"Why how the d—— did you come to make yourself busy?"
"Why, you see, there's an old woman keeps a pulparia[3] close to the old Don's rookery."
"Hum! so, Mr. Sam Coffin, when you're cruising for information, you overhaul the women's papers first and foremost."
"Why you see, Captain Hazard, if you ask one of these men here a civil question, all you can get out of the critter is that d—d 'quien sabe,' and blast the any thing else."
"Can sarvy! why that sounds like Chinaman's talk; what does it mean?"
"It means 'who knows,' and that's the way they answer pretty much all questions."
"Well, what was't you was going to say about the girl?"
"Well, the old woman told me the girl's mother was an Englishwoman."
"I told you she wasn't clear Spanish—and being a girl, so, why she takes altogether after the mother."
"And the old woman said furdermore, that her mother wasn't a Catholic; she was a what-d'ye-call-'em."