But where?
Meanwhile Monsalvat was not altogether unmindful of himself. He noticed that at times his mind became blank, and that at such moments he would turn deathly pale, and be unable to walk. Then again he suffered from pains at the base of his brain, as if a wedge had been hammered into his skull at that point. He wondered if this presaged mental derangement. Was he going mad? He ate next to nothing, and slept little. Worried about his condition, he spent a week in bed.
One afternoon a letter came from the Ministry. It contained his dismissal. Monsalvat read the document, smiling. With it was a letter from the under-secretary who expressed his chief's regrets at being forced to take such action; but Monsalvat's frequent absences from the office, his lack of attention to his work, which, of course, might result in serious consequences, left the Minister no choice in the matter.
Monsalvat tossed both communications to the floor. "What does such nonsense matter to me? Nacha is waiting for me!"
The "nonsense," nevertheless, had serious implications. November was upon him and he had paid only a third of the interest on the mortgage. The Bank was insisting on payment, but he had no idea where to get the three thousand pesos needed. Moreover he was constantly giving away more than he could possibly afford, and naïvely letting himself be robbed on every hand. He had borrowed at high rates and had never paid any of the accumulating interest. The Bank, however, came to his rescue by selling the tenement, obtaining scarcely sixty thousand at the auction, which occurred on an oppressive November day. Very few bidders appeared; for it was just the beginning of that financial crisis which was to come to a head some fifteen months later, in 1913. Property values were going down. Money stringency was acute. No one was risking investment in real estate except at a bargain. The Bank recovered its forty thousand pesos with the interest. Monsalvat paid his minor borrowings and in the end found himself possessed of some ten thousand pesos. He now felt quite at ease. On that sum he could live two years in case he found no work. But it was written that bad luck was to pursue him. The bank in which he deposited his money failed within three months!
He met Amiral one morning, and, without preamble, told him that he wanted him to find out from Arnedo, as skillfully as possible, where Nacha was. Amiral, at mention of this name, smiled understandingly. He stroked his long brown mustache, and stretching out his thin arms, he exclaimed:
"Just what I always said! Of course a man like you who has lived in Paris—why, when they told me you were trying to reform our girls over here, I wouldn't believe them, for I felt sure you knew better.... Well, I'm glad to see I was right!"
Monsalvat wanted to knock the fellow down but contained himself. Amiral, thoroughly pleased with his penetration, added, in a confidential tone:
"It was clever of you to think of this disguise; because here in Buenos Aires, alas! there is no atmosphere.... One has to provide it ... ha! ha! ... provide it!"
Monsalvat wasted no time trying to correct Amiral's interpretation of his conduct, but with brutal directness offered him a thousand pesos to find out where Nacha was. Amiral staggered back dramatically. He thought that it perhaps became him to be angry; but, having consulted his conscience, he decided to accept. There was no need of being offended for so small a sum! Had it been fifty or a hundred thousand...!