not ask you for
proofs; I asked you if you believed in apparitions."

"I think an apparition depends a good deal on who sees it," said the
abbe, still fencing with his sceptic.

"My friend," said the doctor, seriously, "I am not setting a trap for
you. What do you really believe about it?"

"I believe that the power of God is infinite," replied the abbe.

"When I am dead, if I am reconciled to God, I will ask Him to let me
appear to you," said the doctor, smiling.

"That's exactly the agreement Cardan made with his friend," answered the
priest.

"Ursula," said Minoret, "if danger ever threatens you, call me, and I
will come."

"You have put into one sentence that beautiful elegy of 'Neere' by Andre
Chenier," said the abbe. "Poets are sublime because they clothe both
facts and feelings with ever-living images."

"Why do you speak of your death, dear godfather?" said Ursula in a
grieved tone. "We Christians do not die; the grave is the cradle of our
souls."

"Well," said the doctor, smiling, "we must go out of the world, and when
I am no longer here you will be astonished at your fortune."

"When you are here no longer, my kind friend, my only consolation will
be to consecrate my life to you."

"To me, dead?"

"Yes. All the good works that I can do will be done in your name to
redeem your sins. I will pray God every day for his infinite mercy, that
he may not punish eternally the errors of a day. I know he will summon
among the righteous a soul so pure, so beautiful, as yours."

That answer, said with angelic candor, in a tone of absolute certainty,
confounded error and converted Denis Minoret as God converted Saul.
A ray of inward light overawed him; the knowledge of this tenderness,
covering his years to come, brought tears to his eyes. This sudden
effect of grace had something that seemed electrical about it. The
abbe clasped his hands and rose, troubled, from his seat. The girl,
astonished at her triumph, wept. The old man stood up as if a voice had
called him, looking into space as though his eyes beheld the dawn; then
he bent his knee upon his chair, clasped his hands, and lowered his eyes
to the ground as one humiliated.

"My God," he said in a trembling voice, raising his head, "if any one
can obtain my pardon and lead me to thee, surely it is this spotless
creature. Have mercy on the repentant old age that this pure child
presents to thee!"

He lifted his soul to God; mentally praying for the