QUARTERS IN A CONVENT. 357 



ra" herself arrived, and half the women in the proces- 

 sion, amateurs of tender scenes, followed. I shall not 

 attempt to describe the meeting. 'Hezoos, as in duty- 

 bound, forsook all the rest, and notwithstanding all 

 that he had done, wrapped her little figure in his arms 

 as tightly as if he had not looked at a woman for a 

 month; and la povera lay in his arms as happy as 

 if there were no pretty cousins or apprentices in the 

 world. 



All this was too much for me : I worked my way out 

 of doors, and after a consultation with the sergeant, 

 ordered my horse to be saddled, and riding a third 

 time across the plaza, stopped before the convent of 

 Don Antonio Castro. The woman who opened the 

 door said that the padre was not at home. I answered 

 that I would walk in and wait, and ordered my luggage 

 to be set down on the portico. She invited me inside, 

 and I ordered the luggage in after me. The room oc- 

 cupied nearly the whole front of the convent, and be- 

 sides some pictures of saints, its only furniture was a 

 large wooden table, and a long, high-backed, wooden- 

 bottomed settee. I laid my pistols and spurs upon the 

 table, and stretching myself upon the settee, waited to 

 welcome the padre to his house. 



It was some time after dark when he returned. He 

 was surprised, and evidently did not know what to do 

 with me, but seemed to recognise the principle that 

 possession is nine points of the law. 1 saw, however, 

 that his embarrassment was not from want of hospital- 

 ity, but from a belief that he could not make me com- 

 fortable. In Costa Rica the padres are poor, and I af- 

 terward learned that there it is unusual for a stranger to 

 plant himself upon one. I have since thought that the 

 Padre Castro must have considered me particularly 



