ning aspect he has--you
know, like a sort of avenging spirit. He gives one look, strides over
straight at the group of uniforms, and leads away the general by the
elbow. He walked him for a quarter of an hour in the shade of a
wall. Never let go his elbow for a moment, talking all the time with
exaltation, and gesticulating with a long black arm. It was a curious
scene. The officers seemed struck with astonishment. Remarkable man,
your missionary uncle. He hates an infidel much less than a heretic, and
prefers a heathen many times to an infidel. He condescends graciously to
call me a heathen, sometimes, you know."

Antonia listened with her hands over the balustrade, opening and
shutting the fan gently; and Decoud talked a little nervously, as if
afraid that she would leave him at the first pause. Their comparative
isolation, the precious sense of intimacy, the slight contact of their
arms, affected him softly; for now and then a tender inflection crept
into the flow of his ironic murmurs.

"Any slight sign of favour from a relative of yours is welcome, Antonia.
And perhaps he understands me, after all! But I know him, too, our Padre
Corbelan. The idea of political honour, justice, and honesty for him
consists in the restitution of the confiscated Church property. Nothing
else could have drawn that fierce converter of savage Indians out of the
wilds to work for the Ribierist cause! Nothing else but that wild hope!
He would make a pronunciamiento himself for such an object against any
Government if he could only get followers! What does Don Carlos Gould
think of that? But, of course, with his English impenetrability, nobody
can tell what he thinks. Probably he thinks of nothing apart from his
mine; of his 'Imperium in Imperio.' As to Mrs. Gould, she thinks of
her schools, of her hospitals, of the mothers with the young babies, of
every sick old man in the three villages. If you were to turn your head
now you would see her extracting a report from that sinister doctor in a
check shirt--what's his name? Monygham--or else catechising Don Pepe or
perhaps listening to Padre Roman. They are all down here to-day--all
her ministers of state. Well, she is a sensible woman, and perhaps Don
Carlos is a sensible man. It's a part of solid English sense not to
think too much; to see only what may be of practical use at the moment.
These people are not like ourselves. We have no political reason; we
have political passions--sometimes.