he house now placed on a bench before the friar, some
_broa_, or maize bread, and a piece of _bacalhao_, fried in oil. From
the size of the morsel, the stock in the larder seemed to have run
low, even in this article, which is nothing but codfish salted by
British heretics for the benefit of the souls and bodies of the true
sons of the Church. The friar eat alone and in silence, less intent on
his meal than in watching and listening to the party at the table.

"They are, every one of them, eating flesh, and this day is a fast,"
said the elder woman to the friar, in a tone of affected horror.

"And they eat it almost raw," answered the friar, as Shortridge thrust
an ounce of red beef into his mouth. "But I know not that the Church
has prohibited that."

The ladies and the commissary retired soon, fatigued with their long
day's ride. The friar was devoutly telling his beads, and L'Isle sat
musing by the fire, while the servants, in turn, took their places at
the supper table. Presently the friar, having got through his
devotions, rose as if about to retire for the night; but, as he passed
L'Isle, he loitered, as if wishing to converse, perhaps for the last
time, with this foreigner, whose position, character, and ideas,
differed so much from his own, and who yet could make himself so well
understood. As L'Isle looked up, he said:

"Men of your profession see a great deal of the world."

"Yes. A soldier is a traveler, even if he never goes out of his own
country."

"But the soldiers of your country visit the remotest parts of the
world, the Indies in the east and west, and now this, our country, and
many a land besides."

"At one time the soldiers of Portugal did the same," said L'Isle.

"Yes; there was a time when we conquered and colonized many a remote
land, where the banner of no other European nation had ever been
seen. We still have our colonies, but, some how or other, they do not
seem to do us any good."

"But men of your profession," said L'Isle, "have been as great or even
greater travelers than soldiers. They are few regions, however remote
or inaccessible, which the priests of the Church of Rome, and members
of your own order, have not explored."

The friar was silent and thoughtful for a moment, and then said: "What
you say is true; yet it seems to me, that is no longer the case, or,
at least, that our order here has been remiss in sending forth
missionaries to foreign lands. Here most of us follow