"Did yer git eyes on thet new feller Manuel Estevan brought back with him in the boat ?" "The one you and Jose carried aboard ?" "He's the lad.

Thar wa'n't nuthin' the matter with the cove, 'cept he wus dead drunk, an' he hed a bottle o' rum stowed away in every pocket.

But Manuel, he never knew thet.

It wus just 'bout dark when he cum staggerin' down ter the boat.

We wus waitin' on the beach fer Estevan, an' three fellers he hed taken along with him inter town, ter cum back--the nigger, Jose, an' me--when this yere chap hove 'longside.