Don Sylva burst into a laugh.
"No, that is not a custom of ours," he replied.
"Very good. Then, you were indulging in the regal pastime of throwing a million to the scum. Plague! Don Sylva, a man must be as rich as yourself to allow such a gratification."
"Things are not as you fancy."
"Still I saw it raining ounces."
"True, but they did not belong to me."
"Better and better still. That renders the affair more complicated; you heighten my curiosity immensely."
"I will satisfy it."
"I am all attention, for the affair is growing as interesting to me as a story in the 'Arabian Nights.'"
"H'm!" the hacendero said, tossing his head, "It interests you more than you perhaps suspect."