"If there were much smoke we would have seen it ... wouldn't we?"
"Perhaps," said Manuel.
"You sound pessimistic. What is it? Tell me why you followed me?"
"Pedro is here," he answered, after a pause.
"You know that for a fact?" asked Raul, stiffening.
"I saw him. He came from Manzanillo."
"Where did you see him?"
"In the stable, with other men."
"Did you speak to him?"
"No. He's drinking. He's out for trouble." Manuel spoke with a peculiar emphasis, recalling Pedro's drunken brawls, Raul's displeasure, Don Fernando's disregard. Manuel took time to pull a grass blade and poke it between his teeth, and then said, "He's very drunk."