ut of the carriage,
and they salute one another with great ceremony. If that be Monsieur the
Bishop, he has very much the air of an Englishman.

In a few minutes my doubt as to the bishop's nationality was solved. The
two white-headed men, the one in a glossy and handsome suit of black,
the other in his brown and worn-out cassock, came up the path together,
under the red umbrella. They entered the house, and came directly to the
_salon_. I was making my escape by another door, not being sure how I
ought to encounter a bishop, when Monsieur Laurentie called to me.

"Behold a friend for you madame," he said, "a friend from
England.--Monsieur, this is my beloved English child."

I turned back, and met the eyes of both, fixed upon me with that
peculiar half-tender, half-regretful expression, with which so many old
men look upon women as young as I. A smile came across my face, and I
held out my hand involuntarily to the stranger.

"You do not know who I am, my dear!" he said. The English voice and
words went straight to my heart. How many months it was since I had
heard my own language spoken thus! Tardif had been too glad to speak in
his own _patois_, now I understood it so well; and Minima's prattle had
not sounded to me like those few syllables in the deep, cultivated voice
which uttered them.

"No," I answered, "but you are come to me from Dr. Martin Dobree."

"Very true," he said, "I am his friend's father--Dr. John Senior's
father. Martin has sent me to you. He wished Miss Johanna Carey to
accompany me, but we were afraid of the fever for her. I am an old
physician, and feel at home with disease and contagion. But we cannot
allow you to remain in this unhealthy village; that is out of the
question. I am come to carry you away, in spite of this old cure."

Monsieur Laurentie was listening eagerly, and watching Dr. Senior's
lips, as if he could catch the meaning of his words by sight, if not by
hearing.

"But where am I to go?" I asked. "I have no money, and cannot get any
until I have written to Melbourne, and have an answer. I have no means
of proving who I am."

"Leave all that to us, my dear girl," answered Dr. Senior, cordially. "I
have already spoken of your affairs to an old friend of mine, who is an
excellent lawyer. I am come to offer myself to you in place of your
guardians on the other side of the world. You will do me a very great
favor by frankly accepting a home in my house for the present. I hav