treet was decorated with flags; and the people, keenly
expectant, were watching for His Excellency. Never before had they
known the Minister of a Kingdom to step within the boundaries of
Sihasset. Bishops had been seen there before, but Ministers were new,
and international weddings had never come nearer than the great
metropolis. Barons, too, were scarce, and who loves a baron--provided
he is not an American "baron"--any more than the simon-pure Yankee? So
the decorations were up by order of the selectmen, and the merchants
vied with one another in making their own ornamentations as gorgeous as
possible. And the people--with the sole exception of the
O'Learys--waited outside, each anxious to catch the first glimpse of
the great man who to-day was to honor them by his presence.

His Excellency arrived at last--in a low, swift-running automobile, the
chauffeur of which seemed to know the road very well, and seemed also
to be acquainted with every turn in the village. There was no one to
notice that, when he passed the gates of Killimaga, he laughed quietly.

At Killimaga the gardens had never looked lovelier. Autumn was kind
and contributed almost a summer sun.

Father Murray tore himself away from his guests at the rectory--and who
should those guests be but the old friends who had for so long
neglected him--to run up before the ceremony to see Ruth. She was
already arrayed in her bridal finery, but she rushed out to meet him
when she heard that he had arrived.

Holding her off at arm's length, he looked at her and said, "I think,
dearie, that I am going to die very soon."

"Die! Why, you old love, how could you get that notion into your head?"

"Because," he answered, "I am so very, very happy--too happy. I have
had a great deal more, dear, than I was ever entitled to in this life.
When I sent you away and went to Rome, I feared I had given you up
forever; and, behold, here I am, with the silver hairs coming--a priest
with all the consolations that a priest can have, and yet I have a
daughter, too." And smiling in his own winning way, he added, "And
such a daughter!--even if she is really only a niece."

Ruth laughed softly and drew his arm around her as she laid hers
lightly on his shoulder.

"I am afraid," she said, "that the daughter never deserved the kind of
a daddy she has had--the only one she ever knew. If Carlotta--"

But Father Murray interrupted hastily as he observed the touch of
sorro