Heaven knows it; I
always repeat it in my prayers! Oh, kind Lord, grant their utmost
desires to these good friends of mine--in the name of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghost!"

As Helene listened she experienced a singular feeling of discomfort.
Mother Fetu's bloated face filled her with disgust. Never before in
this stifling attic had she been affected in a like way; its sordid
misery seemed to stare her in the face; the lack of fresh air, the
surrounding wretchedness, quite sickened her. So she made all haste to
leave, feeling hurt by the blessings which Mother Fetu poured after
her.

In the Passage des Eaux an additional sorrow came upon her. Halfway
up, on the right-hand side of the path, the wall was hollowed out, and
here there was an excavation, some disused well, enclosed by a
railing. During the last two days when passing she had heard the
wailings of a cat rising from this well, and now, as she slowly
climbed the path, these wailings were renewed, but so pitifully that
they seemed instinct with the agony of death. The thought that the
poor brute, thrown into the disused well, was slowly dying there of
hunger, quite rent Helene's heart. She hastened her steps, resolving
that she would not venture down this lane again for a long time, lest
the cat's death-call should reach her ears.

The day was a Tuesday. In the evening, on the stroke of seven, as
Helene was finishing a tiny bodice, the two wonted rings at the bell
were heard, and Rosalie opened the door.

"His reverence is first to-night!" she exclaimed. "Oh, here comes
Monsieur Rambaud too!"

They were very merry at dinner. Jeanne was nearly well again now, and
the two brothers, who spoiled her, were successful in procuring her
permission to eat some salad, of which she was excessively fond,
notwithstanding Doctor Bodin's formal prohibition. When she was going
to bed, the child in high spirits hung round her mother's neck and
pleaded:

"Oh! mamma, darling! let me go with you to-morrow to see the old woman
you nurse!"

But the Abbe and Monsieur Rambaud were the first to scold her for
thinking of such a thing. They would not hear of her going amongst the
poor, as the sight affected her too grieviously. The last time she had
been on such an expedition she had twice swooned, and for three days
her eyes had been swollen with tears, that had flowed even in her
sleep.

"Oh! I will be good!" she pleaded. "I won't cry, I promise."

"It is quite use