"Who are you?"
"I?"
"Yes, you."
The guide began laughing.
"You can see plainly enough," he said.
The Captain shook his head.
"I do not ask you what you appear to be, but what you really are."
"Why, señor, what man can answer for himself, and know positively who he is?"
"Listen, scoundrel," the Captain continued, in a menacing tone, "I do not mean to lose my time in following you through all the stories you may think proper to invent. Answer my questions plainly, or, if not—"
"If not?" the guide impudently interrupted him.