Latour returns to Santa Fe, and dismisses Father Gallegos. Vaillant replaces Gallegos, replacing his predecessor's revelry with a more austere devotion. Vaillant is dispatched to Las Vegas. On his way back to Albuquerque, he stops to administer Last Rites to residents of a Pecos Mountain village who are afflicted with black measles. Vaillant becomes afflicted as well. Latour travels to help his friend, and stops along the way to visit Jacinto, his wife Clara and the couple's sick child. Latour ponders the impact of white settlement among the Indians and the diseases the whites have spread.
Latour and Jacinto set out toward Vaillant but encounter a blizzard. They seek refuge in a cave that Jacinto confides has been used for Indian ceremonies. Jacinto beseeches Latour to never mention the cave to anyone@ — a request that Latour honors. The two weather the storm in the cave and find Vaillant the following day. Kit Carson is already there, and they take Vaillant back to Santa Fe.
Carson tells Latour about a white trader named Zeb Orchard. Orchard is a recluse, but Latour arranges a stay with him to learn more about Indian customs and ceremonies. Orchard belittles Indian customs, but Latour confesses that the Indians' veneration of customs and traditions is similar to the Catholic faith.
Latour and Jacinto travel to meet Padre Antonio Jose Martinez, the elderly priest of Taos. Informed by Kit Carson that all white men were distrusted in Taos, Latour also learns that Martinez is widely regarded as the instigator of an Indian revolt that resulted in the murder of more than a dozen white men, including the territorial governor. Seven Indians were hanged for the murder, but Martinez was never indicted. Instead, he convinced the Indians to sign over their worldly possessions to him before they were executed, resulting in Martinez becoming one of the wealthiest men in New Mexico.
