there in Golden Vale--but I was
fortunate enough to find an old friend, a Father, who put things before
me in their proper light."

It was the first time he had spoken to her of the dark days in
Goldenvale. She had often wondered to herself as to how he had accepted
what must have been a terrible experience. Now that he had confided in
her, she wished to hear more.

"A priest?" she asked him.

"The Bishop. I wish you knew him."

"I do," she answered. "We have a Bishop like that."

"Then I must know him. Will you take me to him and introduce me?"

"It is a long journey from Grey Town to Millerton," she answered
laughingly.

"Nothing to a motor on a fine day and good roads. We will start early in
the morning, and be there for lunch, see your Bishop, and return here
for dinner. Desmond shall come--but what about the Mother?"

Mrs. Quirk had awakened, and lay very quietly, with closed eyes,
listening to their conversation. She knew the Bishop well, for he came
to visit her whenever he chanced to be in Grey Town. His very name
brought a smile to her face, but she refused to place his Lordship
before his reverence the parish priest.

"Never mind me," she said. "What is one day to me? But it may mean a
good deal to Denis--and still more to Desmond."

They turned in surprise to look towards the spot where Desmond O'Connor
lay, apparently asleep.

"To Desmond?" Kathleen asked, in a puzzled voice.

"Sure, you don't know the boy as I do. He comes to me, and we talk
together, Desmond and I. The seed is working in the boy's soul--I am
thinking he will be a priest."

"A priest!" cried Kathleen so clearly that Desmond rolled over lazily
and faced them.

"What's that?" he asked. "You three look as if you were conspiring
together. No secrets are allowed in this establishment--excepting Mrs.
Quirk's and my own. Now, what is it, Kath.?"

"We are going to see the Bishop to-morrow," said Denis. "I intend to put
his Lordship to a severe test. He shall be placed alongside my Bishop,
and judged in that comparison."

"Six to four on his Lordship," said Desmond, still lazily.

"Will you come?" Kathleen asked.

"Of course I will. I have a spiritual conundrum of my own to be
answered, and no one can find the solution but he. Book a seat for me in
the car."

"May we take Molly Healy?" Kathleen asked.

"Who better? Molly Healy would make the longest road short and the
roughest one smooth. If we puncture or blow out, she w