Passing through the entrance hall on my way upstairs to dress for dinner, I was struck by the sight of the basket-trunk belonging to Sister Marie-Joseph standing strapped-up, ready to go away. At the foot of the staircase I encountered the Sister herself, evidently prepared for departure. She appeared pleased to have the opportunity of bidding me farewell. ‘I shall not forget you where I am going,’ she said with a mournful smile, as she extended her hand. ‘May one inquire where that will be?’ I ventured to ask. She shook her head. ‘It is an affair of duty. I am going a very long way, and you will never see me again.’ ‘And Father Kehler,’ I forced myself to say, ‘does he accompany you?’ A momentary expression of repugnance, almost of loathing, flashed out on her pale face. ‘No, no! The padre has done his part in conducting me so far, and finding me the situation of which I was in search. I have parted with him now, and we have nothing more to do with one another.’ This answer relieved my mind of a burden. I came hastily to the conclusion that Kehler, finding himself able to carry out his projects without assistance, had decided to dispense with an embarrassing ally, and I was glad to think that this poor girl would be delivered from his evil influence. What blindness are we capable of towards those very things which seem the clearest to our after-recollections! I took the precaution to ascertain at the bureau that Kehler was still staying on in the hotel, and I came down to dinner with a light heart. A number of the American officers were dining in the hotel that night. There appeared to be a sort of entertainment going forward, in which some Spanish officers from the garrison were fraternising with them. Kehler, deprived of the company of his lieutenant, sat at a small table by himself, and I noticed that he was drinking heavily, while his flushed face and inflamed eyes showed him to be labouring with an excitement which I ascribed to the influence of the wine. I sat down at another table, and busied myself with efforts to disentangle the threads of the intrigue which was being woven around me. I cast a thought or two after the poor girl, with whom I had been so strangely associated. Absorbed in these thoughts, I did not mark the evening advancing, when I was gradually aroused by the breaking up of the military party. The lieutenant, who had shown so strong a dislike for me, rose from his seat and came my way, taking a Spanish officer by the arm. As they approached, I perceived from his gait that the American had been affected by the healths he had been drinking. I saw him point me out to his companion as they approached, and he muttered something in the other’s ear, which caused the Spaniard to turn on me a glance of grave disgust. Stung by this insufferable insolence, I sprang to my feet, and placed myself in front of the lieutenant. ‘Have you anything to say to me, sir?’ I said sternly.