nd I was not afraid to come in
here with you. I knew, just as the good man Jesus did at the tomb of
Lazarus, that God had heard me--He just couldn't be God if He hadn't,
you know. And then I remembered what the good man said about not
resisting evil; for, you know, if we resist evil we make it real--and
we never, _never_ can overcome anything real, can we? So I resisted
evil with good, just as Jesus told us to do. I just _knew_ that God
was everywhere, and that evil was unreal, and had no power at all. And
so the _bogas_ didn't hurt me coming down the river. And you--you will
not either, Padre."

She stopped and smiled sweetly at him. Then, very seriously:

"Padre, one reason why I was not afraid to come in here with you was
that I thought God might want to talk to you through me, and I could
help you. You need help, you know."

The man settled back in his chair and stared stupidly at her. His face
expressed utter consternation, confusion, and total lack of
comprehension. Once he muttered under his breath, "_Caramba_! she is
surely an _hada_!" But Carmen did not hear him. Absorbed in her
mission, she went on earnestly:

"You know, Padre, we are all channels through which God talks to
people--just like the _asequia_ out there in the street through which
the water flows. We are all channels for divine love--so Padre Jose
says."

The priest sat before her like a huge pig, his little eyes blinking
dully, and his great mouth still agape.

"We are never afraid of real things, Padre, you know; and so I
couldn't be afraid of the real 'you,' for that is a child of God. And
the other 'you' isn't real. We are only afraid of our wrong thoughts.
But such thoughts are not really ours, you know, for they don't come
from God. But," she laughed softly, "when I saw you coming up the
steps after me this morning--well, lots of fear-thoughts came to
me--why, they just seemed to come pelting down on me like the rain.
But I wouldn't listen to them. I turned right on them, just as I've
seen Cucumbra turn on a puppy that was nagging him, and I said, 'Here,
now, I know what you are; I know you don't come from God; and anything
that doesn't come from God isn't really anything at all!' And so they
stopped pelting me. The good man Jesus knew, didn't he? That's why he
said so often, 'Be not afraid.'"

She paused again and beamed at him. Her big eyes sparkled, and her
face glowed with celestial light. Diego raised a heavy arm and,
groping f