“Do you know what I’ve heard?” asked a creole lady, to change the topic of conversation. “The wife of Capitan Tinong, you remember her, the woman in whose house we danced and dined during the fiesta of Tondo—”
“The one who has two daughters? What about her?”
“Well, that woman just this afternoon presented the Captain-General with a ring worth a thousand pesos!”
The one-armed man turned around. “Is that so? Why?” he asked with shining eyes.
“She said that it was a Christmas gift—”
“But Christmas doesn’t come for a month yet!”
“Perhaps she’s afraid the storm is blowing her way,” observed the fat lady.
“And is getting under cover,” added the thin señora.
“When no return is asked, it’s a confession of guilt.”
“This must be carefully looked into,” declared the one-armed man thoughtfully. “I fear that there’s a cat in the bag.”