to me impertinently:--
”'There is yet time.'
”I shrugged my shoulders as reply. He cut, and I began dealing. At the fourth hand I had lost, and was ruined!”
The pirate stopped. For some time his voice had been growing weaker, and it was only by making extreme efforts that he succeeded in speaking distinctly.
”Drink!” he said so softly that the girl scarce heard him. She caught up a skin of water.
”No,” he said, ”brandy.”
White Gazelle obeyed him.
The pirate eagerly drank two or three mouthfuls.
”All was over,” he continued, in a firm voice, with sparkling eye, and face flushed by the fever preying on him. ”Concealing my rage in my heart, I prepared to leave the table with a smile on my lips.
”'One moment, sir,' my opponent said. 'The game is not over yet.'
”'What do you want more?' I answered him. 'Have you not won?'
”'Oh!' he said, with a gesture of supreme contempt: 'That is true. I have won this wretched sum. But you have a stake still to risk.'
”'I do not understand you, sir.'
”'Perhaps so! Listen to me. There are on this table eighteen hundred thousand piastres, that is to say, a fabulous fortune, which would form the happiness of a dozen families.'
”'Well?' I answered in a surprise.