In contrast with all this solemnity, the frivolous minded were indulging in one of their native dances, the “duru-duru,” on the opposite side of the square. The merriment was at its height in spite of dust and sun, and refreshment vendors were circulating among the crowd, offering consolation to the hungry and thirsty.
“Zia” Batora entered the church. It was filled to overflowing with people from different localities, and different also in costume and speech, many of whom had come from miles away, with feet bare and heads uncovered. From the motley assemblage arose a confused murmur, amounting almost to an uproar, and all the women seemed to be talking at once, unconscious of the babel they were creating.
“Zia” Batora found difficulty in making her way through the mass, and aroused energetic protests by her pushing and elbowing; but by dint of perseverance she finally succeeded in reaching the spot near the center of the church where she was accustomed to kneel.
“What is happening?” she asked of an acquaintance.
Lord grant
“It is a young girl possessed of an evil spirit,” replied the person addressed in an excited tone. “After mass it will be exorcised, and the Lord grant that our Madonna may perform a miracle. The news has spread through the entire crowd, and every one is trembling with fear and horror. The lost soul is believed to have belonged to an apostate priest,” she whispered mysteriously.
“Where does the girl come from?”
“From Ala. They say the spirit was driven out by a brother priest, and being refused admittance in heaven and purgatory, and even in hell, was forced to wander about the earth until it finally entered the body of this innocent child.”
“How dreadful!”
“Yes; the poor thing is in continual torment, and acts as if she were mad. She foams at the mouth, shrieks and blasphemes, and her strength is marvelous for one of her age. She breaks everything within reach.”
Batora shuddered as she endeavored to get a glimpse of the pitiful spectacle.
“She is not yet in the church. They will bring her in, bound, after mass.”
“But if the spirit is driven out of the chiljd, will it not seek to enter the body of some other person?” asked Batora.
“That I do not know. But if our Madonna performs the miracle she will make it complete by banishing the evil spirit from the earth forever. Perhaps in her mercy she will allow it to dwell in purgatory.”
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