At length he ceased with a sigh, and turning to me said: 'Draw near to this sinner, brother, and speak with her before it is too late.' * Lest such cruelty should seem impossible and unprecedented, the writer may mention that in the museum of the city of Mexico, he has seen the desiccated body of a young woman, which was found immured in the walls of a religious building.

With it is the body of an infant.
Although the exact cause of her execution remains a matter of conjecture, there can be no doubt as to the manner of her death, for in addition to other evidences, the marks of the rope with which her limbs were bound in life are still distinctly visible.

Such in those days were the mercies of religion! Then he bade all present gather themselves at the far end of the vault that our talk might not be overheard, and they did so without wonder, thinking doubtless that I was a monk sent to confess the doomed woman.
So I drew near with a beating heart, and bending over her I spoke in her ear.
'Listen to me, Isabella de Siguenza!' I said; and as I uttered the name she started wildly.

'Where is that de Garcia who deceived and deserted you ?' 'How have you learnt his true name ?' she answered.

'Not even torture would have wrung it from me as you know.' 'I am no monk and I know nothing.