"Furthermore, I was twenty years in the town of San Diego and it was only a few months ago--that--that I left. Twenty years! Surely any one will admit that twenty years is time enough to get acquainted with a town. There were six thousand people in San Diego, and I knew every one of them as if he were my own child. I knew even the private affairs of them all; I knew in what way this man was 'crooked,' where the shoe pinched that one, what slips every girl had made and with whom, and who was the true father of each child, for I received all of their confessions and they always confessed scrupulously. I can prove what I say by Santiago, our host, for he has considerable property in that town, and it was there that we became friends. Well, then! This will show you what sort of people the natives are: when I went away, only a few old women and some lay brothers saw me off. And that, after I had been there twenty years! Don't you see that this proves beyond a doubt that all the reforms attempted by the Ministers of the Government in Madrid are perfectly absurd?" It was now the young man's turn to be perplexed. The lieutenant, who had been listening to the argument, knit his brows. The little man with the black beard made ready to combat or support Father Dámaso's arguments, while the Dominican was content to remain entirely neutral. "But do you believe----," the young man finally asked in a curious mood, and looking straight at the friar. "Do I believe it? As I do the Gospel! The native is so indolent!" "Ah! Pardon me for interrupting you," said the young blonde, lowering his voice and drawing his chair closer, "but you have spoken a word that arouses my interest. Is this indolence an inherent characteristic of the native, or is it true, as a foreign traveller has said in speaking of a country whose inhabitants are of the same race as these, that this indolence is only a fabrication to excuse our own laziness, our backwardness and the faults of our celestial system?" "Bah! That is nothing but envy! Ask Señor Laruja, who knows this country very well, whether the native has his equal in the world for indolence and ignorance." "It is a fact," replied the little man referred to, "that nowhere in the world can any one be found more indolent than the native. Positively nowhere!" "Nor more vicious and ungrateful!" "Nor with less education!" Somewhat uneasy, the blonde man began to glance about the room. "Gentlemen," he said in a low voice, "I believe that we are in the house of a native, and these young ladies may----" "Bah! Don't be so sensitive. How long have you been in the country?" "Four days," answered the young man somewhat ruffled. "Did you come here as an employee?" "No, sir. I came on my own account in order to become acquainted with the country."