usly wrong with you. All you need is plenty of food and rest.
You're probably just imagining things."

Hager groaned, paid his bill, and fled.

Several days later found him in Mexico. It was warm--but he didn't
feel it. He knew with a terrible certainty that he would never feel
warmth again. And he was tired of futilely trying to escape something
from which there was no escape. He rented a small house on the
outskirts of a town far from the Border and hired an elderly Mexican
named Pancho to attend to his needs.

Pancho was a good servant. But he was evidently greatly puzzled by
Hager. According to the stories Pancho told his cronies in the town,
his _gringo_ master insisted that a hot fire be kept going constantly
in the fireplace. And in this warm weather, too! As if that alone
wasn't enough, the _gringo_ also kept himself wrapped thickly in
blankets. It was all very strange. The _gringo_, he said, was being
tormented by a demon.

The people of the town, a simple folk to whom the supernatural was as
real as the sun in the sky, were sympathetic. A priest at the church
promptly volunteered his aid. He had, as Pancho subsequently explained
to Hager when he appeared with the man, an enviable reputation for his
skill in exorcizing devils and evil spirits.

Hager seized at the hope. He clutched at the priest eagerly.

"Try it! Pray for me! Do something--anything!"

The priest nodded gravely and began his task.

It worked.

Hager felt warm again.

A wild delight filled him. For the first time he became aware that the
room was stifling, but the mere fact that he was able to feel it
seemed the most wonderful thing in the world. He had a sense of
freedom as complete as though he had been released into the sunlight
after long confinement in a lightless dungeon.

He wrung the priest's hand, forced money on him, and then told Pancho
he was throwing a _fiesta_ for the entire town that evening. Pancho
was to take care of the details immediately. No expense was to be
spared.

For the rest of the day, Hager soaked himself in the sunlight,
reveling in the delicious warmth. And when evening came he attended
the _fiesta_ in high spirits. He ate _tortillas_, drank wine, and
danced with innumerable dark-eyed _senoritas_.

It was late when he returned to the house with Pancho. He found a
robed figure waiting patiently at the door. It was the priest.
Something about the man's solemn expression filled Hager with dread.

"Wh