He shrugged expressively.
"And that Señor Pardo is in the Prefect's pay?"
"That is my belief, señor."
"Romaña, are you a spy?"
"Señor, I am a Mollendist," replied the man with dignity.
Mr. O'Hagan was much perturbed. He was loth to believe that Pardo was a traitor, but the chain of events as linked together by Romaña was unpleasantly consistent. Perhaps what troubled him most of all was the discovery that, careful as he had been to hold aloof from local dissensions, two of his servants were mixed up in them, on opposite sides. It was now easier to understand the mutual antagonism between the two men, of which, though veiled by the outward forms of civility, he had always been conscious.
"You have told no one else what you suspect?" he said, after a few moments' deliberation.
"Nobody, señor."
"Then take care not to do so. I believe that you mean well, but I hope to find you mistaken. We shall see."
When Romaña had gone, Mr. O'Hagan sought his wife and told her everything.