with a slower movement, about twenty words to the
second--would the Grandioso go in as a partner in
these ventures? The income he could assure me
would be so fixed that the light dues alone would pay
for the structure in two years--think of it, Senor,
in two years--perhaps less!--and forever after we
could both sit down and receive a small fortune, I
by the Tampico in drafts signed by his Excellency,
and he in his own hacienda surrounded by the patriots
who honored him and the wife and children he
adored.

At mention of the partnership a vague, cloudy
expression crossed my face; my companion caught
it, and continued:

Or (again the voice slowed down) I would be paid
for the structure on its erection by me on the reef.

Again my eyes wandered, and again he took the
cue:

Or--if that was not satisfactory--he would be
willing to pay for the ironwork alone as soon as it
arrived in the harbor of San Juan.

My Spanish is more like an old uniform that is
rubbed up for a parade and then put away in camphor.
Much of his talk was therefore lost on me; but
the last sentences were as clear as if they had dropped