"Silence!" he said feebly. "What see I here?"
Again, in stronger accent, "What see I here?"
Yet again, "What see I here!"
In this third utterance the churchman spoke as might a king in presence of his subjects. The wailing ceased.
He raised himself on elbow and pointed to the door.
"This cell is within the precinct of sacred cloister. Go, women, one and all! Get ye gone from this holy place!"
The women fell away from the bed and seemed to melt through the door, the men following them. Soon Juan Antonio stood alone with the padre.
"What have you done?" demanded the friar, sternly. Perspiration again was on his forehead, while the returning fever gave color to the face and strength to the body.
"O, Padre Lusciano, I feared you were dying. All my thoughts were for nothing but to save you, and I called for help, come whence it might."
"Juan Antonio, around this cell, though poor and humble, has Holy Church drawn her solemn circle of isolation. Let no woman enter herein, even to save my life. If I die, then so I must. Did I pronounce the curse on the luckless daughter of Eve and her male abettors in this sacrilege, no one, save the vicar of Christ in Rome, could banish it. See, Juan Antonio, what vast evil thy thoughtless hand might wreak."