For Toni, Caragol was the most congenial spirit aboard ...

after himself.
As soon as he stopped at the door of the galley, supporting his elbow in the doorway and obstructing the sunlight with his body, the old cook would reach out for his bottle of brandy, preparing a "refresco" or a "caliente" in honor of his visitor.
They would drink slowly, interrupting their relish of the liquor to lament together the immovability of the _Mare Nostrum_.

They would count up the cost as though the boat were theirs.

While it was being repaired, they had been able to tolerate the captain's conduct.
"The English always pay," Toni would say.

"But now nobody is paying and the ship isn't earning anything, and we are spending every day....
About how much are we spending ?" And he and the cook would again calculate in detail the cost of keeping up the steamer, becoming terrified on reaching the total.