igrigny, sat with his
back towards the pictures, turned round to look at them. Hardly had the
missionary cast his eyes on the portrait of the woman, than he uttered
a loud cry of surprise, and almost terror. The notary paused in his
reading, and looked uneasily at the young priest.

CHAPTER XXIV. THE LAST STROKE OF NOON.

At the cry uttered by Gabriel, the notary had stopped reading the
testament, and Father d'Aigrigny hastily drew near the young priest. The
latter rose trembling from his seat and gazed with increasing stupor at
the female portrait.

Then he said in a low voice, as if speaking to himself. "Good Heaven!
is it possible that nature can produce such resemblances? Those eyes--so
proud and yet so sad--that forehead--that pale complexion--yes, all her
features, are the same--all of them!"

"My dear son, what is the matter?" said Father d'Aigrigny, as astonished
as Samuel and the notary.

"Eight months ago," replied the missionary, in a voice of deep emotion,
without once taking his eyes from the picture, "I was in the power of
the Indians, in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. They had crucified,
and were beginning to scalp me; I was on the point of death, when Divine
Providence sent me unexpected aid--sent me this woman for a deliverer."

"That woman!" cried Samuel, Father d'Aigrigny, and the notary, all
together.

Rodin alone appeared completely indifferent to this episode of the
picture. His face contracted with angry impatience, he bit his nails to
the quick, as he contemplated with agony the slow progress of the hands
of his watch.

"What! that woman saved your life?" resumed Father d'Aigrigny.

"Yes, this woman," replied Gabriel, in a still lower and more trembling
voice; "this woman--or rather a woman so much resembling her, that if
this picture had not been here for a century and a half, I should have
felt sure it was the same--nor can I explain to myself that so striking
a resemblance could be the effect of chance. Well," added he, after
a moment's silence, as he heaved a profound sigh, "the mysteries of
Nature, and the will of God, are impenetrable."

Gabriel fell back into his chair, in the midst of a general silence,
which was broken by Father d'Aigrigny saying, "It is a case of
extraordinary resemblance; that is all, my dear son. Only, the natural
gratitude which you feel towards your benefactress, makes you take a
deep interest in this singular coincidence."

Rodin, bursting wi