his
feet with a low growl, letting the heads of Jan and Marie down upon the
floor with a sudden bump. For an instant the awakened children could
not remember where they were or what had happened to them. They sat up
and rubbed their heads, but the habit of fear was already so strong
upon them that they made no sound and instantly quieted Fidel. Again
the door creaked, and through it there appeared a tall figure dressed
in priestly robes. The children were so near that had they thrust their
hands through the railing of the communion bank behind which they were
concealed, they might have touched him as he passed before the altar of
the Virgin and presented himself in front of the high altar to conduct
the mass. His head, as he passed them, was bowed. His face was pale and
thin, and marked with lines of deep sorrow.

"Oh," whispered Marie to Jan, "it must be the Cardinal himself. Mother
told me about him."

The whisper made such a loud sound in the silence of the great
cathedral aisles that Jan was afraid to reply. For answer he only laid
his finger upon his lips and crept still farther back into the shadow.
Fidel seemed to know that dogs were not allowed in church and that it
was necessary for him to be quiet, too, for he crawled back with the
children into the sheltering darkness.

There were only a few persons in the cathedral, and those few were near
the door; so no one saw the children as they knelt with folded hands
and bowed heads in their corner, reverently following the service as
the Cardinal ate the sacred wafer and drank the communion wine before
the altar. Later they were to know his face as the bravest and best
beloved in all Belgium next to those of the King and Queen themselves.

When again he passed the kneeling little figures on his return to the
sacristy, their lonely hearts so ached for care and protection, and his
face looked so kind and pitiful, that they almost dared to make their
presence known and to ask for the help they sorely needed. Marie,
bolder than Jan, half rose as he passed, but Jan pulled her back, and
in another instant the door had closed behind him and he was gone.

"Oh," sobbed Marie under her breath, "he looked so kind! He might have
helped us. Why did you pull me back?"

"How could we let him see Fidel, and tell him that our dog had slept
all night before the altar?" answered Jan. "I shouldn't dare! He is a
great Prince of the Church!"

The sound of scraping chairs told the