child and to Farrabesche, now
that he was free. She also told her old friend of her discovery about
the torrent of the Gabou, and urged him to select an able engineer, such
as she had already asked him to procure for her.

The next day was Sunday, and for the first time since her installation
at Montegnac Veronique felt able to hear mass in church; she accordingly
went there and took possession of the bench that belonged to her in
the chapel of the Virgin. Seeing how denuded the poor church was, she
resolved to devote a certain sum yearly to the needs of the building
and the decoration of the altars. She listened to the sweet, impressive,
angelic voice of the rector, whose sermon, though couched in simple
language suited to the rustic intellects before him, was sublime in
character. Sublimity comes from the heart, intellect has little to do
with it; religion is a quenchless source of this sublimity which has no
dross; for Catholicism entering and changing all hearts, is itself all
heart. Monsieur Bonnet took his text from the epistle for the day,
which signified that, sooner or later, God accomplishes all promises,
assisting His faithful ones, encouraging the righteous. He made plain
to every mind the great things which might be accomplished by wealth
judiciously used for the good of others,--explaining that the duties of
the poor to the rich were as widely extended as those of the rich to the
poor, and that the aid and assistance given should be mutual.

Farrabesche had made known to a few of those who treated him in a
friendly manner (the result of the Christian charity which Monsieur
Bonnet had put in practice among his parishioners) the benevolent acts
Madame Graslin had done for him. Her conduct in this matter had been
talked over by all the little groups of persons assembled round the
church door before the service, as is the custom in country places.
Nothing could have been better calculated to win the friendship and
good-will of these eminently susceptible minds; so that when Veronique
left the church after service she found nearly all the inhabitants of
the parish formed in two hedges through which she was expected to pass.
One and all they bowed respectfully in profound silence. She was deeply
touched by this reception, without knowing the actual cause of it.
Seeing Farrabesche humbly stationed among the last, she stopped and said
to him:--

"You are a good hunter; do not forget to supply me with game."

A