"I?" Don Pablo shrugged his aged shoulders. "Do you think that I have nothing to do but to waste my time in that way? No! I only say that you will regain the money, because I shall assist you to get it. You must have your price even though it is but a temporary one."
"What do you mean by temporary?" asked Enistor unpleasantly.
"Any one who works for money, or earthly fame, or earthly power has to surrender what he gains when death comes. But he who labours to acquire super-physical powers as I do—those powers which can dominate men without their knowing, gets what he can never lose, however many the deaths or lives!"
"I shall work for that later, Master. At present I require money so as to take my proper position in the world, and sway men at will."
"A limited ambition," scoffed Narvaez. "However, what you desire you shall acquire, as you won't let me have your daughter without a price."
"Would you do something for nothing yourself, Don Pablo?"
"No," said the magician honestly. "I take what I want if I am strong enough to do so. Otherwise I buy what I require. Nothing for nothing and something for something—if there is no other way of getting it. That is my rule."
"It is the rule of the majority of mankind."
"True, my friend," chuckled Narvaez, settling himself comfortably. "Mankind has a long way to travel before the law of love is learned."