"Come, mamma, there is nothing to grieve about. Everything will be arranged this afternoon, without fail. Come now, go to Cristina and rest a little. You must not make yourself ill."
"Thank you, thank you!" murmured the suffering lady, without ceasing to weep and blow her nose.
Recovering finally at least a part of her energies, she left the place, not without giving me a strong, convulsive grasp of the hand and drawing her son-in-law to the door for three or four kisses. He shook his head and said, smiling:
I gave him a glance of interrogation, not venturing to put the question in words. Martí shrugged his shoulders and murmured:
"Tss! It's the same as always. Her son abuses the bounty of this poor woman and it gives her a great deal of trouble."
As I perceived that he did not wish to go into further explanations, I refrained from inquiries, and we talked of other things. But a moment later Cristina came into the office, not in a good temper, and asked him:
"Mamma has been begging money of you, hasn't she?"
"No, my girl," replied Martí, coloring a little.
"Don't deny it to me, Emilio. I have known all since this morning."
"Very well, what of it? The thing is not worth wrinkling this little brow," he answered, touching it tenderly.
Cristina remained silent and thoughtful a few moments.
"You know," she said at last firmly, "that I have never opposed your expenditures for Sabas. I have enjoyed your generosity towards all, but your treatment of my brother has especially pleased me. Yet I have asked myself sometimes, 'Will this generosity of Emilio have really good consequences? Will it not encourage my brother to continue in his idle and dissipated habits?' If he were alone in the world, he might indulge in such luxurious ways without much danger. When he came to want, you could, by reducing him to strict necessities, keep him on his feet. But he has a wife, he has children, and I fear that they will have to bear the consequences of your generosity and of the habits which, thanks to your kindness, their father does not abandon. And, too," she added in low tones that trembled a little, "at present we have no great responsibilities, but we shall have them----"
"I believe you; we shall have them!" exclaimed Martí. "It looks to me as if the first of them would not be many days in arriving!"