true value," answered the
agent.

"I could have got four times, six times, the real value, if you had
dropped a hint. I have been robbed."

"Robbed!" cried the agent. "That would be a reversal of the ordinary
routine. You old villain!" he added, as Ebenezer Brown walked out of his
shop.

The old man was wealthy, and a miser, each of which characteristics may
be corollary to the other. He made money by saving it; he saved it
because he loved it. Many things he had achieved by strategy. The "Grey
Town Observer," at one time the property of Michael O'Connor, was now
Ebenezer Brown's, won by usury. The late owner, a careless man, was
content to continue as editor, and thus serve the man who had robbed
him. He was sufficiently shrewd to recognise his employer's character,
yet at once too easy going and honest to prove other than a good
servant. But he held, and always expressed, a heartfelt contempt for his
master.

St. Mary's Church at Grey Town is large and commodious, built of
bluestone, with a square tower. Over the porch is a statue of the
Blessed Virgin, and from that position She appears to look down upon and
bless the town.

When the church was built, many, both friends and enemies, declared that
it was too large.

"It's all church, and no congregation," asserted Wise, the bootmaker,
whose custom it was to address a few disciples in the Public Gardens
every Sunday.

This remark was repeated to Father Healy, and smilingly he answered:

"The congregation will grow, but the church can't do that. Mr. Wise has
a larger church, and a smaller congregation, all said and done."

And, sure enough, the congregation increased, until there was barely
standing room for many at the early morning Mass.

In front, St. Mary's looks down on St. Paul's, the Anglican place of
worship; below it, on the further slope of the hill, stands the
Presbyterian chapel. On Sundays the three bells clang a loud discord.
Throughout the week, however, Mr. Green, of St. Luke's, and Mr.
Matthews, the Presbyterian minister, frequently visited Father Healy to
discuss any subject but religion.

Saving for Wise, chief Ishmaelite of Grey Town, and opposed to every
religious and political belief, peace prevailed in Grey Town. Father
Healy came to the town desiring concord, and, after a short and natural
estrangement, first Mr. Green, the Anglican clergyman, and later the
other ministers of the town, had offered him the hand of friendship.
Ther