midday
The officers bowed , but made no further remark . The three men then set out , Ramirez walking a few paces in advance of his companions . Although the night was so dark that it was impossible to distinguish objects ten paces off , the sailor proceeded through the narrow and winding streets of the town with as much certainty and ease as if traversing it in broad daylight , in the bright sunshine . Close to the Cabildo , at the corner of the Plaza Mayor , stood a species of cabin , built of ships ' planks , clumsily nailed together , which offered , in the stifling midday hours , a precarious shelter to the leperos and idlers of all sorts , who collected there to smoke , drink mezcal , or play at monte , that game so beloved by Spanish-Americans of all classes . The interior of this suspicious rancho , honoured with the name of pulqueria , corresponded perfectly with the miserable aspect of the exterior . In a large room , only lighted by the dubious gleam of a smoky candle , a number of individuals , with ferocious countenances , dressed in filthy rags , and armed to the teeth , were collected round a few planks laid across empty barrels , and serving as a table . These men were drinking , and playing with that Mexican coolness which no event , however serious it may be , succeeds in disturbing , and staking piles of gold , which they drew from their patched calzoneras .