"Señor Wolf wanted to meet you. I hope you were not bored."
Ramirez smiled. "Some people want to meet me and some do not, but I was not bored at all. Your friend is an interesting man; he told me much about which I must think. You have known him long?"
"Not long," said Mrs. Austin. She wanted to hint that she did not altogether make herself accountable for her guest, and resumed: "Still, at Las Palmas, we are foreigners, and since he is English——"
"Then you imagine Señor Wolf is English?"
"I have imagined so," said Mrs. Austin with some surprise. "However, his skin is rather dark."
"Darker than mine, for example?" Ramirez rejoined with a twinkle. "Well, the colour of one's skin is not important. In Spain there are descendants of the Visi-Goths whose colors is white and pink. One must rather study mental characteristics."
"Then you think Wolf's mentality is foreign?" said Don Arturo.
"It is not English. One notes a touch of subtlety, an understanding of one's thoughts, a keen intelligence——"
Don Arturo laughed and Mrs. Austin waved her fan.
"But, señor, I am patriotic. Are we very dull?"