The Singer Not The Song — Audrey Erskine Lindop

Over and over, Father Keogh tolled the church bell, and the sound, loud and clear on the morning air, had a sharp effect on the town. It woke, Sam, the American bartender, and it woke the bank manager, and the dentist and the Chief of Police. It brought old Uncle Joaquin dreams of the untroubled days when he had been altar boy; it reminded Mother Montezera that she must ingratiate herself with the new pastor, without alienating Malo; and it roused the child Locha's nursemaid, Josefa, who called out, “This marks a new time for Quantana.”

The small isolated Mexican community was completely dominated by the bandit, Malo, the Bad-One-of-the-Cats. Nobody challenged his word or authority; the police were powerless and the church powerless. He had ruthlessly crippled the people's faith. Nobody matched him in stature or in courage until Father Keogh came, and from the moment of their first meeting, Malo knew that he had an opponent of true worth in the dark-haired Irish priest.