"What do you want, Ruperto?" Sandoval asked him.
"What do I want?" the other answered, whose tongue was growing dull under the influence of the numerous and copious draughts he had taken; "I want to speak."
"Silence!" the Captain shouted in a stentorian voice; "now, go on, Ruperto! No one will interrupt you, even if you spoke till sunrise."
"Demonios!" the Texan said, with a laugh, "I have no pretence to abuse your patience so long."
"Act as you please, gossip: you are my guest, and more than that, an old acquaintance, which gives you the right to do whatever you please here."
"Thanks for your gallantry, Captain; I must, in the first place, in my own name and in that of the persons who accompany me, offer you sincere thanks for your splendid hospitality."
"Go on, go on," the Captain said, carelessly:
"No, no; on the contrary, Caramba! A table so well served as yours is not to be found every day on the prairie. A man must be as ungrateful as a monk not to feel thankful."
"Halloh!" the Captain said, laughingly, "Did you not tell me, when I met you this evening, that you were sent to me by Fray Antonio?"
"I did, Captain."