nd merciful Master. But
she has impressed Ormsby profoundly. "The weak things of the world hast
Thou chosen to confound the strong." "Thy ways are upon the sea, and Thy
pathway on the mighty waters, and Thy footsteps are unknown."

"Well, now," I said to Father Letheby, getting out of my reverie, "to
come down from the Holy Mountain, what's this you are saying about the
shirt-factory? You don't mean to aver it is a _fait-accompli_?"

"Certainly," he replied, "everything is arranged; and on the 20th a
dozen sewing-machines will be clicking merrily in the old mill."

"You have the lamp of Aladdin," I said admiringly. "Now, who's to be
there?"

"All the gentry and the _elite_ of the neighborhood," he said.

"Rather a limited audience for a great occasion," I couldn't help
saying.

"No matter," he cried, rising up; "it is a good work, however. But
you'll take the chair, Father Dan, won't you?"

"All right," I replied, but with a little misgiving, for no one knows
what necromancy this fellow is capable of, and I had already conjured up
visions of the Lord Lieutenant and the Dowager This and the Countess
That--"but mind you, my speech is to come in at the end; and I promise
you they won't have to look long at their watches."

"Very good, sir," he replied, "all is now arranged."

I went down to see my little martyr, for she is pleased to say that I do
her good by my visits. There she lay meekly, the big crucifix in her
hands, and her lips always moving in silent prayer. The children often
come in to see her, she told me, and read by her bedside; for now there
is no jealousy, nor triumph, but all have begun to think that there is a
saint in the parish. The little milliner used come at the beginning, and
bring her little novelettes and journals, and talk about the fashions,
which only made the sufferer unhappy. All that is now stopped; and the
"Clock of the Passion" and the "Visions of Catherine Emmerich" are now
her only reading.

"Mr. Ormsby was here again to-day," she said.

"Indeed. And was he as inquisitive as usual?"

"Nearly," she said, with a smile. "But do you know, Daddy Dan, I think
he'll become a Catholic. Isn't it an awful thing not to be a Catholic,
Daddy Dan?"

"'Tis, my child. It's worse than being born blind."

"Now, what would I do if I had not our dear Lord"--kissing the
crucifix--"and His holy Mother? I'd rather a thousand times be as I am
than Queen of England."

"Of course. Who brought th