"We leave this to-morrow for Santiago, where we reside. I should like my daughter to see you ere we go; but I find that, if she is well enough, we must start by sunrise. If you should ever visit our city, don't forget us, senor--don't forget us, I beseech you," and the old gentleman presented his card, on which was engraved the name and address:
"_Don Salvador de Moreno, Alameda de la Canada._"
"I shall not forget, be assured, senor," said Pedro, pocketing the cheque and the card; and now, thinking, as the lights were beginning to multiply, that the time had come when it would be prudent to take his departure, he solemnly, and with much profuse politeness, bade his intended father-in-law adieu, for in this relationship he actually viewed Don Salvador already. "I have some business to transact, about--about--but it does not matter what, so I shall not be long behind you here."
He remembered the brigantine at anchor in the bay, and resolved to quit Valparaiso without loss of time.
"_Adios_, Padre Ugarte--Padre Eizagiuerro, _adios_!" said he, waving his hat, and yawing some what in his course towards the door; "_adios_, Don Perez; don't forget to learn to swi--swi--swim. A thousand farewells to you, Don Salvador."
Fortunately the door was promptly opened by a servant, or Pedro would have lurched against its panels of plate-glass, and ere long he found himself in the street, with his back against a lamp-post, and very dim ideas of how he had quitted the hotel. Then he thought Don Perez had insulted him, and a vague notion of returning and punching that individual's head floated through his own.
The cool breeze from the Pacific partly sobered him; he wrapped his poncho round him; felt if the cheque was safe; and, then, remembering that he was in a strange place, he searched next for his knife and revolver.
"All right--_bueno!_"--he hiccuped, "now for the Posada de San Augustin. The church is just opposite the posada--no, it is the posada that is opposite the church, _amigo mio_."
Though tipsy, he reflected that he had a heavy bill due there; but as he had not the slightest intention of liquidating it, the expenses of a night more would matter little, as he meant to depart for Santiago on the morrow and follow up his fortune there without delay.