nce. God was his only companion
in that loneliness. With God he would have to reckon. And did God care
if a man found his wife unfaithful? What a small detail that must seem
to a Being as great as that! Just like a pair of rats down there on
earth! No, much more important it must seem to God for a fellow to be
good, and not answer treason with murder ... murder!

Slowly the Rector turned back toward the Cabanal. How much better he
felt, now! The cold breeze, rapidly growing stronger, had found a way
into the furnace within him. But how weak and faint he felt! He had not
eaten a mouthful since breakfast the day before. And his nose must have
been broken by the fall, it pained him so! One! Two! A church bell rang
in the distance. Two o'clock! What a night! And how it had flown! But
the hours still to pass before morning would probably seem much longer!

As the Rector reached the road, he heard a boy's voice begin to sing.
Some "cat" on the way to his boat. In fact, there the youngster was, on
the other sidewalk, with two oars on his shoulder and a roll of nets
under his arm.

The sight of the boy upset him again. Now the Rector understood that
there were two Rectors under that one hide of his. One of them was the
usual man he had always been--good-natured, taciturn, with kindly
feelings for everybody. The other, a beast that began to roar and claw
inside him at the thought of being deceived, and which snarled for blood
in the presence of betrayal. And Pascualo laughed a shrill high-strung
laugh! Pardon! Forgiveness! What a cowardly whimperer that other Rector
was! See how the imbecile had sniffled at a lot of humbug memories back
there near the tavern of _sina_ Tona! _Lanudo!_ Just the name for a
coward like that! Fine sentiments those had been to justify a man
without the guts to protect his own dignity as a man! Such stuff might
do very well for don Santiago! It was a curate's job to find pretty
words and say them. But he was a sailor, thank God, with the life of a
young bull in him; and if anybody tried funny business on him, by God,
he would get what was coming to him, with some to boot. _Lanudo!_
Coward!

And ashamed in his own eyes for his past weakness, the skipper began to
thump his fists on his chest, swearing at himself in his other
ridiculous personality, where he was so good-natured and easy-going.
Forgiveness! Forgiveness might be all right in a graveyard. But he was
living in a village where people were