‘May I ask what is your interest in all this?’ he demanded, as soon as I had made my statement. ‘I represent the Sugar Trust,’ I told him. ‘The Sugar Trust?’ ‘The manufacturers of sugar in the United States, who fear the competition of cane sugar, and are therefore opposed to the annexation of Cuba, which would involve free trade with the island,’ I explained. [Illustration: “‘We shall find out whether he is a priest,’ was the retort.”] ‘And you suggest that this Father Kehler----?’ ‘Herr Kehler,’ I corrected. ‘This man is no more a priest than I am. He is believed to be the agent of a Chicago Trust, which desires to see Cuba brought within the Union.’ ‘We shall find out whether he is a priest,’ was the retort. ‘Before he can say Mass in this diocese he will have to apply for permission, and to show his ordination papers.’ ‘But if he does not wish to say Mass? If he merely confines himself to directing the Sister whom he has conducted here?’ ‘In that case we cannot interfere. We have no more proof that she is a Sister than that he is a priest?’ I gave Monsignor X---- an indignant look, which he bore with coolness. ‘Besides, what is it that you apprehend?’ he asked. ‘One cannot deal with imaginary dangers.’ ‘I am sure that these two persons are bent on some desperate enterprise--that their presence in Havana bodes no good to the cause of peace,’ was all I could find to say. The ecclesiastic made a scornful gesture. ‘It appears to me that this is a matter which concerns the police,’ he said, in a tone which signified that the interview was at an end. I returned to my quarters, realising to the full the difficulty of any effective action. To go to the police would be merely to invite a repetition of the snub which I had just received from the ecclesiastical authority. I could only rely on my own resources. I sent a wire to Stearine: ‘_War agent here as priest, accompanied by nun_,’ and waited. It was just possible that Stearine might have connections through which those who had power in the Church at Havana might be influenced, in which case I had no doubt that Monsignor X---- would very quickly become interested in the doings of ‘Father’ Kehler. I can hardly tell what it was precisely that I expected to happen. I had some idea of an assassination, possibly of the captain of the _Maine_, or perhaps of the American Consul, by Sister Marie-Joseph. Day by day I perceived the unhappy girl becoming more and more wrought up to the pitch of enthusiasm necessary for the perpetration of some hideous deed, like that of Charlotte Corday, or Judith. Curiously enough, the poor Sister showed an inclination for my society, perhaps because I was a familiar face. She would sit beside me in the drawing-room of the hotel and talk about her convent, in which she had been educated and passed most of her life. [Illustration: “She would talk about her convent.”]