"Very well: place the three packs under a hat; I will take the first I touch."
"That will do. What a pity you did not think of this game sooner, Don Fernando!"
"What could I do, señor?—I have only just hit upon the idea."
Don Estevan rose and left the grotto, to afford the two foes every facility for arranging the three packs under the hat. He was very soon recalled.
"So," said he, "you are determined to play out this game?"
"We are, they replied."
"You swear, by all the world holds most holy, and whichever of you it may be whom fortune favours, to submit yourselves to the fiat of fate in all its entirety?"
"We swear, Don Estevan, by the word of caballeros."
"Enough, señores," he replied, passing his Hand under the hat and drawing out a pack of cards. "And now recommend your souls to God; for a few minutes hence, one of you will be in his presence."
The two men crossed themselves devoutly, and fixed their eyes anxiously on the pack of cards.