On the day of the solar eclipse, Father Delaura sits on the terrace with the Bishop. Both men are tranquil and drinking tamarind water. The nun in the Bishop's service brings the men a few pieces of smoked glass so they can view the eclipse without damaging their eyes. In the darkness of the eclipse, the Bishop notices that Delaura holds his pieces of glass in his hand but doesn't bring them to his eyes. The Bishop asks what he's thinking about. Delaura doesn't reply but begins looking through the glass at the vanishing sun. The Bishop accuses him of thinking about Sierva again. Denying it, Delaura says he was thinking about how "the common people" (90) will blame the eclipse for their problems. The Bishop doesn't deny it but attributes the eclipse to God's will. Delaura continues to watch the sun, without the glass, and after the moon passes over the sun and the roosters begin to crow at the false dawn, finds the image of the sun's crescent stays on his retina. The Bishop claims it will go away in a few hours. 

Father Delaura tells the Bishop that he doesn't believe Sierva is possessed, only that she is terrified.