curls, came running out of the darkness.

"Oh, padre Rosendo," she called, "what have you brought me?"

Then, as she saw Rosendo and Juan assisting the priest from the boat,
she drew back abashed.

"Look, Carmencita," whispered Juan to the little maid; "we've brought
you a _big_ doll, haven't we?"

Night fell as the priest stepped upon the shore of his new home.

CARMEN ARIZA

BOOK 2

Ay, to save and redeem and restore, snatch Saul, the mistake,
Saul, the failure, the ruin he seems now,--and bid him awake from
the dream, the probation, the prelude, to find himself set clear
and safe in new light and new life,--a new harmony yet to be run
and continued and ended.

--_Browning._

CARMEN ARIZA

CHAPTER 1

Jose de Rincon opened his eyes and turned painfully on his hard bed.
The early sun streamed through the wooden grating before the unglazed
window. A slight, tepid breeze stirred the mosquito netting over him.
He was in the single sleeping room of the house. It contained another
bed like his own, of rough _macana_ palm strips, over which lay a
straw mat and a thin red blanket. Bed springs were unknown in Simiti.
On the rude door, cobwebbed and dusty, a scorpion clung torpidly. From
the room beyond he heard subdued voices. His head and limbs ached
dully; and frightful memories of the river trip and the awful journey
from Badillo sickened him. With painful exertion he stood upon the
moist dirt floor and drew on his damp clothes. He had only a vague
recollection of the preceding night, but he knew that Rosendo had half
led, half dragged him past rows of dimly lighted, ghostly white houses
to his own abode, and there had put him to bed.

"_Muy buenos dias, Senor Padre_," Rosendo greeted him, as the priest
dragged himself out into the living room. "You have slept long. But
the senora will soon have your breakfast. Sit here--not in the sun!"

Rosendo placed one of the rough wooden chairs, with straight cowhide
back and seat, near the table.

"Carmencita has gone to the boat for fresh water. But--here she comes.
Pour the _Senor Padre_ a cup, _carita_," addressing a little girl who
at that moment entered the doorway, carrying a large earthen bottle on
her shoulder. It was the child who had met the boat when the priest
arrived the night, before.

"Fill the basin, too, _chiquita_, that the Padre may wash his hands,"
added Ros