Yet
he was so clearly a man in authority that a casual observer could
scarcely have failed to perceive that these devout pilgrims, from Italy,
from France, from far-off Poland, and Saragossa close at hand in
Catalonia, had come to meet him and were subordinate to him.

It was probably no small task to command such men as Evasio Mon--and the
other four seemed no less pliable behind their gentle smile.

When the dessert had been placed on the table and one or two had
reflectively eaten a baked almond, more from habit than desire, the
little wizened man looked round the table with the manner of a rather
absent-minded host.

"It is eight o'clock," he said in French. "The monastery gate closes at
half-past. We have no time to discuss our business at this table. Shall
we go within the monastery gates? There is a seat by the wall, near the
fountain, in the courtyard--"

He rose as he spoke, and it became at once apparent that this was a great
man. For all stood aside as he passed out, and one opened the door as to
a prince; of which amenities he took no heed.

The monastery is built against the sheer side of the mountain, perched on
a cornice, like a huge eagle's nest. The buildings have no pretense to
architectural beauty, and consist of barrack-like houses built around a
quadrangle. The chapel is at the farther end, and is, of course, the
centre of interest. Here is kept the sacred image, which has survived so
many chances and changes; which, hidden for a hundred and fifty years in
a cavern on the mountainside, made itself known at last by a miraculous
illumination at night, and for the further guidance of the faithful gave
forth a sweet scent. It, moreover, selected this spot for its shrine by
jibbing under the immediate eye of a bishop, and refusing to be carried
further up the mountain.

The house of Santa Maria de Jesu has the advantage of being at the outer
end of the quadrangle, and thus having no house opposite to it, faces a
sheer fall of three thousand feet. A fountain splashes in the courtyard
below, and a low wall forms a long seat where the devout pass the evening
hours in that curt and epigrammatic conversation, which is more peaceful
than the quick talk of Frenchmen, and deeper than the babble of Italy.

It was to this wall that the little wizened man led the way, and here
seated himself with a gesture, inviting his companions to do the same.
Had any idle observer been interested in their movements he w