At this time the _cura_ asked me if I were a clergyman.

On my replying no, he remarked that I looked like one.

I told him yes, that I was frequently mistaken for one; that a priest in the Mixteca had even thought that I was a bishop.

He then drunkenly inquired whether I were married, and on my replying no, made the astonishing observation that then, it was certain that I could not be a priest,--that every priest had one wife, bishops two, and archbishops three.

This drunken priest had just been making certain observations to the _presidente_ calculated to interfere with my work, and I felt that I now had my opportunity.