CHAPTER V.

"A parish priest was of the pilgrim train;
An awful reverend and religious man.
His eyes diffused a venerable grace,
And charity itself was in his face.
Rich was his soul, though his attire was poor
(As God hath clothed his own ambassador),
For such, on earth, his bless'd Redeemer bore."

Dryden.


Réné Bois-le-Duc, curé of Father Point, had just come home, and was
preparing to take his ease after a hard day's toil, anticipating the
arrival of the pilgrims, who were about to visit the church of the Good
St. Anne.

The curé was a man of some sixty years of age, though looking older, for
his had been a hard and toilsome life. Though secluded from the busy
world, he had had heavy responsibilities forced upon him, and there was
no one of his own class and education in these parts to cheer and
sympathize with him in his rare moments of leisure.

Belonging to one of the oldest families in Brittany, Réné Bois-le-Duc
had, in spite of the strong attractions of worldly society, early