“Senorita, he has committed a treason. A good citizen obeys the law; Senor Worth has defied it.” “Pardon, father, I cannot believe it.” “A great forbearance has been shown him, but the end of mercy comes. As he persisted in wearing arms, he has been taken to the Alamo and disarmed.” “It is a great shame! An infamous shame and wrong!” cried Antonia. “What right has any one to take my father’s arms? No more than they have to take his purse or his coat.” “General Santa Anna--” “General Santa Anna is a tyrant and a thief. I care not who says different.” “Antonia! Shameless one!” “Mother, do not strike me.” Then she took her mother’s hands in her own, and led her to a couch, caressing her as she spoke-- “Don’t believe any one--ANY ONE, mother, who says wrong of my father. You know that he is the best of men. Rachela! Come here instantly. The rosary is not the thing, now. You ought to be attending to the Senora. Get her some valerian and some coffee, and come and remove her clothing. Fray Ignatius, we will beg you to leave us to-night to ourselves.” “Your mother’s sin, in marrying a heretic, has now found her out. It is my duty to make her see her fault.” “My mother had a dispensation from one greater than you.” “Oh, father, pray for me! I accuse myself! I accuse myself! Oh, wretched woman! Oh, cruel husband!” “Mother, you have been a very happy woman. You have had the best husband in the world. Do not reproach my father for the sins of others. Do not desert him when he is in the power of a human tiger. My God, mother! let us think of something to be done for his help! I will see the Navarros, the Garcias, Judge Valdez; I will go to the Plaza and call on the thousands he has cured and helped to set him free.” “You will make of yourself something not to be spoken of. This is the judgment of God, my daughter.” “It is the judgment of a wicked man, Fray Ignatius. My mother is not now able to listen to you. Isabel, come here and comfort her.” Isabel put her cheek to her mother’s; she murmured caressing words; she kissed her face, and coiled up her straggling hair, and with childlike trust amid all, solicited Holy Mary to console them. Fray Ignatius watched her with a cold scrutiny. He was saying to himself, “It is the fruit of sin. I warned the Senora, when she married this heretic, that trouble would come of it. Very well, it has come.” Then like a flash a new thought invaded his mind--If the Senor Doctor disappeared forever, why not induce the Senora and her daughters to go into a religious house? There was a great deal of money. The church could use it well. Antonia did not understand the thought, but she understood its animus, and again she requested his withdrawal. This time she went close to him, and bravely looked straight into his eyes. Their scornful gleam sent a chill to her heart like that of cold steel. At that moment she understood that she had turned a passive enemy into an active one.