When the priest arrived he was left alone with her, all retiring from the apartment. Marta went to weep alone in her room, so as not to sadden her father; he did the same, so as not to frighten his daughters. Maria watched at the door for the signal that the pious act was accomplished.

At last the priest left the room, and, with the mask of solemnity which all daily witnesses of death-scenes are obliged to a.s.sume, hiding the real indifference, logically caused by such familiarity, he said to those who were waiting:--

"You can enter: we have finished."

"How is she?" was the question of each one.

"Well!... well!... well!... The poor woman is calm.... I believe that for her to receive the Divine Majesty will be good for her, as well for the body as for the soul."

"That is true.... You are right, Senor Cura," said several ladies.

"I have seen in my own family a very notable case of the power of faith," declared one of them. "My uncle Pepe had a very serious lung trouble, confirmed consumption. He had consulted a mult.i.tude of physicians, and had taken more than a cartload of medicine. Well, then it was suggested that, unless he were prepared to die, he would not recover. He had the priest called, made confession, received the viatic.u.m, and even wanted to have extreme unction.... But from that very time, I don't know what it was, but it is a fact that he became more comfortable, and began to improve ... to improve ... to improve, until at last he became what you see him to-day."

The other women confirmed this opinion. Each one related her experience in support of it, and the priest summed up all the arguments, showing that such miraculous effects were nothing more than was to be expected, granting that the sick person's body received the presence of the Lord of the Heaven and earth, in whose hands is the safety of all mankind.

At eleven o'clock in the evening, they brought the viatic.u.m to Dona Gertrudis with all the ceremony required by such a solemn act. The house of Elorza was filled with strange faces; a throng composed for the most part of working people invaded the stairway, the corridors, and even the invalid's sick-room, with wax tapers in their hands. The priest, with the acolyte before him, and the holy box on his breast, pa.s.sed by the physician, and entered the sick-room. Don Mariano had gone to hide himself. Maria, with a book of devotions in her hand, read to her mother the prayers which were to be said before communion. Marta stood leaning against the wall, pale and frightened, gazing at the solemn ceremony, as though she saw some terrible vision. One of the women, who made their way into the room, handed her a lighted candle, and she took it without knowing what she did. When the priest brought forth the Holy Wafer, they had to tell her to kneel. The scene was sad and stirring for any one: how much more for a daughter! The wax candles lugubriously sputtered in the silence of the sick-room, and cast tremulous yellow reflections on the walls. The voice of the priest, as he raised the Host, was still more lugubrious than the sputtering of the tapers. The invalid, weakened by her illness, had grown terribly pale from emotion; she sat up as well as she could and, supported by Maria, and with her hands folded over her breast, she opened her mouth to receive the body of Jesus Christ. Then the bystanders went out softly, and on the staircase was heard the vibrating tinkle of the sacristan's little bell, announcing that the Lord was departing from the house. Only the intimate friends remained. A group of ladies invaded the sick woman's room to congratulate her, and to ask after her health. Dona Gertrudis said that she was more comfortable; and, taking her daughter Maria's hand, she thanked her for having given her the pleasure of communion. Her recovery was to be hoped for; all the ladies found her very much like herself, and a.s.sured her that it would not be long before she was well.

"G.o.d can do all things, Dona Gertrudis. When one's accounts are settled with the Lord, there is no fear of any harm befalling. Nothing, this is nothing, senora; you will see how you will soon recover."

"I have offered a ma.s.s to the Sacred Christ of Tunis for the day on which our senora shall get well," said Genoveva, Maria's maid.

"Woman, why did you not offer it to the Ecce h.o.m.o of Mercy?" asked an old laundress of the house, in some surprise. She had always lighted the lamp before the said Ecce h.o.m.o, and kept the chapel clean, so that she came to look upon it as her own property.

"Ay, woman! because the Holy Christ of Tunis is more miraculous."

"A cuckold on _him_," exclaimed the washerwoman, quickly, with angry eyes.

A furious altercation arose between the two, until Maria was scandalized, and bade them be still, explaining that the Christ of Tunis and of Grace was one and the same Lord, though every Christian was free to have the most faith in whatever image he pleased.

At last the ladies withdrew, leaving only two,--the widow De Delgado and one of her sisters,--to spend the night with the young ladies. Don Maximo went to rest awhile, promising to return before long. The confessor did not wish to leave the house because he saw no improvement in his penitent, and he threw himself down on the sofa. Ricardo likewise remained.

At two o'clock what Don Maximo feared took place. The attack was renewed, and unfortunately with such violence that the unhappy lady very narrowly escaped pa.s.sing away in it. Marta, on seeing the danger, recovered the activity which she lost before the lugubrious ceremony of the communion; she prepared all the medicines; she rubbed the sick woman's feet with a flesh-brush; she held her upright a long time, so that she might not choke to death, and acted as Don Maximo had prescribed in the former cases. All those who touched Dona Gertrudis hurt her; only Mart.i.ta's soft hands had the privilege of moving her from side to side, and placing her in the most comfortable positions without causing her pain. Finally the sick woman came to herself and spoke, but Don Maximo, hastily summoned by the servants, found her pulse so feeble on his arrival that he could not help making a slight gesture of alarm.

