Antonia embraced with all her soul her uncle's obstinate
defiance of misfortune. It was grounded in the belief in the man whom
she loved.
In his message the Vicar-General answered upon his head for Hernandez's
fidelity. As to his power, he pointed out that he had remained unsubdued
for so many years. In that letter Decoud's idea of the new Occidental
State (whose flourishing and stable condition is a matter of common
knowledge now) was for the first time made public and used as an
argument. Hernandez, ex-bandit and the last general of Ribierist
creation, was confident of being able to hold the tract of country
between the woods of Los Hatos and the coast range till that devoted
patriot, Don Martin Decoud, could bring General Barrios back to Sulaco
for the reconquest of the town.
"Heaven itself wills it. Providence is on our side," wrote Father
Corbelan; there was no time to reflect upon or to controvert his
statement; and if the discussion started upon the reading of that letter
in the Amarilla Club was violent, it was also shortlived. In the
general bewilderment of the collapse some jumped at the idea with joyful
astonishment as upon the amazing discovery of a new hope.
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