CHAPTER XV

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MONTSERRAT.

Early rising--Imp of darkness--Death warrant--The men who fail--Ranges of Montserrat--Sabadell--Labour and romance--The Llobregat--Monistrol--Summer resort--Sleeping village--Empty letter-bags--Ascending--Splendid view--Romantic element--Charms of antiquity--Human interests--Mons Serratus--A man of letters--_Solitude a deux_--Fellow-travellers--Substantial lady-merchant--Resignation--Military policeman--"Nameless here for evermore"--Round man in square hole--Romantic history--_Cherchez la femme_--Woman a divinity--Good name the best inheritance--No fighting against the stars--Fascinations of astrology--Love and fortune--Too good to last--Taste for pleasure--Ruin--Sad end--Truth reasserts itself--Fortune smiles again--Ceylon--Philosophical in misfortune--A windfall--Approaching Montserrat--Paradise of the monks--Romance and beauty--New order of things--Gipsy encampment 214

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