d almost transparent by fasting.

"And then its windows are matchless, superior even to those of Bourges,
where, again, the sanctuary blossoms with glorious clumps of holy
persons. And finally, the sculpture of the west front, the Royal Portal,
is the most beautiful, the most superterrestrial statuary ever wrought
by the hand of man.

"And it is almost unique in having none of the woeful and threatening
solemnity of its noble sisters. Scarce a demon is to be seen watching
and grinning on its walls to torture souls; in a few small figures it
shows indeed the variety of penance, but that is all; and within, the
Virgin is above all else the Mother of Bethlehem. Jesus, too, is more or
less Her Child; He yields to Her when she entreats Him.

"It proclaims the plenitude of Her patience and charity by the length of
the crypt and the breadth of the nave, which are greater than those of
other churches.

"In fact, it is the mystical cathedral--that where the Madonna is most
graciously ready to receive the sinner.

"Now," said Durtal, looking at his watch, "the Abbe Gevresin must have
finished his breakfast. It is time to take leave of him before joining
the Abbe Plomb at the station."

He crossed the forecourt of the palace and rang at the priest's door.

"So you are sure you are going!" said Madame Bavoil, who opened the
door, and admitted him to her master.

"Well, yes--"

"I envy you," sighed the Abbe, "for you will be present at wonderful
services and hear admirable music."

"I hope so. And if only that could relieve the tension, could release me
a little from this incoherent frame of mind in which I wander, and allow
me to feel at home once more in my own soul and not in a strange place
open to all the winds!--"

"Ah, your soul wants locks and latches," said Madame Bavoil, laughing.

"It is a public mart where every distraction meets to chatter. I am
constantly driven out, and when I want to go home again they are in
possession."

"Oh, I quite understand that. You know the proverb, 'Who goes hunting
loses his seat by the hearth.'"

"That is all very well to say, but--"

"But, our friend, the Lord foresaw your case, when, with reference to
such distractions which flutter about the soul like this, He replied to
the Venerable Jeanne de Matel, who complained of such annoyances, that
she should imitate the hunter, who, when he misses the big game he is
seeking, seizes the smaller prey he may find."

"Ay, but