to his
most holy mother, and to all the saints of his prayers, not only
intended for his bodily comfort, but in order that he should not die
among beasts without the sacraments and in order that God should bring
him to die among brothers as a Catholic, and receive the holy
sacraments."

A Sign from our Lady of the Apparition. "The affliction which my dying
without them among those wild trees caused me, God, on whom my heart
called, alone knows. In like manner, there was not a saint of my
prayers to whom I did not pray, and even lovingly complained that they
should leave me in this way to die in these woods; yet my thinking
that, if this should happen, it would probably be the will of God, was
what mitigated all my sufferings. Nevertheless among all the Saints I
called upon to bring me out to die in a settlement, was our Lady who
appeared at Campeche, and scarcely did I call upon her in my mind (for
thus were all my pleas) to come to my aid, when at once we saw bent
branches of trees, a proof that people had come through those places.
From then on I put away the needle in the sleeve of my habit, without
taking it out, following the said track wherever it went. I kept on
following it for four days through paths as clear as they were
different from those we had found. The Indians were troubled when they
saw that I was going in a contrary direction and advised me to leave
such trails and to go in a westerly direction. I, who alone knew how
the said _Batche_ signs appeared on my invoking our Lady of the
Apparition, replied to them that they should come along since whoever
had showed me that _Batche_ or broken branches (which is a road for
Indians) would bring us out to a settlement.

"This is certain that at this time I was going on, falling and getting
up again, on account of my needs, but my faith was always strong and
firm that our Lady of the Apparition was going to bring us out safely.
At the end of the said four days of following the _Batche_ or broken
branches, in such different directions, for sometimes they went to the
East, at other times to the North, and at others to the South, we
finally came across a path, broad and good, on which it was evident
that a little while before Indians had passed and that there was
frequent passing. The Indians wished to follow it towards the East, in
case there were (as there were, from what I knew afterwards) any farms
there, in which they might find something to sustain oursel