The following day they were examined by Silver Stick, and if any carelessness was discovered he imposed a fine.
"An invention of the demon not to allow us to sleep, comrade.

But all the same we might manage a nap if we help one another.

While one sleeps a bit the other must undertake to check these cursed machines.
No carelessness, eh, fresh man?
The pay is short and hunger great, and we cannot afford fines." Gabriel, always good-natured, was the one who made most rounds, looking scrupulously after the markers, while his companion, the Senor Fidel, rested quietly, praising his generosity.

They had given him a good companion; he liked him much better than the old one, with his imperious manners of an old guard, always squabbling as to whose turn it was to get up and make the round.
The poor man coughed as much as Gabriel; his catarrhs disturbed the silence, echoing through the naves till it seemed like several monstrous dogs barking.
"I do not know how many years I have had this hoarseness," said the old man; "it is a present from the Cathedral.

The doctors say I ought to give up this employment; but what I say is--who is to support me?
You, companion, have begun at the best time.