in, in fact,' broke in Gorman.

'You must admit they understand wine to perfection, though I would humbly
hope, young gentleman,' said the Father modestly, 'to engage your good
opinion of them on higher grounds.'

'Give yourself no trouble in the matter, Father Luke,' broke in Miss Betty.
'Gorman's Austrian lessons have placed him beyond _your_ teaching.'

'My dear aunt, you are giving the Imperial Government a credit it never
deserved. They taught me as a cadet to groom my horse and pipeclay my
uniform, to be respectful to my corporal, and to keep my thumb on the seam
of my trousers when the captain's eye was on me; but as to what passed
inside my mind, if I had a mind at all, or what I thought of Pope, Kaiser,
or Cardinal, they no more cared to know it than the name of my sweetheart.'

'What a blessing to that benighted country would be one liberal statesman!'
exclaimed Miller: 'one man of the mind and capacity of our present
Premier!'

'Heaven forbid!' cried Gorman. 'We have confusion enough, without the
reflection of being governed by what you call here "healing measures."'

'I should like to discuss that point with you,' said Miller.

'Not now, I beg,' interposed Miss O'Shea. 'Gorman, will you decant another
bottle?'

'I believe I ought to protest against more wine,' said the priest, in his
most insinuating voice; 'but there are occasions where the yielding to
temptation conveys a moral lesson.'

'I suspect that I cultivate my nature a good deal in that fashion,' said
Gorman, as he opened a fresh bottle.

'This is perfectly delicious,' said Miller, as he sipped his glass; 'and if
I could venture to presume so far, I would ask leave to propose a toast.'

'You have my permission, sir,' said Miss Betty, with stateliness.

'I drink, then,' said he reverently, 'I drink to the long life, the good
health, and the unbroken courage of the Holy Father.'

There was something peculiarly sly in the twinkle of the priest's black eye
as he filled his bumper, and a twitching motion of the corner of his mouth
continued even as he said, 'To the Pope.'

'The Pope,' said Gorman as he eyed his wine--

'"Der Papst lebt herrlich in der Welt."'

'What are you muttering there?' asked his aunt fiercely.

'The line of an old song, aunt, that tells us how his Holiness has a jolly
time of it.'

'I fear me it must have been written in other days,' said Father Luke.

'There is no intention to desert or abandon him, I assur