does not care for the rude pleasures of my half of the
island." Kalonay threw away his cigarette, clasping his hands
before him with a sudden change of manner.

"But seriously," he cried, "as I have been telling them--I
wish your Majesty could have heard the offers they made us,
and could have seen the tears running down their faces when we
assured them that you would return. I wished a thousand times
that we had brought you with us. With you at our head we can
sweep the island from one end to the other. We will gather
strength and force as we go, as a landslide grows, and when we
reach the capital we will strike it like a human avalanche.

"And I wish you could have heard him speak," Kalonay cried,
his enthusiasm rising as he turned and pointed with his hand
at the priest. "There is the leader! He made my blood turn
hot with his speeches, and when he had finished I used to find
myself standing on my tiptoes and shouting with the rest.
Without him I could have done nothing. They knew me too well;
but the laziest rascals in the village came to welcome him
again, and the women and men wept before him and brought their
children to be blessed, and fell on their knees and kissed his
sandals. It was like the stories they tell you when you are a
child. He made us sob with regret and he filled us with fresh
resolves. Oh, it is very well for you to smile, you old
cynics," he cried, smiling at his own fervor, "but I tell you,
I have lived since I saw you last!"

The priest stood silent with his hands hidden inside his great
sleeves, and his head rising erect and rigid from his cowl.