The War of the End of the World

In Canudos, work begins on building the Temple the day after the Counselor and his followers arrive. It will have two tall towers and be consecrated to the Blessed Jesus. Newcomers arrive each day to join the community. Every evening, the Counselor preaches welcome and makes prophecies about the imminent end of the world. Buildings known as the Health Houses are built for the sick, and a hut called the Sanctuary, where the Counselor snatches a few hours rest from the pilgrims eager for his attention. Maria Quadrado, now known as the Mother of Men, is in charge of the Health Houses.

Gall has been waiting eight days in Quiemadas for Rufino to contact him again. Through his window, he overhears propaganda from the Progressivist Republican Party, led by Epaminondas Gonçalves. The police deliver him a notice expelling him from Brazil. Gall is not alarmed. He finishes his article to L’Etincelle de la révolte and tries to post his ad supporting Canudos in Gonçalves’s opposition paper (per the events of Chapter 1). Two days before his boat is meant to sail, some men arrive and bring Gall to meet secretly with Gonçalves, who proposes a plan: Gall will bring arms to the rebels in Canudos, because they share the same enemy,