Then he began to eat.

He was as ravenous as any wolf, but he had been cultivating the power of will, and he ate like a gentleman, knowing that to do otherwise would not be good for him.

But, tempered by discretion, it was a glorious pursuit.

It was almost worth the long period of fasting and suffering, for common Mexican food, bought on the street from an old Aztec woman, to taste so well.

Strength flowed back into every vein and muscle.