_ 390 _ and Pero d' Alpoen. Then he read the letter from Cid Ali again. At, the point where it said that Lopo Soares was to be commandant, he said: "Lopo Soares as commandant of India, that is as it should be, and it could not be otherwise. But Diogo Mendes and Diogo Pereira, whom I sent back to the King as prisoners for the crimes they had committed, the King, our lord and master now sends back here one as Captain: and Factor of Cochin and the other as Secretary. It is time for me to commit myself to the Church. And thus, I find myself on bad terms with the King for the love I bear men, and on bad terms with men for the love I bear the King. And lifting his hands to God, he said that he rendered thanks that the King should send a Commandant at this time, for in the condition in which he found himself, he was not long for this world. He now began to repeat, 'It is time to commit myself to the Church' and to say how much pleasure it afforded him to say this, and that he had no desire for food, for merry-making or for the pleasures of life with which Diogo Fernandes and Pero d' Alpoem tried to beguile him. For they perceived that his spirit was weakening as a result of his illness and of the news he had just received, and that he had hoped for a different reward.
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