Cæsar was listening to Uncle Chinaman with joy, when he saw two friars
passing along the road below the balcony.
“They are from the monastery of la Peña, I suppose,” he said.
The Chinaman looked out and replied:
“One of them is the prior, Father Lafuerza. The other is an intriguing
young chap who has been here only a short while.”
“Man, I have to see them,” said Cæsar.
“They are coming up the street now.”
Uncle Chinaman and Cæsar went to the other end of the café, and waited
for them to pass.
The younger of the two friars had an air of mock humility, and was
weakly-looking, with a straggling yellowish beard and a crafty
expression; Father Martin, on the contrary, looked like a pasha parading
through his dominions. He was tall, stout, of an imposing aspect, with a
grizzly blond beard, blue eyes, and a straight, well-shaped nose.
The two friars came up the narrow, steep street, stopping to talk to the
women that were sewing and embroidering in the arcades.
Cæsar and the Chinaman followed them with their eyes until the two
friars turned a corner. Then Cæsar left the café and walked back to
Castro Duro.