of our faith, which is the only faith which can save. And
I'm to pray for my dear parents, and especially for my dear father,
that his soul and his hands may again become clean, so that he can
leave Purgatory and go to the dear angels above. Oh, father, dear
father," she cried, in a terrified voice, putting her curly head down
on his shoulder as he sat next to her, "how awful it would be if you
were to be lost for ever!"

"_Psia krew!_" So far Mr. Tiralla had not said a word, but now he
started up from his seat and banged the table with his fist. "Stop that
twaddle!" He [Pg 125] raised his hand as though he were going to box
the child's ears. She shrank back and grew deadly pale.

"But, Mr. Tiralla!" exclaimed the schoolmaster, seizing hold of his
arm, "it's wonderful, perfectly wonderful!"

Mrs. Tiralla made the sign of the cross as she cried, "Holy Mother!
What a sin he's committing! May God not lay it to our charge."

"Hold your tongue," shouted her husband furiously. "You're making the
girl quite crazy. And I'll not have her made crazy. Holy Virgin--Grey
Sisters--Ladies of the Sacred Heart--all twaddle. She's to sleep when
she goes to bed and not invent such nonsense. After to-day her bed is
to be brought down into my room. Then I'll see if the Holy Virgin will
come to her again. I feel certain she won't."

"That wouldn't be at all suitable," said Mrs. Tiralla in an icy tone.
"Rosa is already a big girl."

"Tut, tut! Whether it's suitable or not, it'll be better for her to see
what a man is like than to have her head turned with such unnatural
stuff." He cast a suspicious glance at his wife.

Mrs. Tiralla grew frightened. If there were any talk about Rosa she
knew that her husband was quite a different man; then he was no longer
a fool, or a bear that growled a little and then let her lead him. So
she wisely said:

"Very well, as you like. Let Rosa sleep down here with you. But I tell
you, you'll not be able to scare away what is coming to her. Nobody can
scare away what is coming," she added impressively, and gazed at him
with such a strange look in her black eyes that the superstitious man
shuddered.

"Rosa is one of the chosen ones," she continued. "She sees what you'll
never see, and hears what you'll [Pg 126] never hear. Very well, let
her come down to you. Take firm hold of her hands and of her feet, too,
she'll still leave you." The woman grew more and more excited the
longer she spoke, and she gaz