But he had no difficulty to keep a straight face because he felt deep within himself a strange inclination to do that very extraordinary thing.

He did not laugh, but his lip quivered; at which the diminutive Spaniard, detaching his black glittering eyes from Byrne's face, turned his back on him brusquely with a gesture and a fling of the cloak which somehow expressed contempt, bitterness, and discouragement all at once.

He turned away and stood still, his hat aslant, muffled up to the ears.

But he was not offended to the point of refusing the silver _duro_ which Byrne offered him with a non-committal speech as if nothing extraordinary had passed between them.
"I must make haste on board now," said Byrne, then.
"_Vaya usted con Dios_," muttered the gnome.

And this interview ended with a sarcastic low sweep of the hat which was replaced at the same perilous angle as before.
Directly the boat had been hoisted the ship's sails were filled on the off-shore tack, and Byrne imparted the whole story to his captain, who was but a very few years older than himself.