suppose I shall have to come with
you."

"You shall not come with me this morning, Sir."

"How dare you----"

"I will not go."

"Do as you like."

"I shall go this evening," she said, "the lamps will be lighted. I
hope that stock of bad oil which they have is not used up, because I
do not want the church to be well-lighted."

"How is that?"

"How is that?" she said in a grieved tone. "People might take you
for a rag picker."

Her father was not a bit angry at her for saying this. She knew it,
hence her boldness.

He almost smiled, a very--very rare thing for him to do; he was
proud to think that people would say to each other: "Look, there is
Mr. Rougeant, he is not a proud man."

On the evening in question, the clergyman almost lost his speech and
his senses when he saw Mr. Rougeant sitting beside his daughter.

The worshippers thought not of the prayers as they were being read,
or the audience of the sermon, as it was being delivered; they
thought of Mr. Rougeant.

And, when the people came out of the church, instead of the usual
remarks about the weather, folks said to one another: "Have you seen
Mr. Rougeant." "Yes," answered the more composed, "it is not often
one sees him about here."

"Oh!" answered the others, "how shocking."

A party of elderly ladies were assembling just outside the
churchyard gates.

"Have you seen Mr. Rougeant?" they asked unanimously, as they
approached one another.

"Oh, yes," replied Mrs. Martin, "I was quite astounded when I saw
him enter."

"Yes, but you see," remarked another, "he has been ill, and maybe he
has felt the need of worshipping in the house of God."

"What a shabby coat," said a third. "His trousers were worn out and
threadbare," put in Miss Le Grove, who was not able to approach very
near the group on account of her immense corpulence.

"His daughter seemed rather ill at ease," said No. Three.

"I think there is some of her fault," said Mrs. Martin, "she
encourages a young man of bad reputation."

The whole group held up their hands and assumed an horror-stricken
attitude.

"Impossible!", exclaimed No. Two.

"Shocking!" declared Miss Le Grove.

"We must be very careful about what we advance'" remarked No. Two,
who generally passed for being a very Christian lady; then she added
after a pause: "Miss Rougeant is, as everyone of us knows, good,
well-bred and of refined taste."

"I only recited what I had heard, of course I don't believe i