y seemed
to him very populous, and he felt the surprise that great modern
improvements must cause to those used to a retired and sedentary life.

The balconies were hung with ancient tapestries and shawls from
Manilla; the streets were covered with awnings, and the pavement
spread thickly with sand, so that the eucharistic car should glide
easily over the pointed cobble stones.

Up the hills the Custodia advanced laboriously, the men inside the
car sweating and gasping. Gabriel coughed, his spine aching with the
enclosure in the movable prison, and the dignity of the march was
disturbed by the words of command from the Canon Obrero, who, in
scarlet robes with a staff in his hand, directed the procession,
reproving the pilots and those who pushed the car inside for their
jerky and irregular movements.

Apart from these discomforts, Gabriel was delighted with his
extraordinary escapade through the town; he laughed, thinking what the
crowd, kneeling in veneration, would have said had they known whose
eyes were looking out at them from underneath the car. No doubt many
of those officials escorting God, in their white trousers, red coats,
with swords by their sides and cocked hats would have news of his
existence; they would surely have heard some one speak of him, and
they probably kept his name in their memory as that of a social enemy.
And this reprobate, rejected by all, concealed in a hole in the
Cathedral like those adventurous birds who rested in its vaultings,
was the man who was guiding the footsteps of God through this most
religious city!

A little after mid-day the Custodia returned to the Cathedral, passing
in front of the Puerta del Mollete. Gabriel saw the exterior walls
hung with the famous tapestries. As soon as the farewell hymns were
ended the canons despoiled themselves quickly of their vestments,
rushing to the door on their dismissal without saluting. They were
going to their dinners much later than usual, as this extraordinary
day upset the even course of their lives. The church, so noisy and
illuminated in the morning, emptied itself rapidly, and silence and
twilight once more reigned in it.

Esteban was furious when he saw Gabriel emerging from the eucharistic
car.

"You will kill yourself, such work is not for you. What caprice could
have seized you?"

Gabriel laughed. Yes, it was a caprice, but he did not repent of it.
He had taken a turn through the town without being seen, and he could