"Is there a hacienda here?"
"Yes, the Larch tree hacienda, about four leagues off, so that, you understand, if I go, I must give up my all."
"Ah, ah," Tranquil said thoughtfully, "very good, go on. Why not sell it?"
"Where are the buyers? Do you fancy it so easy to find about here a man with four or five hundred piastres in his pocket; and, moreover, ready to commit an act of folly?"
"Well, I can't say, but I fancy by seeking he could be found."
"Nonsense, gossip, you are jesting!"
"On my word I am not," Tranquil said, suddenly changing his tone, "and I will prove it to you."
"Good."
"You say you will sell your house for four hundred piastres?"
"Did I say four hundred?"