bring the news of war to a people who have scarcely known peace these
hundred years. The teller of news cannot help telling with his tidings
his own view of them; and Evasio Mon made it known that in his opinion
all who had a grievance could want no better opportunity of airing it.

Thus he traveled slowly through the country towards Montserrat; and
wherever his slight, black-clad form and serene face had passed, the
spirit of unrest was left behind. In remote Aragonese villages, as in
busy Catalan towns where the artisan (that disturber of ancient peace)
was already beginning to add his voice to things of Spain, Evasio Mon
always found a hearing.

Needless to say he found in every village Venta, in every Posada of the
towns, that which is easy to find in this babbling world--a talker.

And Evasio Mon was a notable listener.




CHAPTER VI

PILGRIMS
It is not often that nature takes the trouble to stir the heart of man
into any emotion stronger than a quiet admiration or a peaceful wonder.
Here and there on the face of the earth, however, the astonishing work of
God gives pause to the most casual observer, the most thoughtless
traveler.

"Why did He do this?" one wonders. And no geologist--not even a French