ative and his command so expressive, that Friar
Rodriguez, although shaking with tremor, made every effort to stand
against a corner of the room.

Moved by this proof of obedience, so rarely found amongst those who
make a vow of humility, the stranger, full of contempt, repressed
a sigh and proceeded in a more familiar manner, but without losing
dignity.

"For you and for your nonsense I have been obliged to leave that
region, and come here! And what trouble I had to distinguish and
find you amongst the others! With but little difference, you are
all alike. 'Empty heads and replete stomachs!' _Up There_, they
did not cease to tease me about you all and most especially on your
account. It was useless to appear unconcerned. It was not only Lopez
de Recalde (Ignatius of Loyole) who with his eternal smile and humble
looks made fun of me; nor Domingo (Dominic) with his aristocratic
pretensions and little stars of false jewelry on his forehead, who
laughed at me; but even the great simpleton of Francisco (Francis),
do you understand? tried to poke fun at me; at me, who has thought,
argued and written more than all of them together!

"Your order is great and powerful," said Ignatius, bending his
head. "It resembles one of the Egyptian pyramids; great at the base
(you are the base), but the higher it goes the smaller it becomes--what
a difference between the base and the apex!" he murmured, while walking
away. "Doctor," said Dominic, "why did you not do with your science
as I did with the nobility I left as inheritance to my sons? We would
all be better off!"

"Mon ami, came and said Francis. If God should order me again to
earth, to preach as before amongst brutes and animals, I would preach
in your convents." And after saying this he roared in such a manner
that although small and thin, it seemed as though he would burst.

"In vain I answered them that their sons were no better than you are,
and that were we to look for skeletons in the closets, we had better
wall every crevice. But of no use. How could I argue against three,
moreover, having you to defend! Three, did I say? Why! Even Peter,
the old fisherman, attracted by the laughter, left his porter's lodge
and came to upbraid me for the trick you have played on his priests,
taking away from them all their parishes, regardless of the fact that
they had been in these islands long before you, and that they were
the first to baptise in Cebu and in Luzon.

"Of course,"