envelope, a servant opened the door communicating with the hall, and
announced:

"Mr. Arthur Penrose."



CHAPTER II.

THE JESUITS.

FATHER BENWELL rose, and welcomed the visitor with his paternal smile.
"I am heartily glad to see you," he said--and held out his hand with a
becoming mixture of dignity and cordiality. Penrose lifted the offered
hand respectfully to his lips. As one of the "Provincials" of the Order,
Father Benwell occupied a high place among the English Jesuits. He was
accustomed to acts of homage offered by his younger brethren to their
spiritual chief. "I fear you are not well," he proceeded gently. "Your
hand is feverish, Arthur."

"Thank you, Father--I am as well as usual."

"Depression of spirits, perhaps?" Father Benwell persisted.

Penrose admitted it with a passing smile. "My spirits are never very
lively," he said.

Father Benwell shook his head in gentle disapproval of a depressed
state of spirits in a young man. "This must be corrected," he remarked.
"Cultivate cheerfulness, Arthur. I am myself, thank God, a naturally