DEATH COMES
FOR THE
ARCHBISHOP
NEW YORK
ALFRED A KNOPF—MCMXXVII
COPYRIGHT 1926, 1927, BY WILLA CATHER
The Works of
WILLA CATHER
ALEXANDER'S BRIDGE
O PIONEERS!
THE SONG OF THE LARK
MY ANTONIA
ONE OF OURS
A LOST LADY
THE PROFESSOR'S HOUSE
MY MORTAL ENEMY
YOUTH AND THE BRIGHT MEDUSA
CONTENTS
Prologue. At Rome
1. The Vicar Apostolic
2. Missionary Journeys
3. The Mass at Ácoma
4. Snake Root
5. Padre Martinez
6. Doña Isabella
7. The Great Diocese
8. Gold under Pike's Peak
9. Death Comes for the Archbishop
DEATH COMES FOR THE
ARCHBISHOP
PROLOGUE
AT ROME
ONE summer evening in the year 1848, threeCardinals and a missionary Bishop from America were dining together inthe gardens of a villa in the Sabine hills, overlooking Rome. The villawas famous for the fine view from its terrace. The hidden garden inwhich the four men sat at table lay some twenty feet below the south endof this terrace, and was a mere shelf of rock, overhanging a steepdeclivity planted with vineyards. A flight of stone steps connected itwith the promenade above. The table stood in a sanded square, amongpotted orange and oleander trees, shaded by spreading ilex oaks thatgrew out of the rocks overhead. Beyond the balustrade was the drop intothe air, and far below the landscape stretched soft and undulating;there was nothing to arrest the eye until it reached Rome itself.
It was early when the Spanish Cardinal and his guests sat down todinner. The sun was still good for an hour of supreme splendour, andacross the shining folds of country the low profile of the city barelyfretted the sky-line—indistinct except for the dome of St. Peter's,bluish grey like the flattened top of a great balloon, just a flash ofcopper light on its soft metallic surface. The Cardinal had an eccentricpreference for beginning his dinner at this time in the late afternoon,when the vehemence of the sun suggested motion. The light was full ofaction and had a peculiar quality of climax—of splendid finish. Itwas both intense and soft, with a ruddiness as of much-multipliedcandlelight, an aura of red in its flames. It bored into the ilex trees,illuminating their mahogany trunks and blurring their dark foliage; itwarmed