"You said you would not ask for money again unless you could show something tangible--a fortress taken and held, a great General bought, a Province won. Is that so?" "Yes," answered Mon. "Or else," continued the speaker, "in order to meet the very just complaint from other countries, such as Poland for instance, that Spain has had more than her share of the common funds--you would lay before us some proposal of self-help, some proof that Spain in asking for help is prepared to help herself by a sacrifice of some sort." "I said that I would not ask for any sum that I could not double," said Mon. The little man sat blinking for some minutes silent in that absolute stillness which is peculiar to great heights--and is so marked at Montserrat that many cannot sleep there. "I will give you any sum that you can double," he said, at length. "Then I will ask you for three million pesetas." All turned and looked at him in wonder. The fat man gave a gasp. With three million pesetas he could have made a Polish republic. Mon only smiled. "For every million pesetas that you show me," said the little man, "I will hand you another million--cash for cash. When shall we begin?" "You must give me time," answered Mon, reflectively. "Say six months hence." The little man rose in response to the chapel bell, which was slowly tolling for the last service of the day. "Come," he said, "let us say a prayer before we go to bed." CHAPTER VII THE ALTERNATIVE The letter written by the Count de Sarrion to his son was delivered to Marcos, literally from hand to hand, by the messenger to whose care it was entrusted. So fully did the mountaineer carry out his instructions, that after standing on the river bank for some minutes, he deliberately walked knee-deep into the water and touched Marcos on the elbow. For the river is a loud one, and Marcos, intent on his sport, never turned his head to look about him. This, the last of the Sarrions, was a patient looking man, with the quiet eyes of one who deals with Nature, and the slow movements of the far-sighted. For Nature is always consistent, and never hurries those who watch her closely to obey the laws she writes so large in the instincts of man and beast. The messenger gave his master the letter and then stood with the water rustling past his woollen stockings. There was an odd suggestion of brotherhood between these men of very different birth. For as men are equal in the sight of God, so are those dimly like each other who live in the open air and cast their lives upon the broad bosom of Nature. Marcos handed his rod to the messenger, whose face, wrinkled like a walnut by the sun of Aragon, lighted up suddenly with pleasure. "There," he said, pointing to a swirling pool beneath some alders. "There is a big one there, I have risen him once." He waded slowly back to the bank where a second crop of hay was already showing its new green, and sat down.