but seemed to take a lively pleasure in his conversation.

But the next day Martin Paz had left Chorillos, and Don Vegal, tortured
with anxiety, hastily returned to Lima.

The marriage of Andre Certa with the daughter of the wealthy Samuel, was
an important event. The beautiful senoras had not given themselves a
moment's rest; they had exhausted their ingenuity to invent some pretty
corsage or novel head-dress; they had wearied themselves in trying
without cessation the most varied toilets.

Numerous preparations were also going on in the house of Samuel; it was
a part of the Jew's plan to give great publicity to the marriage of
Sarah. The frescoes which adorned his dwelling according to the Spanish
custom, had been newly painted; the richest hangings fell in large folds
at the windows and doors of the habitation. Furniture carved in the
latest fashion, of precious or fragrant wood, was crowded in vast
saloons, impregnated with a delicious coolness. Rare shrubs, the
productions of warm countries, seized the eye with their splendid
colors, and one would have thought Spring had stolen along the balconies
and terraces, to inundate them with flowers and perfumes.

Meanwhile, amid these smiling marvels, the young girl was weeping; Sarah
no longer had hope, since the Sambo had none; and the Sambo had no hope,
since he wore no sign of hope! The negro Liberta had watched the steps
of the old Indian; he had seen nothing. Ah! if the poor child could have
followed the impulses of her heart, she would have immured herself in
one of those tranquil _beaterios_, to die there amid tears and prayer.

Urged by an irresistible attraction to the doctrines of Catholicism, the
young Jewess had been secretly converted; by the cares of the good
Father Joachim, she had been won over to a religion more in accordance
with her feelings than that in which she had been educated. If Samuel
had destined her for a Jew, she would have avowed her faith; but, about
to espouse a Catholic, she reserved for her husband the secret of her
conversion.

Father Joachim, in order to avoid scandal, and besides, better read in
his breviary than in the human heart, had suffered Sarah to believe in
the death of Martin Paz. The conversion of the young girl was the most
important thing to him; he saw it assured by her union with Andre Certa,
and he sought to accustom her to the idea of this marriage, the
conditions of which he was far from respecting.

At last t