''Where have I been? Oh! well, that is a secret.'
''A secret! what, from me, from your compadre Pedro?'
''Even so, my dear Pedro, even so; I have sworn not to mention the object of my journey nor my destination.'
''Oh! I dare say; but look here, what did you swear by—the holy Virgin of Guadalupe? No? Well, was it the cross?'
''No, neither by the one nor the other.'
''What is there binding, then? nothing else ought to keep you silent when I am in question?'
''I pledged my sacred honor.'
''Your sacred honor! Give me your hand, you always were a wag, but you humbugged me this time, I confess; well, that is a good one—the best joke I have heard for an age—excellent! well, go on, I am all attention, all ears.'
''Well, you won't hear much, for I am a man of honor, and bound not to speak; besides, I received a hundred dollars to keep mum.'
'Pedro for a moment appeared to be in a brown study; at last, gazing hard at his friend, he said: