He took leave of the Bishop, and turned again to address the Cardinal-Bishop within. "A matter of the gravest import has arisen," he began in a low voice; "and one that may directly affect our negotiations in regard to the support which the Holy Father will need in case he issues a _pronunciamento_ that France, Spain, and Austria shall no longer exercise the right of veto in papal elections. That rumor regarding Isabella's daughter is again afloat. I have summoned Father Rafaél de Rincón to Rome to state what he knows. But--" He rose and looked out through the door at Josè, bending over his littered desk. Then he went back, and resumed his conversation with the Cardinal-Bishop, but in a tone so low that Josè could catch only disconnected scraps. "What, Colombia?" he at length heard the Cardinal-Bishop exclaim. "Yes," was the Secretary's reply. "And presumably at the instigation of that busybody, Wenceslas Ortiz. Though what concern he might have in the _Infanta_ is to me incomprehensible--assuming, of course, that there is such a royal daughter." "But--Colombia elects a President soon, is it not so?" "On the eve of election now," replied the Secretary. "And if the influence of Wenceslas with the Bishop of Cartagena is what I am almost forced to admit that it is, then the election is in his hands. But, the _Infanta_--" The sound of his voice did not carry the rest of his words to Josè's itching ears. An hour later the Secretary and the Cardinal-Bishop came out of the room and left the office together. "Yes," the Secretary was saying, "in the case of Wenceslas it was 'pull and percuniam' that secured him his place. The Church did not put him there." The Cardinal-Bishop laughed genially. "Then the Holy Ghost was not consulted, I take it," he said. "No," replied the Secretary grimly. "And he has so complicated the already delicate situation in Colombia that I fear Congress will table the bill prohibiting Free-masonry. It is to be deplored. Among all the Latin Republics none has been more thoroughly Catholic than Colombia." "Is the Holy Father's unpublished order regarding the sale and distribution of Bibles loyally observed there?" queried the Cardinal-Bishop. The door closed upon them and Josè heard no more. His day's duties ended, he went to his room to write and reflect. But the intense afternoon heat again drove him forth to seek what comfort he might near the river. With his notebook in hand he went to the little park, as was his frequent wont. An hour or so later, while he was jotting down his remembrance of the conversation just overheard, together with his own caustic and protesting opinions, his absorption was broken by the strange child's accident. A few minutes later the notebook had disappeared.