His stay in the country had not given him the conviction of grand superiority, of great valor, and of elevated importance that the greater part of his countrymen acquire in a few weeks.

His heart had never been capable of entertaining hate nor had he been able to find a single filibuster; he saw only unhappy wretches whom he must despoil if he did not wish to be more unhappy than they were.

When he was threatened with prosecution for passing himself off as a physician he was not resentful nor did he complain.

Recognizing the justness of the charge against him, he merely answered, "But it's necessary to live!" So they married, or rather, bagged each other, and went to Santa Ann to spend their honeymoon.

But on their wedding-night Dona Victorina was attacked by a horrible indigestion and Don Tiburcio thanked God and showed himself solicitous and attentive.