DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP
a hundred, he fainted. They scourged him with cactus whips, and his back was so poisoned that he was sick up there for a long while. This year they sent word that they did not want him at Abiquiu, so he had to keep Holy Week here, and everybody laughed at him.”
Father Latour asked the Señora to tell him frankly whether she thought he could put a stop to the extravagances of the Penitential Brotherhood. She smiled and shook her head. “I often say to my husband, I hope you will not try to do that. It would only set the people against you. The old people have need of their old customs; and the young ones will go with the times.”
As the Bishop was taking his leave, she put into his saddle-bags a beautiful piece of lace-work for Magdalena. “She will not be likely to use it for herself, but she will be glad to have it to give to the Sisters. That brutal man left her nothing. After he was hung, there was nothing to sell but his gun and one burro. That was why he was going to take the risk of killing two Padres for their mules—and for spite against religion, maybe! Magdalena said he had often threatened to kill the priest at Mora.”
At Santa Fé the Bishop found Father Vaillant awaiting him. They had not seen each other since Faster, and there were many things to be discussed.
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