The Bishop, hardly to the surprise of his crafty coadjutor, flew into a towering rage. He was a man of irascible temper, bitterly intolerant, and unreasoningly violent against all unbelievers, especially Americans whose affairs brought them to Colombia. In this respect he was the epitome of the ecclesiastical anti-foreign sentiment which obtained in that country. His intolerance of heretics was such that he would gladly have bound his own kin to the stake had he believed their opinions unorthodox. Yet he was thoroughly conscientious, a devout churchman, and saturated with the beliefs of papal infallibility and the divine origin of the Church. In the observance of church rites and ceremonies he was unremitting. In the soul-burning desire to witness the conversion of the world, and especially to see the lost children of Europe either coaxed or beaten back into the embrace of Holy Church, his zeal amounted to fanaticism. In the present case-- "Your Eminence," suggested the suave Wenceslas to his exasperated superior, "may I propose that you defer action until I can discover the exact status of this American?" And the Bishop forthwith placed the whole matter in his trusted assistant's helpful hands. Meantime, Josè and the American explorer sat in the shade of a magnificent palm on a high hill in beautiful Turbaco, looking out over the shimmering sea beyond. For Hitt had wandered into the _Plaza de Coches_ just as Josè was taking a carriage, and the latter could not well refuse his proffered companionship for the day. Yet Josè feared to be seen in broad daylight with this stranger, and he involuntarily murmured a _Loado sea Dios_! when they reached Turbaco, as he believed, unobserved. He did not know that a sharp-eyed young novitiate, whom Wenceslas had detailed to keep the priest under surveillance, had hurried back to his superior with the report of Josè's departure with the _Americano_ on this innocent pleasure jaunt. "Say no more, my friend, in apology for your abrupt departure last evening," the explorer urged. "But tell me, rather, about your illustrious grandfather who had his country seat in this delightful spot. Why, man! this is paradise. I've a notion to come here to live some day." Josè cast his apprehensions upon the soft ocean breeze, and gave himself up to the inspiriting influence of his charming environment. He dwelt at length upon the Rincón greatness of mediaeval days, and expressed the resolve sometime to delve into the family records which he knew must be hidden away in the moldering old city of Cartagena. "But now," he concluded, after another reference to the Church, "is Colombia to witness again the horror of those days of carnage? And over the human mind's interpretation of the Christ? God forbid!"