Marta noticed that gesture, and calling him alone into the pa.s.sage-way, she threw her arms around his neck, sobbing: "Don Maximo, my dearest, for G.o.d's sake, save my mother!... yes, my mother is dying!... yes ...

she is dying.... I saw your gesture...."

"Don't cry, child,"[69] said the old physician, drawing her head to his breast; "as yet there is no reason for alarm.... I will certainly do all in my power, and more, to save her."

"Yes, yes, Don Maximo.... Do it, I beseech you by all that you most love in this world!... by the memory of your wife, whom you loved so dearly!"

"Don't! try not to cry any more! the thing to do now is to go and give her a spoonful of quinine; then we will put a cataplasm on her stomach."

The good Don Maximo, disguising the presentiment which he felt, succeeded in calming the girl, and he set himself to applying the remedies which his poor science but rich desire suggested.

But he was not able to halt the swift approach of death which in full career was fast approaching the n.o.ble lady's couch. At four o'clock in the morning they noticed that she spoke with greater difficulty; her p.r.o.nunciation halted, and she often stammered. Almost all her words were directed to Maria, asking her numberless times about the events of the preceding night, and insisting on being told, showering boundless praise on her for her bravery, and congratulating herself on having such a good daughter.

"My daughter, beseech G.o.d for my safety.... G.o.d cannot ... deny thee anything."

"Maria, perceiving that her mother was dying, replied:

"Mamma, the one important thing is the safety of the soul.... If G.o.d wishes to restore you, let it be a miracle to you of his sacred grace...."

"But ... am I dying ... my daughter?"

"G.o.d only can tell.... Do you wish the senor cura to come in and give you a short confession?"

"Yes ... let him come in ... my daughter, let him come in!"

The priest came, and remained a few moments alone with the sick woman.

Those who were in the adjoining room kept a sad silence. Don Mariano lying on a sofa, with his cheek resting in one hand, shut his eyes and gave evidence of deep dejection. After the priest had finished, Marta, Maria, Ricardo, and Don Maximo returned. Dona Gertrudis's condition grew continually more critical. There began to be noticeable in her a restlessness of bad augury; she turned her head from one side to the other as though she could not find a resting-place, as though she were already searching for the pillow on which she was to repose eternally.

Her vacillating hands picked up and dropped the bedclothes incessantly, while her eyes also restlessly rolled in their orbits, fastening, from time to time, on the ceiling of the room; it seemed as though she found no one on whom to rest them. Soon Mart.i.ta noticed that her hands were cold, and she mentioned the fact aloud, in a simple manner, without appreciating its unfortunate significance. Don Maximo turned away his head to hide his emotion; the priest let his fall on his breast.

"I feel ... very well ... now," she said to Maria, raising her daughter's hand to her lips. "As soon as I ... I am well ... we will go ... to Lourdes ... together ... will we not?... It is very ... pretty ... is it that one?... very pretty ... very pretty.... If you knew ...

what I see now!... The Virgin ... the Virgin coming ... surrounded by stars.... Put on my ... velvet dress ... to receive her.... Come ...

quick ... quick.... Don't you see ... I am entering by the door?... Ay!

what trials!... Good day, Senora.... I have a daughter ... who much resembles you.... She has a fair complexion ... and blue eyes ... very beautiful!... very beautiful!"

A slight hoa.r.s.eness began to choke the sick woman's throat; the last words were rather breathed than spoken; it was a dry, sharp huskiness constantly growing more p.r.o.nounced. The confessor hearing it made a sign to Maria, and she quickly took a silver image of Christ hanging on the wall, and put it in her mother's hand, saying:--

"Mamma, think on the Lord.... Think of what the Divine Saviour suffered for us."

"I ... am not ... dying," said the invalid.

"Yes, mamma ... yes ... you are dying," replied the young woman with kindled face, full of fear and anguish, fearing that she was not well prepared. "Repent of the sins that you have committed!... You do repent, and ask forgiveness of G.o.d for them, don't you?"

"Yes ... yes," murmured the invalid.

"Repeat the creed with me!" said the confessor, a.s.suming a more solemn tone: "I believe in G.o.d the Father Almighty ... maker of heaven ... and earth...."

Dona Gertrudis repeated the priest's words clumsily, and as though she were not heeding what she did. She looked at the ceiling with strange persistence, while the features of her countenance were rapidly changing; a purple circle was drawn around her eyes, and her nostrils became strangely pinched. When the priest was done she again began to address Maria.

"The truth ... is ... that I have ... no hat ... fit to make the journey ... to Lourdes in.... Those that I ... have ... are ... very old-fashioned.... Do me ... the favor ... to write to Luisa ... and have her ... send me one ... in the newest style.... You also ... need a dress.... Attend to it, my daughter ... attend to it."

"Mamma, leave the vanities of the world.... Think on G.o.d.... Consider that you are going to appear very soon in his presence."

"No ... no.... I am not dying."

"Ay, mamma, by the Holy Virgin, I beg you to feel that you are going to die.... Think on your salvation!"

"I am thinking about it ... yes ... I am thinking about it," said the invalid mechanically.

The priest began to read from a book the Commendation of the Soul in Latin. All knelt. Then the dying woman, raising her head a little, asked:--

"Why are you all kneeling?"

"To recommend you to G.o.d, mamma," replied Maria.

And getting up and putting her face near her mother's, she continued in a whisper:--

"Say with me, mamma: '_My Jesus_....'"