"It is a bet."

"Juana, shut the blinds, wait until he passes, and when he is turning
the corner, I will call out, 'Cirio, Cirio Pascual!'"

Don Juan Tafetan ran out to the balcony.

"Come here, Don Jose, so that you may know this type," he called.

Pepe Rey, availing himself of the moment in which the three girls and
Don Juan were making merry in the balcony, calling Nicolasito Hernandez
the nickname which so greatly enraged him, stepped cautiously to one of
the sewing baskets in the room and placed in it a half ounce which he
had left after his losses at play.

Then he hurried out to the balcony just as the two youngest cried in the
midst of wild bursts of laughter, "Cirio, Cirio Pascual!"



CHAPTER XIII

A CASUS BELLI

After this prank the Troyas commenced a conversation with their visitors
about the people and the affairs of the town. The engineer, fearing
that his exploit might be discovered while he was present, wished to go,
which displeased the Troyas greatly. One of them who had left the room
now returned, saying: