He marvels at his romantic year's experience. Was it to languish
in a lonely prison life on the far Pacific, that he left the gay
circle at far-off Belle Etoile? Worn with fatigue, harassed with
loneliness, a prisoner among strangers, Maxime Valois' heart fails
him. Sinking on the couch, he buries his head in his hands.
No present ray of hope cheers the solitary American. He raises
his eyes to see the thoughtful face of a young priest at the door
of his prison room.
CHAPTER IV.
HELD BY THE ENEMY.--"THE BEAR FLAG."
The padre bends searching eyes on the youth as the door opens. The
priest's serious face heightens his thirty-five years. He is worn
by toil as a missionary among the tribes of the Gila--the Apaches
and the wild and brutal Mojaves. Here, among the Piute hill
dwellers, his task is hopeless. This spiritual soil is indeed stony.
Called from the society of Donna Juanita and his laughing pupil,
merry Dolores, he comes to test the religious faith of the young
freebooter--Yankee and Catholic at once.
Maxime's downcast appearance disarms the padre. Not such a terrible
fire-eater! He savors not of infidel Cape Cod.
"My son, you are in trouble," softly says the padre.
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