down and bring me word. But if you see a mass of men rise at once and
descend upon the west gate, ring the bells. I shall go and warn the
soldiers, and every priest and brother will sleep on his pistol to-
night. But I don't think they are organised as yet. Before dawn I shall
send a messenger to the nearest town for reinforcements. Go, my son. You
are a brave and clever lad."

Roldan ran down the corridor and secured admission to the church. When
he had locked the door behind him, the vast dark building, beneath whose
tiles priests lay buried, shook his spirit as night and the plains had
not done, and he wished that he had brought Adan. Then he jerked his
shoulders, reflected that cowards did not carry off the prizes of the
world, and determined that his first should be the admiration and
approval of the priests and soldiers of this great Mission. He walked
rapidly down the nave, trying not to hear the hollow echo of his
footsteps, then opened several doors before he found the one behind
which was the spiral stair leading to the belfry. His supple legs
carried him swiftly up the steep ascent, and in a moment he was
straining his eyes in the direction of the rancheria.

The belfry was about ten feet square. The massive walls contained three
large apertures, through which the clear sonorous notes of the great
bells carried far. Just beneath the arch Roldan had selected as
observatory, and on the side opposite the plaza was the private garden
of the padres, surrounded by cloisters. An aged figure, cowled, his arms
folded, was pacing slowly.

Roldan, glancing over his shoulder, saw Padre Flores return from the
soldiers' quarters; but in the rancheria there was no motion but the
swaying tops of the willows, and no sound anywhere but the hoot of the