The astonishment of Preble Key on recognizing the gateway into which the mysterious lady had vanished was so great that he was at first inclined to believe her entry THERE a mere trick of his fancy.That the confederate of a gang of robbers should be admitted to the austere recesses of the convent,with a celerity that bespoke familiarity,was incredible.He again glanced up and down the length of the shadowed but still visible wall.There was no one there.The wall itself contained no break or recess in which one could hide,and this was the only gateway.The opposite side of the street in the full moonlight stared emptily.No!
Unless she were an illusion herself and his whole chase a dream,she MUST have entered here.
But the chase was not hopeless.He had at least tracked her to a place where she could be identified.It was not a hotel,which she could leave at any moment unobserved.Though he could not follow her and penetrate its seclusion now,he could later--thanks to his old associations with the padres of the contiguous college--gain an introduction to the Lady Superior on some pretext.She was safe there that night.He turned away with a feeling of relief.The incongruity of her retreat assumed a more favorable aspect to his hopes.He looked at the hallowed walls and the slumbering peacefulness of the gnarled old trees that hid the convent,and a gentle reminiscence of his youth stole over him.It was not the first time that he had gazed wistfully upon that chaste refuge where,perhaps,the bright eyes that he had followed in the quaint school procession under the leafy Alameda in the afternoon,were at last closed in gentle slumber.There was the very grille through which the wicked Conchita--or,was it Dolores?--had shot her Parthian glance at the lingering student.And the man of thirty-five,prematurely gray and settled in fortune,smiled as he turned away,and forgot the adventuress of thirty who had brought him there.
The next morning he was up betimes and at the college of San Jose.
Father Cipriano,a trifle more snuffy and aged,remembered with delight his old pupil.Ah!it was true,then,that he had become a mining president,and that was why his hair was gray;but he trusted that Don Preble had not forgot that this was not all of life,and that fortune brought great responsibilities and cares.
But what was this,then?He HAD thought of bringing out some of his relations from the States,and placing a niece in the convent.
That was good and wise.Ah,yes.For education in this new country,one must turn to the church.And he would see the Lady Superior?Ah!that was but the twist of one's finger and the lifting of a latch to a grave superintendent and a gray head like that.Of course,he had not forgotten the convent and the young senoritas,nor the discipline and the suspended holidays.Ah!it was a special grace of our Lady that he,Father Cipriano,had not been worried into his grave by those foolish muchachos.Yet,when he had extinguished a snuffy chuckle in his red bandana handkerchief,Key knew that he would accompany him to the convent that noon.
It was with a slight stirring of shame over his elaborate pretext that he passed the gate of the Sacred Heart with the good father.
But it is to be feared that he speedily forgot that in the unexpected information that it elicited.The Lady Superior was gracious,and even enthusiastic.Ah,yes,it was a growing custom of the American caballeros--who had no homes,nor yet time to create any--to bring their sisters,wards,and nieces here,and--with a dove-like side-glance towards Key--even the young senoritas they wished to fit for their Christian brides!Unlike the caballero,there were many business men so immersed in their affairs that they could not find time for a personal examination of the convent,--which was to be regretted,--but who,trusting to the reputation of the Sacred Heart and its good friends,simply sent the young lady there by some trusted female companion.Notably this was the case of the Senor Rivers,--did Don Preble ever know him?--a great capitalist in the Sierras,whose sweet young sister,a *****,ingenuous creature,was the pride of the convent.Of course,it was better that it was so.Discipline and seclusion had to be maintained.The young girl should look upon this as her home.The rules for visitors were necessarily severe.It was rare indeed--except in a case of urgency,such as happened last night--that even a lady,unless the parent of a scholar,was admitted to the hospitality of the convent.And this lady was only the friend of that same sister of the American capitalist,although she was the one who had brought her there.No,she was not a relation.
Perhaps Don Preble had heard of a Mrs.Barker,--the friend of Rivers of the Sierras.It was a queer combination of names.But what will you?The names of Americanos mean nothing.And Don Preble knows them not.Ah!possibly?--good!The lady would be remembered,being tall,dark,and of fine presence,though sad.Afew hours earlier and Don Preble could have judged for himself,for,as it were,she might have passed through this visitors'room.
But she was gone--departed by the coach.It was from a telegram--those heathen contrivances that blurt out things to you,with never an excuse,nor a smile,nor a kiss of the hand!For her part,she never let her scholars receive them,but opened them herself,and translated them in a Christian spirit,after due preparation,at her leisure.And it was this telegram that made the Senora Barker go,or,without doubt,she would have of herself told to the Don Preble,her compatriot of the Sierras,how good the convent was for his niece.
Stung by the thought that this woman had again evaded him,and disconcerted and confused by the scarcely intelligible information he had acquired,Key could with difficulty maintain his composure.