sh:

"My dearest one, pray to God and Our Lady to bless your poor Dolores."

Father Zalvidea read the paper, then kissing it passionately, fell on
his knees, and, with trembling voice, offered up his petitions to Christ
for a blessing on the loved one in the far away land.

This box contained the romance of Father Zalvidea's life. Years before,
when a young man, and ere he had had any thought of becoming a priest,
he had been enamored of a beautiful Andalusian maiden, who returned his
love. But Dolores's father was rich, and looked with disfavor upon poor
Jose Zalvidea, and at length forced his daughter to marry a suitor he
had chosen for her--a man three times her age, but with a fortune equal
to that which was to be hers at her father's death; for she was his
only child. Jose, heart-broken, entered a seminary to study for the
priesthood, and gave himself up to his new work, striving to drown his
sorrow. A few years later, he was selected to make one of a number of
young priests to go to Mexico. The last time he had heard confessions
in the parish church, a woman, heavily veiled, entered the confessional,
and, in a whisper, interrupted by sobs, asked for his blessing. At her
first word he recognized Dolores's voice, and with a smothered cry, fell
back, almost unconscious, in his seat. This was the first time he had
seen her since her unhappy marriage, five years before. Recovering
himself, he asked her, coldly, why she was there. With sobs she told him
she had a small box which she would leave in the confessional for him.
On his asking what was in it, and what she wished him to do with it,
she said it was a small sum of money which he must take with him on his
journey, and always keep by him, and if, at any time, or when old age
overtook him, he were in want, to use it. "You are going far away," she
said. "I shall never see you, may never hear of you, again. I know a
priest's life is one of toil and hardship, especially in the new land,
and his salary very small. It is my own, Jose," she implored, "do not
refuse me. Take it, and think kindly of me, if you can." Touched by her
thought, he promised, and should he never need to use it, he would leave
it to the Church. Then, as she bowed her head, in broken accents,
he called down Heaven's richest blessing on his loved one. Weeping
bitterly, Dolores arose and left the confessional. As soon as he had
recovered from his agitation, Jose left his seat, and entering the side