miring
involuntary absorption that possessed his wife; the consciousness of
his elementary magnetism augmented the flow of his fine descriptions,
and he went on and on, until the arrival of Father Beret put an end to
it all.

The priest, hearing of M. Roussillon's return, had come to inquire
about some friends living at Detroit. He took luncheon with the family,
enjoying the downright refreshing collation of broiled birds, onions,
meal-cakes and claret, ending with a dish of blackberries and cream.

M. Roussillon seized the first opportunity to resume his successful
romancing, and presently in the midst of the meal began to tell Father
Beret about what he had seen in Quebec.

"By the way," he said, with expansive casualness in his voice, "I
called upon your old-time friend and co-adjutor, Father Sebastien,
while up there. A noble old man. He sent you a thousand good messages.
Was mightily delighted when I told him how happy and hale you have
always been here. Ah, you should have seen his dear old eyes full of
loving tears. He would walk a hundred miles to see you, he said, but
never expected to in this world. Blessings, blessings upon dear Father
Beret, was what he murmured in my ear when we were parting. He says
that he will never leave Quebec until he goes to his home above--ah!"

The way in which M. Roussillon closed his little speech, his large eyes
upturned, his huge hands clasped in front of him, was very effective.

"I am under many obligations, my son," said Father Beret, "for what you
tell me. It was good of you to remember my dear old friend and go to
him for his loving messages to me. I am very, very thankful. Help me to
another drop of wine, please."

Now the extraordinary feature of the situation was that Father Beret
had known positively for nearly five years that Father Sebastien was
dead and buried.

"Ah, yes," M. Roussillon continued, pouring the claret with one hand
and making a pious gesture with the other; "the dear old man loves you
and prays for you; his voice quavers whenever he speaks of you."

"Doubtless he made his old joke to you about the birth-mark on my
shoulder," said Father Beret after a moment of apparently thoughtful
silence. "He may have said something about it in a playful way, eh?"

"True, true, why yes, he surely mentioned the same," assented M.
Roussillon, his face assuming an expression of confused memory; "it was
something sly and humorous, I mind; but it just escapes m