She is dangerous," he said, seriously; and added then, as if speculating on possibilities, "as long as you are in this house, at all events, you are safe.

But mind, you are warned." Federigo soon began to weary of their enforced confinement to the house, and in spite of his sister's efforts to dissuade him, began to go out in the evenings, coming home very late, and in a gloomy, irritable humour--evidently, from the casual remarks he let fall, having lost all his money at play.
The second morning of his stay in the house Salve had perceived that there was a want of money; and having heard the brother and sister quarrelling one day when both were in a bad humour, he thought it best to carry out, at the first convenient moment, the determination at which he had arrived, and handed over to Federigo what money he had, with the exception of a single silver piastre, saying, "That it was only right he should pay for his lodging and board." The money, though deprecatingly, was still accepted, and in the evening Federigo was out once more, his sister remaining at home.
She and Salve, on account of their ignorance of each other's language, could not hold much conversation together, and Salve was rather glad of this wall of separation between them, as it left him more at his ease.
She had, however, recently looked more often at him with a sort of interest, and on several occasions had put questions to him through her brother.

Her range of ideas was apparently not extensive, as her questions always turned upon the same topic--namely, what the women were like in his country; so that he soon came to know by heart all the Spanish terms which related to that subject.
They were out on the veranda together that evening, and as she went past his back while he was leaning over in his seat, she drew her hand as if by accident lightly through his hair.

If it had had the electricity of a cat's, it would have given out a perfect shower of sparks, so enraged was he at the advance.
When Federigo came home he flung his hat away angrily on to a chair, and drank down at a gulp a glass of rum that was standing on the table.

He no longer wore the smart cloak he had on when he went out.
"I have gambled away all your money!" he cried, in English, to Salve, as if careless of further reticence, and made some remark then with an unpleasant laugh to his sister, who had evidently by her expression perceived at once how matters stood.
"There's my last piastre for you," said Salve, throwing it over to him.
"Try your luck with it." "He is successful in love," said Paolina, tearfully, and with a _naive_ affectation of superstition--"he is engaged." When her brother, who was balancing the piastre on his forefinger, laughingly translated what she had said, Salve replied snappishly, with an impatient glance at the senorita-- "I am not engaged, and never shall be." "Unsuccessful in love!" she broke out, gleefully; "and the last piastre! To-morrow we shall win a hundred, two hundred, Federigo!" It was clearly the conviction of her heart; and she seized a mandolin and began to dance to her own accompaniment, her eyes resting as she did so upon Salve with a peculiar expression.
"Quick, Federigo!--why not this evening ?" she cried, breaking off suddenly with a laugh, and throwing the mandolin from her on to the sofa.