140 OBSERVATIONS OF A RANCHWOMAN 



And just now he stands in need of a reviving 

 draught, for he has had a beating, and a 

 thorough one at that. The cloven hoof may 

 not often be en Evidence in our tawny neigh- 

 bours, but it is there, all the same. And in 

 this case the culprits are as easily to be found 

 as needles in a haystack. The Mexican 

 population is large, and on the point touched 

 by its padre it is of one mind. 



1 Juan,' I said one day, ' do you have to 

 pay your priests much ?' 



Juan, who had been laughing at the antics 

 of a puppy, turned on me a lowering coun- 

 tenance. 



' Senora,' he said, with a passion that had 

 in it more than a trace of vindictiveness, ' I 

 am a poor man. I work hard, and my 

 children are many. The priests live well ; 

 they are fat, and have all that they wish. 1 

 give to the priests yes ; I put a dime in the 

 church-box for them when I go to Mass with 

 my family. But I do not go too often. The 

 priests rob the poor.' 



But if Mother Church gets a good deal 

 out of the Mexican, he gets out of her in 

 return something his money's worth in 



