he; and so darted upstairs,
brought them down, and insisted so stoutly on arraying the vicar
therein, that the good man beat a swift retreat. But he carried off
with him, nevertheless, one of the handsomest mantles, which, instead
of selling it, he converted cleverly enough into an altar-cloth; and for
several years afterwards, the communion at Northam was celebrated upon a
blaze of emerald, azure, and crimson, which had once adorned the sinful
body of some Aztec prince.

So Ayacanora flaunted on; while Amyas watched her, half amused, half in
simple pride of her beauty; and looked around at all gazers, as much as
to say, "See what a fine bird I have brought home!"

Another great trouble which she gave Mrs. Leigh was her conduct to the
ladies of the neighborhood. They came, of course, one and all, not only
to congratulate Mrs. Leigh, but to get a peep at the fair savage; but
the fair savage snubbed them all round, from the vicar's wife to Lady
Grenville herself, so effectually, that few attempted a second visit.

Mrs. Leigh remonstrated, and was answered by floods of tears. "They only
come to stare at a poor wild Indian girl, and she would not be made a
show of. She was like a queen once, and every one obeyed her; but here
every one looked down upon her." But when Mrs. Leigh asked her, whether
she would sooner go back to the forests, the poor girl clung to her like
a baby, and entreated not to be sent away, "She would sooner be a slave
in the kitchen here, than go back to the bad people."

And so on, month after month of foolish storm and foolish sunshine; but
she was under the shadow of one in whom was neither storm nor sunshine,
but a perpetual genial calm of soft gray weather, which tempered down
to its own peacefulness all who entered its charmed influence; and the
outbursts grew more and more rare, and Ayacanora more and more rational,
though no more happy, day by day.

And one by one small hints came out which made her identity certain, at
least in the eyes of Mrs. Leigh and Yeo. After she had become familiar
with the sight of houses, she gave them to understand that she had seen
such things before. The red cattle, too, seemed not unknown to her;
the sheep puzzled her for some time, and at last she gave Mrs. Leigh to
understand that they were too small.

"Ah, madam," quoth Yeo, who caught at every straw, "it is because she
has been accustomed to those great camel sheep (llamas they call them)
in Peru."

But