e district, and much of his leisure was spent at the
abbe's house. Jean tried to console him by saying that even though this
American, Madame Scott, were not a Catholic, she was known to be
generous, and would no doubt give him money for the poor.

_II.--The New Parishioners_

The abbe and his godson were in the garden next day, when they heard a
carriage stop at the gate. Two ladies alighted, dressed in simple
travelling costumes. They came into the garden, and the elder of the
two, who seemed to be no more than twenty-five, came up to the Abbe
Constantin saying, with only the slightest foreign accent, "I am obliged
to introduce myself, M. le Cure. I am Madame Scott, in whose name
yesterday the castle and estate were bought, and if it is no
inconvenience I should be glad to take five minutes of your time." Then,
turning to her companion, she said, "This is my sister, Miss Bettina
Percival, as you may have guessed."

Greatly agitated, the abbe bowed his respects, and led into his little
vicarage the new mistress of Longueval and her sister. The cloth had
been laid for the simple meal of the old priest and the lieutenant, and
the ladies seemed charmed with the humble comfort of the place.

"Look now, Susie," said Miss Bettina, "isn't this just the sort of
vicarage you hoped it would be?"

"And the abbe also, if he will allow me to say so," said Madame Scott.
"For what did I say in the train this morning, Bettina, and only a
little while ago in the carriage?"

"My sister said to me, M. le Cure," said Miss Percival, "that she
desired, above all things, that the abbe should not be young, nor
melancholy, nor severe, but that he should be white-haired and gentle
and good."

"And that is you exactly, M. le Cure," said Madame Scott brightly. "I
find you just as I had hoped, and I trust you may be as well pleased
with your new parishioners."

"Parishioners!" exclaimed the abbe. "But then you are Catholics?"

"Certainly we are Catholics!" And noting the surprise of the old abbe,
she went on to say, "Ah, I understand! Our name and our country made you
expect we should be Protestants and unfriendly to you and your people.
But our mother was a Canadian and a Catholic, of French origin, and that
is why my sister and I speak French with just a little foreign accent.
My husband is a Protestant, but he leaves me full liberty, and so my two
children are being educated in my own faith. And that is why we have
come to see yo