"That you must be affected by it."
"Well, I confess, Excellency, that you have guessed it."
"Look you! I was sure of it."
"Yes, money gained honestly."
"Of course! Thus, for instance, suppose anyone offered you a thousand piastres to discover the secret of Don Miguel Ortega's palanquin?"
"Hang it!" the bandit said, fixing a sharp glance on the stranger, who, for his part, examined him attentively.
"And if that somebody," Don Stefano went on, "gave you in addition, as earnest penny, a ring like this?" While saying this, he made a magnificent diamond ring flash in the bandit's eyes.
"I would accept," the latter said, with a greedy accent, "even if I were compelled, in order to discover that secret, to imperil the share I hope for in Paradise."
Don Stefano turned to Brighteye. "Unfasten this man," he said, coldly, "we understand each other."
On feeling himself free, the half-breed gave a bound of joy. "The ring!" he said.