Others, in perfect silence, seemed to
drink in the soothing influence of that tranquil moment, or smoked
the cigarettos in dreamy indolence; while at intervals, from the leafy
groves, a merry laugh, or the tinkling of a guitar, would mingle with
the bubbling murmur of the fountains, making the very stillness yet more
still as they ceased. Behind the piazza, and opening by several large
windows upon it, could be seen a splendid saloon, resplendent with
wax-lights, and still displaying on the loaded table the remnants of
a sumptuous repast, amid which vessels of gold and vases of flowers
appeared. Here, yet lingered two or three guests,--spirits who set no
store on an entertainment if it did not degenerate into debauch.

A broad alley, flanked by tall hedges of the prickly pear, led from the
villa to a little mound, on which a chestnut-tree stood, the patriarch
of the wood; a splendid tree it was, and worthy of a better destiny than
it now fulfilled, as, lighted up by several lanterns suspended from
the branches, it spread its shade over a large table where a party were
playing at "Monte."

Even without the suggestive aid of the large heaps of gold beside each
player, and piled in the middle of the table, the grave and steadfast
faces of some, the excited look of others, and the painful intensity of
interest in all, showed that the play was high. Still, although such was
the case, and while the players were men whose hot blood and reckless
lives did but little dispose them to put the curb upon their tempers,
not a word was spoken aloud; nor did a gesture or a look betray the
terrible vacillations of hope and fear the changeful fortune of the game
engendered. Standing near the table, but not mingling in the play, stood
Don Pedro himself, his sallow and melancholy features fixed upon the
game, with an expression that might mean sorrow or deep anxiety, it were
difficult to say which.

Beside him, at a small table littered with papers and writing
materials, sat his steward, or intendant, a German named Geizheimer,
a beetle-browed, white-cheeked, thick-lipped fellow, whose aquiline
features and guttural accents told that lending money at enormous
interest was no uncongenial occupation. Such was his present, and indeed
almost his only duty; for, while Don Pedro seldom or never played,
gaming was the invariable occupation of the guests, whose means to
support it were freely supplied by the steward; the borrowers either
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