eur's manor he could see a man push
the pebbles with his foot, or twist the branch of a shrub thoughtfully
as he walked. At last another man entered the garden. The two greeted
warmly, and passed up and down together.

III. "My good friend," said the Cure, "it is too late to mourn for those
lost years. Nothing can give them back. As Parpon the dwarf said--you
remember him, a wise little man, that Parpon--as he said one day,
'For everything you lose you get something, if only how to laugh at
yourself."'

Armand nodded thoughtfully and answered: "You are right--you and Parpon.
But I cannot forgive myself; he was so fine a man: tall, with a grand
look, and a tongue like a book. Yes, yes, I can laugh at myself--for a
fool."

He thrust his hands into his pockets, and tapped the ground nervously
with his foot, shrugging his shoulders a little. The priest took off his
hat and made the sacred gesture, his lips moving. Armand caught off his
hat also, and said: "You pray--for him?"

"For the peace of a good man's soul."

"He did not confess; he had no rites of the Church; he had refused you
many years."

"My son, he had a confessor."

Armand raised his eyebrows. "They told me of no one."

"It was the Angel of Patience."

They walked on again for a time without a word. At last the Cure said:
"You will remain here?"

"I cannot tell. This 'here' is a small world, and the little life may
fret me. Nor do I know what I have of this,"--he waved his hands towards
the house,--"or of my father's property. I may need to be a wanderer
again."

"God forbid! Have you not seen the will?"

"I have got no farther than his grave," was the sombre reply.

The priest sighed. They paced the walk again in silence. At last the
Cure said: "You will make the place cheerful, as it once was."

"You are persistent," replied the young man, smiling. "Whoever lives
here should make it less gloomy."

"We shall soon know who is to live here. See, there is Monsieur Garon,
and Monsieur Medallion also."

"The Avocat to tell secrets, the auctioneer to sell them--eh?"
Armand went forward to the gate. Like most people, he found Medallion
interesting, and the Avocat and he were old friends.

"You did not send for me, monsieur," said the Avocat timidly, "but
I thought it well to come, that you might know how things are; and
Monsieur Medallion came because he is a witness to the will, and, in
a case"--here the little man coughed nervously--"join