mouth went up, and a succession of sniffs indicated that he was
laughing.

"That may be rather severe," he conceded, "but I may say that, for my
part, I consider that Catholics have a sufficiency of pleasing society
within their own communion, without striving to go beyond it!"

Father Greer paused, looked round the table as if to receive the
general assent, and put his sharp nose into the tumbler of brown
whisky and water, to whose replenishing the Doctor had not failed to
attend.

A rather stricken silence followed. Mrs. Mangan's large and handsome
brown eyes turned guiltily to her husband, and moved on from his face
to one of the many trophies of the Mount Music Sale, a Protestant
chair back, now flaunting itself on a Catholic chair, under the very
eyes of the Parish Priest!

Barty glowered at his plate; Tishy, who had not enjoyed herself at the
Sale, felt, in consequence, that she was now justified in doing so at
the expense of her family, and held up her head, and looked at her
father. It was plain to see that the elephant had felt the prick of
the Mahout's _ankus_. The Big Doctor's face was perturbed. Tishy
saw him look at the little priest's glass, and knew that he wished it
were empty, in order that he might pour into it a propitiatory
oblation. He cleared his throat once or twice before he spoke.

"Very true, Father, very true. I used to think the same thing in
England. The chaps I used to meet there--no one would know what
religion they belong to, no more than if they were heathens. That