"I have been seeing in a dim way, _amigo_, that our thought is always the vital thing to be reckoned with, more than we have even suspected before. I believe there is a mental law, though I cannot formulate it, that in some way the thoughts we hold use us, and become externalized in actions. You were wild with fear for Carmen, and your thoughts of Diego were murderous. Bien, they almost drove you to murder, and they reacted upon the very one you most love. Can you not see it, _amigo_?" Rosendo looked up. His face was drawn. "Padre--I am almost afraid to think of anything--now." "Ah, _amigo_," said Josè with deep compassion, "I, too, have had a deep lesson in thinking these past two days. I had evolved many beautiful theories, and worked out wonderful plans during these weeks of peace. Then suddenly came the news of the revolution, and, presto! they all flew to pieces! But Carmen--nothing disturbs her. Is it because she is too young to fear? I think not, _amigo_, I think not. I think, rather, that it is because she is too wise." "But--she is not of the earth, Padre." The old man shook his head dubiously. "Rosendo, she is! She is human, just as we are. But in some way she has learned a great truth, and that is that wrong thinking brings all the discord and woe that afflict the human race. We know this is true, you and I. In a way we have known it all our lives. But why, _why_ do we not practice it? Why do I yield so readily to fear; and you to revenge? I rather think if we loved our enemies we would have none, for our only enemies are the thoughts that become externalized in wrong thought-concepts. And even this externalization is only in our own consciousness. It is there, and only there, that we see evil." "_Quien sabe?_ Padre," replied Rosendo, slowly shaking his head. "We know so little--so little!" "But, Rosendo, we know enough to try to be like Carmen--" "_Caramba_, yes! And I try to be like her. But whenever danger threatens her, the very devils seize me, and I am no longer myself." "Yes, yes; I know. But will not her God protect her? Can not we trust her to Him?" Josè spoke with the conviction of right, however inconsistent his past conduct might have been. "True, Padre--and I must try to love Diego--I know--though I hate him as the devil hates the cross! Carmen would say that he was used by bad thoughts, wouldn't she?" "Just so. She would not see the man, but the impersonal thought that seems to use him. And I believe she knows how to meet that kind of thought." "I know it, Padre. _Bien_, I must try to love him. I _will_ try. And--Padre, whenever he comes into my mind I will try to think of him as God's child--though I know he isn't!" Josè laughed loudly at this. "_Hombre!_" he exclaimed. "You must not think of the human Diego as God's child! You must always think of the _real_ child of God for which this human concept, Diego, stands in your consciousness. Do you understand me?"