isfortune affect you?" asked the young wife.

"You know very well that I was one of the six who accompanied the body,
and it was I who appealed to the Captain-General when I saw that no
one, not even the authorities, said anything about such an outrage,
although I always prefer to honor a good man in life rather than to
worship him after his death."

"Well?"

"But, madam, I am not a believer in hereditary monarchy. By reason
of the Chinese blood which I have received from my mother I believe
a little like the Chinese: I honor the father on account of the son
and not the son on account of the father. I believe that each one
should receive the reward or punishment for his own deeds, not for
those of another."

"Did you order a mass said for your dead wife, as I advised
you yesterday?" asked the young woman, changing the subject of
conversation.

"No," answered the old man with a smile.

"What a pity!" she exclaimed with unfeigned regret.

"They say that until ten o'clock tomorrow the souls will wander at
liberty, awaiting the prayers of the living, and that during these
days one mass is equivalent to five on other days of the year, or
even to six, as the curate said this morning."

"What! Does that mean that we have a period without paying, which we
should take advantage of?"

"But, Doray," interrupted Don Filipo, "you know that Don Anastasio
doesn't believe in purgatory."

"I don't believe in purgatory!" protested the old man, partly rising
from his seat. "Even when I know something of its history!"

"The history of purgatory!" exclaimed the couple, full of
surprise. "Come, relate it to us."

"You don't know it and yet you order masses and talk about its
torments? Well, as it has begun to rain and threatens to continue,
we shall have time to relieve the monotony," replied Tasio, falling
into a thoughtful mood.

Don Filipo closed the book which he held in his hand and Doray sat
down at his side determined not to believe anything that the old man
was about to say.

The latter began in the following manner: "Purgatory existed long
before Our Lord came into the world and must have been located in
the center of the earth, according to Padre Astete; or somewhere near
Cluny, according to the monk of whom Padre Girard tells us. But the
location is of least importance here. Now then, who were scorching
in those fires that had been burning from the beginning of the
world? Its very ancient existence is proved by