s shoes had
come unsewn, and he stopped at a cabin; and while the woman was looking
for a needle and thread he mopped his face with a great red
handkerchief that he kept in the pocket of his threadbare coat--a coat
that had once been black, but had grown green with age and weather. He
had out-walked himself, and feeling he would be tired, and not well
able to answer the points that the Bishop would raise, he decided to
rest awhile. The woman had found some beeswax, and he stopped half an
hour stitching his shoe under the hawthorn that grew beside the cabin.

He was still two miles from the Palace, and this last two miles proved
very long. He arrived footsore and covered with dust, and he was so
tired that he could hardly get up from his chair to receive Father
Moran when he came into the parlour.

"You seem to have walked a long way, Father MacTurnan."

"About fifteen miles. I shall be all right presently. I suppose his
Grace does not want to see me at once."

"Well, that's just it. His Grace sent me to say he would see you at
once. He expected you earlier."

"I started the moment I received his Grace's letter. I suppose his
Grace wishes to see me regarding my letter to Rome."

The secretary hesitated, coughed, and Father MacTurnan wondered why
Father Moran looked at him so intently. He returned in a few minutes,
saying that his Grace was sorry that Father MacTurnan had had so long a
walk. He hoped that he would rest awhile and partake of some
refreshment.... The servant brought in some wine and sandwiches, and
the secretary returned in half an hour. His Grace was now ready to
receive him. Father Moran opened the library door, and Father MacTurnan
saw the Bishop--a short, alert man, about fifty-five, with a sharp nose
and grey eyes and bushy eyebrows. He popped about the room and gave his
secretary many orders. Father MacTurnan wondered if the Bishop would
ever finish talking to his secretary. He seemed to have finished, but a
thought suddenly struck him, and he followed his secretary to the door,
and Father MacTurnan began to fear that the Pope had not decided to
place the Irish clergy on the same footing as the Greek clergy. If he
had, the Bishop's interest in these many various matters would have
subsided; his mind would be engrossed by the larger issue. On returning
from the door his Grace passed Father MacTurnan without speaking to
him, and going to his writing table he began to search amid his papers.
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