"I do."
"You lie!"
"How, then, did I know that you had stolen her?"
"You guezz zat! Any vool gan guezz zat! I zdole 'er, but who I zdole 'er vrom, you do not know any more zan you know why ze frogs zdop zinging when ze light zhines."
"Ah! You did steal her, did you? Why do gypsies steal children when they have so many of their own, and it is so easy to raise more, Chicarona?"
"Azk ze tiger why it zpringz, or ze lightning why it zdrikes! I will alzo azk ze Caballero a queztion. What doez he wan' wiz zis leedle gurrl?"
"To be a father to her!" he answered, with a sly wink at Baltasar.
"Alzo' I am dressed in wool, I am no sheep! Tell me," she cried, stamping her foot.
"Why should I tell secrets to one who can read the future?" he asked banteringly.
Chicarona's mood was changing. It was evident from her looks, either that she was defeated in the contest by this wily and resistless combatant or that she had succumbed to the temptation of his money.