"Oh! my terms are very moderate."
"Well, but what are they?"
The guide hesitated, or, rather, he calculated mentally the chances of gain and loss the affair offered; then in an instant, he replied:
"These Mexicans are very rich."
"Probably," said the captain.
"Therefore it appears to me——"
"Speak without tergiversation, Babbler; we have not time to listen to your circumlocutions. Like all half-bloods, the Indian nature always prevails in you, and you never come frankly to the purpose."
"Well, then," the guide bluntly replied, "I will have five thousand duros, or nothing shall be done."
"For once you speak out; now we know what we have to trust to; you demand five thousand dollars?"
"I do."