of the interior of the Cathedral,
and the sound of footsteps and of fresh young voices mingled with the
tones of the organ.

"It's the children, bless their innocent hearts," said Mother Meraut.
"I hear the voices of my Pierre and Pierrette."

"And I of my Jean," said the Verger, starting hastily down the aisle.
"The little magpies forget they must be quiet in the House of God!" He
shook his finger at them and laid it warningly upon his lips. The noise
instantly subsided, and it was a silent and demure little company that
tiptoed up the aisle, bent the knee before the altar, and then filed
past Mother Meraut into the chapel which she had made so clean.

Pierre and Pierrette led the procession, and Mother Meraut beamed with
pride as they blew her a kiss in passing. They were children that any
mother might be proud of. Pierrette had black, curling hair and blue
eyes with long black lashes, and Pierre was a straight, tall, and
manly-looking boy. The Twins were nine years old.

Mother Meraut knew many of the children in the Confirmation Class, for
they were all schoolmates and companions of Pierre and Pierrette. There
was Paul, the sore of the inn-keeper, with Marie, his sister. There was
Victor, whose father rang the Cathedral chimes. There were David and
Genevieve, and Madeleine and Virginie and Etienne, and last of all
there was jean, the Verger's son--little Jean, the youngest in the
class. Mother Meraut nodded to them all as they passed.

Promptly on the first stroke of the hour the Abbe appeared in the north
transept of the Cathedral and made his way with quick, decided steps
toward the chapel. He was a young man with thick dark hair almost
concealed beneath his black three-cornered cap, and as he walked, his
long black soutane swung about him in vigorous folds. When he appeared
in the door of the chapel the class rose politely to greet him.
"Bonjour, my children," said the Abbe, and then, turning his back upon
them, bowed before the crucifix upon the chapel altar.

Mother Meraut and the Verger slipped quietly away to their work in
other portions of the church, and the examination began. First the Abby
asked the children to recite the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten
Commandments in unison, and when they had done this without a mistake,
he said "Bravo! Now I wonder if you can each do as well alone? Let me
see, I will call upon--" He paused and looked about as if he were
searching for the child who was most