Caesar or Nothing Part 68

"I can't tell you any more now. If you have bought anything, sell it."

"But why?"

"I can't tell you."

"All right, when you get on these sibylline airs, I say no more. Another thing. Various gentlemen have come to tell me that they wanted to play the market; they have heard that it is about to go up...."

"Who were they?"

"Among others, Amparito's father and Don Calixto Garcia Guerrero."

"If they wish to give security, tell our broker, and I will sell them anything they want to buy."

"Really?"

"Really. I have my reasons for doing it."

"This time we are all going to make, except you."

"Dear Ignacio, I am at Sinigaglia."

"What does that mean?"

"If you have a moment free, read the history of the Borgias," murmured Caesar, turning over in bed.

The next few days Caesar lived in constant intranquillity. Yarza telegraphed him, saying that they had done the whole operation. On the 27th, in the afternoon, Caesar wandered toward the Calle de Alcala; Madrid wore its normal aspect; the newspaper boys were calling no extras. More worried than he liked, Caesar went for his walk by the Ca.n.a.lillo and then shut himself in his house. In the evening he went out breathless and bought the newspapers. His first impression was one of panic; there was nothing; on reaching the third page he uttered an exclamation and smiled. The Minister of Finance had just offered his resignation.

The next morning Caesar went to the hotel in the Carrera de San Jeronimo where he had a room, and in the afternoon to the Chamber. He telephoned to Alzugaray to come and see him after the exchange closed.

Alzugaray arrived, looking pale, in company with Amparito's father, Don Calixto, and the broker. They were all wretched. The news was horrible.

Domestics had fallen two points and were still falling; in Paris the Foreign Loan had fallen more than four; Northern was not falling but tumbling to the bottom of a precipice.

"Did you know that the Minister was going to present his resignation?"

asked the broker, in despair.

"I, no. How should I know it? Even the Minister himself couldn't have known it yesterday. But I had scientific data for not believing in that rise."

"I am ruined," exclaimed the broker. "I have lost my savings."

Don Calixto and Amparito's father had also lost very large sums, which Caesar won, and they were disconsolate.

When they were gone and only Alzugaray remained, he said to Caesar:

"And you have played in Paris, too, probably."

"Yes."

"On a fall?"

"Certainly."

"You are a bandit."

"This game, my dear Ignacio, based solely on events, is not a speculator's game, but is, simply, a hold-up. The other day I told you: 'I am at Sinigaglia.' Did you read the history of Caesar Borgia?"

"Yes."

"Well, what he did at Sinigaglia to the _condottieri_, to Vittellozzo, Oliverotto da Fermo, and his other two captain-adventurers, I have done to the Minister of Finance, to Don Calixto, Amparito's father, and many others." And Caesar explained his game. Alzugaray was amazed.

"How much have you made?"

"From what these telegrams say, I think I shall go over half a million francs. From those beginners, Don Calixto and Amparito's father, I think I have made forty thousand pesetas."

"What an atrocious person! If the Minister should find out about your game."

"Let him find out. I am not worried. The famous financier, in addition to being an idiot, is an honourable rogue. He plays the market with the object of enriching himself and leaving a fortune to his repugnant children. I, on the other hand, play it with a patriotic object."

The matter didn't rest there: Puchol, carried away by an easily comprehensible desire for lucre, and thinking it brought the same amount to the famous financier whether he played through Recquillart or through Muller, had made the last bid for the Minister through the new broker.

The Minister's winnings diminished considerably and Caesar's gained in proportion. The ill.u.s.trious financier, on learning what had happened, shrieked to heaven; but he said nothing, because of the secret transaction they had had together. Puchol was dismissed by Recquillart, and with the thirty thousand francs he collected from Caesar he set up for himself.

The Minister, a little later, went to Biarritz, to collect his share.

On his return he sent Caesar a note, unsigned and written on the type-writer. It read:

"I did not think you had enough ability for cheating. Another time I will be more careful."

Caesar replied in the same manner, as follows:

"When it's a question of a man who, besides being an idiot, is a poor creature and a cheat like you, I have no scruple in robbing him first and despising him afterwards."

Some days later Caesar published an article attacking the retiring Minister of Finance and disclosing a lot of data and figures.

The Minister answered with a letter in a Conservative paper, in which he denied everything Caesar alleged, and said, with contempt, that questions of Finance were not to be treated by "amateurs."

Caesar said that he considered himself insulted by the Minister's words, whom, however, he admired as a financier; and a few months later he joined the Liberal party and was received with open arms by its famous chief.

XII. LOCAL STRUGGLES

THE WATER SUPPLY

Caesar had money in abundance, and he decided to exert a decisive influence on Castro Duro.

For a long while he had had various projects planned.

He thought it was an appropriate moment to put them into practice.

The first that he tried to carry out was the water supply.