d started instantly in pursuit. If he had waited to call out under
the window the figure would have disappeared, and he might not have found
it again. As it was the old man had gone so far, and was going so fast,
that it had taken some time to catch up. He--Billy--had yelled. The
Padre--for the Padre it was--had eventually stopped. Then had followed
explanations why the key was in the church door, and the door open; why
the door was afterward locked, and why the Padre was hurrying away from
the Mission, late in the evening, with the key in his pocket. And all
these explanations were simple enough, simpler than Billy's own.

In the first place a gentleman in the hotel at Paso Robles--one who came
often to the Mission of San Miguel, and was a most important person--had
sent a message asking that the church might be opened for him in the
afternoon. He wished to drive out, and bring a lady to see the Mission.
The Padre, obliged to spend the afternoon at the bedside of a man dying at
a distant farmhouse, stuck the key in the church door, with a note
attached, asking the lady and gentleman to lock the door when ready to go
away, and hide the key under a big stone which the letter indicated. The
vestments and altar cloths, the great treasures of the church, had been
purposely left in an open box, that they might be inspected by the
visitors, and the Padre had departed with a growing uneasiness in his
mind, lest the instructions should be neglected. So strong was his
presentiment, "though the gentleman was not one to forget," that he felt
compelled to leave the sick man before nightfall, and hurry off to the
church to see if his fears were justified. He promised, however, to return
to the bedside immediately; and luckily meeting the gentleman, heard a
confession that indeed the key had been forgotten. Only a short time had
passed since the church was left empty, therefore the Padre had no further
fear for the safety of the vestments. He hurried on, missed seeing the
motor, found the key in the church door as he expected, gave it a quick
turn in the lock, took it out, put it in the pocket of his long gown, and
started back to the farm as fast as his legs would carry him.

"Well, wouldn't he give you the key?" Nick asked, when the story had
reached this point.

"Yes. He gave it to me. But it was pretty dark by that time, and a good
long way from the Mission. I lost myself, and thought I was never going to
get here," Billy admitt