The symptom of a smile seemed to be coming into Eguiburu's face, but it suddenly vanished again:—
"Are you in earnest?"
"Yes, man, yes; don't have any apprehension."
Then the smile that had vanished once more appeared, insinuating and benevolent, on the money lender's lips.
"What a joker you are, Señor de Rivera! No one can ever tell whether you are in earnest or joking."
"Then you are certainly very wrong to be so calm at this moment."
Eguiburu grew serious again:—
"No! I cannot believe that you would jest on matters so ... so...."
"So sacred, you mean?"
"That is it—so sacred."