CHAPTER XXI

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THE END OF AN IDYLL.

Days of chivalry not over--In the evening light--Night porter grateful--Dragon in full force--Combative and revengeful--Equal to the occasion--Gall turns to sweetness when H. C. appears--Last night in Lerida--Bane of our host's life--Mysterious disappearance--Monastery of Sigena--Devout ladies--Returning at night--Place empty and deserted--Birds flown with keys--Quite a commotion--"The senor is pleased to joke"--Was murder committed?--Mysteries explained--Probably down the well--Drag for skeletons--Host's horror--"We drink the water"--A tragedy--Out in the quiet night--Discords--Lerida cafe--Create a sensation--Polite captain--Offer declined--Regrets--Final crash--Paradise or Lerida--Deserted market-place--Trees whisper their secrets--El Sereno at the witching hour--Hard upon the angels--Not a bed of roses--Alphonse--End of a long life--Until the dawn--Acolyte and priest--"We must all come to it, senor"--El Sereno disappears for the last time--Daybreak--In presence of death--Alone, but resigned--Surpassing loveliness--Sacred atmosphere 313

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