table to
blame them. They are ignorant poor folk, and the prince of darkness is
behind them to urge them on. They sank little charges of powder into my
legs and then they exploded them, which makes me a slower walker than
ever, though I was never very brisk. 'The Snail' was what I was called
at school in Tours, yes, and afterwards at the seminary I was always
'the Snail.'"

"Who are you then, sir, and who is it who has used you so shamefully?"
asked De Catinat.

"Oh, I am a very humble person. I am Ignatius Morat, of the Society of
Jesus, and as to the people who have used me a little roughly, why, if
you are sent upon the Iroquois mission, of course you know what to
expect. I have nothing at all to complain of. Why, they have used me
very much better than they did Father Jogues, Father Breboeuf, and a
good many others whom I could mention. There were times, it is true,
when I was quite hopeful of martyrdom, especially when they thought my
tonsure was too small, which was their merry way of putting it. But I
suppose I was not worthy of it; indeed I know that I was not, so it only
ended in just a little roughness."

"Where are you going then?" asked Amos, who had listened in amazement to
the man's words.

"I am going to Quebec. You see I am such a useless person that, until I
have seen the bishop, I can really do no good at all."

"You mean that you will resign your mission into the bishop's hands?"
said De Catinat.

"Oh, no. That would be quite the sort of thing which I should do if I
were left to myself, for it is incredible how cowardly I am. You would
not think it possible that a priest of God could be so frightened as I
am sometimes. The mere sight of a fire makes me shrink all into myself
ever since I went through the ordeal of the lighted pine splinters,
which have left all these ugly stains upon my face. But then, of
course, there is the Order to be thought of, and members of the Order do
not leave their posts for trifling causes. But it is against the rules
of Holy Church that a maimed man should perform the rites, and so, until
I have seen the bishop and had his dispensation, I shall be even more
useless than ever."

"And what will you do then?"

"Oh, then, of course, I will go back to my flock."

"To the Iroquois!"

"That is where I am stationed."

"Amos," said De Catinat, "I have spent my life among brave men, but I
think that this is the bravest man that I have ever met!"

"On