rge oval, the space between them laid out as a
garden with straight walks and fountains and clipped shrubs, after the
fashion of Versailles; in the centre a church and two other buildings, one
of which, as the abbe told me, was a school, the other his own dwelling.

The people we met saluted him with great humility, and he returned their
salutations quite _en grand seigneur_, even, as I thought, somewhat
haughtily. One woman knelt in the road, kissed his hand, and asked for his
blessing, which he gave like the superior being she obviously considered
him. It was the same in the village. Everybody whom we met or passed stood
still and uncovered. There could be no question who was master in San
Cristobal. Abbe Balthazar was both priest and king, and, as I afterward
came to know, there was every reason why he should be.

He kept a large establishment, for the country, and lived in considerable
state. On entering his house, which was surrounded by a veranda and
embowered in trees, the abbe, asked if I would like a bath, and on my
answering in the affirmative ordered one of the servants, all of whom
spoke Spanish, to take me to the bath-room and find me a suit of clothes.

The bath made me feel like another man, and the fresh garments effected as
great a change in my personal appearance. There was not much difficulty
about the fit. A cotton undershirt, a blue jacket with silver buttons, a
red sash, white breeches, loose at the knee, and a pair of sandals, and I
was fully attired. Stockings I had to dispense with. They were not in
vogue at San Cristobal.

When I was ready, the servant, who had acted as my valet, conducted me to
the dining-room, where I found Angela and the abbe.

"_Parbleu!_" exclaimed the latter, who occasionally indulged in
expressions that were not exactly clerical. "_Parbleu!_ I had no idea that
a bath and clean raiment could make so great an improvement in a man's
appearance. That costume becomes you to admiration, Monsieur Nigel. Don't
you think so, Angela?"

"You forget, father, that he is the only caballero I ever saw. Are all
caballeros like him?"

"Very few, I should say. It is a long time since I saw any; but even at
the court of Louis XV. I do not remember seeing many braver looking
gentlemen than our guest."

As I bowed in acknowledgment of the compliment Angela gave me a quick
glance, blushed deeply, and then, turning to the abbe, proposed that we
should take our places at the table.

I