“Why, Rosendo!” admonished Josè, repressing a smile, “did I not bless that one before the altar?”
“Cierto, Padre, and I beg a thousand pardons. It was the blessing, wasn’t it? Not the cloth. But this one,” regarding it reverently, “this one––”
“Oh, yes, this one,” put in Josè, “carries the blessing of His Grace, acting-Bishop Wenceslas.”
“And a Bishop is always very holy, is he not, Padre?” queried Rosendo. “It makes no difference who he is, for the office makes him holy, is it not so, Padre?”
“Oh, without doubt,” returned Josè, his thought reverting to the little Maria and the babe which for four years he had been supporting in distant Cartagena.
“Na, Padre,” remonstrated Rosendo, catching the insinuation, “we must not speak ill of the Bishop, lest he be a Saint to-morrow! But, Padre,” he went on, changing the topic, “I 267 came to tell you that Don Luis has given me a contract to cut wood for him on the island. A quantity, too. Hombre! I shall earn much money by its terms. I set out to-morrow morning before daybreak.”
Josè reflected. The man’s words aroused within him a faint suspicion. Don Luis and the Alcalde were boon companions. Josè wondered if in this commission he could see the gloved hand of Don Mario. But he gave no hint of his thought to Rosendo.
The next morning, long before sun-up, a mist lay thick over the valley, so thick that Rosendo, as he made his way down to the lake, scarce could distinguish the road ahead of him. The dry season had passed, and the rains were now setting in. As he hurried along, the old man mused dubiously on the contract which Don Luis had made with him. To cut wood in the rainy season!––but, after all, that was no concern of his. And yet––why had Padre Josè grown suddenly quiet when he learned of the contract yesterday? His bare feet fell softly upon the shales, and he proceeded more cautiously as he neared the water’s edge.
“Hombre!” he muttered, striving to penetrate the mist; “only a loco ventures out on the lake in such weather!”
He reached the boat, and placed in it the rope and axe which he had brought. Then, still troubled in thought, he sat down on the edge of the canoe and dropped into a puzzled meditation.