I thought it was the acolyte.

Go on, Senor! I am interested." "I thought you'd be," said Cranch, quietly.

"That's why I came.

And then you might be of service too." "True, true," said the priest, with rapid accents; "and this girl, Senor, this girl is"-- "Juanita, the _mestiza_, adopted daughter of Don Juan Briones, over on the Santa Clare Valley," replied Cranch, jerking his thumb over his shoulder, and then sitting down upon the bench beside Father Pedro.
The priest turned his feverish eyes piercingly upon his companion for a few seconds, and then doggedly fixed them upon the ground.

Cranch drew a plug of tobacco from his pocket, cut off a portion, placed it in his cheek, and then quietly began to strap the blade of his jack-knife upon his boot.