ch as the others, and the mother absolutely insists that he
shall! So there's no end to their miseries.

DOMINICAN. Oh yes, there is. Wait! He's had dealings with higher powers,
so that we've gained a hold on him; and our prayers will be more,
powerful than his resistance. Their effect is as extraordinary as it
is mysterious. (The STRANGER appears on the terrace. He is in hunting
costume and wears a tropical helmet. In his hand he has an alpenstock.)
Is that him, up there?

MOTHER. Yes. That's my present son-in-law.

DOMINICAN. Singularly like the first! But watch how he's behaving. He
hasn't seen me yet, but he feels I'm here. (He makes the sign of the
cross in the air.) Look how troubled he grows.... Now he stiffens like
an icicle. See! In a moment he'll cry out.

STRANGER (who has suddenly stopped, grown rigid, and clutched his
heart). Who's down there?

MOTHER. I am.

STRANGER. You're not alone.

MOTHER. No. I've someone with me.

DOMINICAN (making the sign of the cross). Now he'll say nothing; but
fall like a felled tree. (The STRANGER crumples up and falls to the
ground.) Now I shall go. It would be too much for him if he were to see
me, But I'll come back soon. You'll see, he's in good hands! Farewell
and peace be with you. (He goes out.)

STRANGER (raising himself and coming down the steps). Who was that?

MOTHER. A traveller. Sit down; you look so pale.

STRANGER. It was a fainting fit.

MOTHER. You've always new names for it; but they mean nothing fresh. Sit
down here, on the seat.

STRANGER. No; I don't like sitting there. People are always passing.

MOTHER. Yet I've been sitting here since I was a child, watching life
glide past as the river does below. Here, on the road, I've watched the
children of men go by, playing, haggling, begging, cursing and dancing.
I love this seat and I love the river below, though it does much damage
every year and washes away the property we inherited. Last spring it
carried our whole hay crop off, so that we had to sell our beasts. The
property's lost half its value in the last few years, and when the lake
in the mountains has reached its new level and the swamp's been drained
into the river, the water will rise till it washes the house away. We've
been at law about it for ten years, and we've lost every appeal; so we
shall be destroyed. It's as inevitable as fate.

STRANGER. Fate's not inevitable.

MOTHER. Beware, if you think to fight it.

STRANGER. I'v