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30 l liimself vanquished.
" You said well," cried the ex-officer, throwing himself on
'som of the venerable priest ; "nothing is impossible to
him -who changed a fowl into a carp, at the Hotel of the Palais
Royal at Avignon."
"And who," answered the Abb6, "will to-morrow change a
Huguenot into a Catholic."
Grace, operating on a soil prudently prepared, had worked
tho most consoling results ; in fact, since his arrival in Paris,
oci-npied only with this great affair, Ricardhad opened his eyes
to the truth, and closed them to the darkness of error ; he was
ready to enter tbe bosom of the Church.
"My friend," said the priest, on receiving his abjuration,
" to the red ribbon which ornaments your neck, you require a
cross of honor."
"Whose, father?"
" The cross of Christ ; receive it from my hands, and wear
it always in memory of me."
IV.
In the course of the many friendly conversations between
Ricard and the priest, before the desired conversion, the former
had oftea expressed a wish to see the travelling commis-
"
sioner. Your desire will be satisfied," the Abbe had said
each time. "Your old adversary is i a Paris. I know him,
and I promise you, you shall meet him again before you leave,
and shall fiuish, over a glass of wine, the combat begun at the
lie de la Bartelasse." However, days flew by, and the expected
meeting had not yet taken place. Ricard had fixed the
time of his departure for the Thursday in Easter week, when
one evening he received the following note :
" MY DEAB FRIEND :
"If you still persevere in your wish to see, before quitting
Paris, the traveller whose life you so generously spared at La
Bartelasse, come and dine with me to-morrow, at six o'clock.
"Yours ever,"
It was just striking six from the church of Saint Sulpice,
when Ricard arrived at the Abbe"s hotel. The dinner was
ready, but only one guest had arrived.
" Shall we allow him a quarter of an hour's grace ? " asked
the Abb6.
" We will give him two," answered Ricard ;
" the distances
are long in Paris, and business causes delays."
Half-past six arrived, and the expected guest had not come.
"Let us place ourselves at tab.e," sa.d the Abbf, smiling ;
" and do not look so disappointed, my dear captain. I prom-
ise you he will come."
Dinner was soo.i served. A magnificent carp, laid on a
china dish ornamented with flowers figured at the first course.
The guest thanked his entertainer for this pleasant remembrance
of the past.
"
Since I have known the history of your combat," said the
Abbe, " carp is tho fish I now like the best. I cannot help
A FORMIDABLE
considering it the mysterious apostle that Providence made use
of to prepare tho way for the saving of two souls."
"Of whose?"
" First of yours, for believe it, captain, one can never idly
trifle with grace. The day when, as Protestant, you acted the
part of a good Catholic, in giving an example of submission to
the commands of the Church; on that day our good God blessed
you, and opened your heart to the treasures of His grace, which
you enjoy to-day. "
"You spoke of another soul, whose is it ?"
"Without doubt that of the travelling commissioner ; of
him, who despising and mocking :.ll things, thought himself
permitted to insult others, because he knew by heart the songs
of Beranger on ; that day, captain, the carp you had asked for
in place of the fowl, only to satisfy the laws of a Church then
not your own, that carp has, I repeat, acted a part in the
the story of your conversion greater than you suppose. Under
the hand of God the greatest effects often arise from the
smallest causes."
" You see that my old adversary will not come," cried Ricard
; "for, if I' mistake not, we are now at the dessert."
"
Captain Ricard, look well at me, do you recognize me ?"
"
Yes, for an excellent and worthy priest, whom I esteem and
love with all my heart."
"And on whom you wish to be revenged, captain.
This is
why ; the adversary whom I promised you should meet today,
is at this moment before you, glass in hand, to ask your
pardon "
" How ! you are
"
"The irreligious and insolent traveller, to whom Captain
Rieard, a Protestant, gave a lesson of tolerance and politeness.
"
Saying thus, the good Abbe" threw himself into the captain's
arms, who imagined he was the victim of some strange hallucination.
"
" Yes ! it is I, looi at me well," said the Abbe, and he re-
lated, as briefly as possible, the scene we have read in the first
part of this story. At the request of the astonished captuin, I.e
completed his recital by explaining his conversion, which, from
public conveyances and the high roads, had brought him to a
seminary, and from a seminary to the sacred pulpit. "Since
that day," said "
he, I do not diue at three francs at the table
d'h6te, but I teach men of faith and good- will the consoling
truths of our holy religion. In a word, I find myself a hu -
dred times happier, since the hymns of the Church have made
me forget the songs of Beranger. "
The two converts, forgetful of time, chatted in the most
friendly manner until near midnight ; the captain was the
first to rise and take leave of the priest, whom he never saw
again in this world. That zealous preacher departed six
months after for the missions of the Levant. Captaiu Ricard
is still living he has retired from ;
business, and resides in the
country, in the possession of u moderate fortune, and iu the
bosom of an affectionate family, He never fails on days of
abstinence to have a carp at his table.
An Incident of Sailor Life.
French fleet left Toulon on the 16th of
June, 1009, commanded by a prince of the blood, the
Duke de Beaufort, to deliver Candia, which was besieged by
the Turks. He had with him a C puchin, Father Zephyrin.
The fleet, favored by beautiful weather, for tome time slowly
advanced. The admiral-ship, Le Monarque, preceded by a
stmill briganti.^e, which served as a guide, was at the head,
ben . ing with pride the banner of the Sovereign Pontiff. With
option of a north-west squall, which snapped the top-
>f the Syrian when they were off the islands of Hyere.?,
iu/e bid f^ir tu ba most favorable.
The fleet had just left Cerigo anciently called Cythera, to
its left, and had doubled Cape Carobuca, which is the most
easterly point of the island of Candia, when one morning the
watch said that a signal from the Therese had been given
announcing that a priest was wanted for a sailor who was seri-
ously ill. Pere Zephyrin knowing this, went immediately to
the captain of the admiral's vessel, and asked him to give
orders so as to enable him to fulfil the duties of his ministry.
"What you ask, father," said the captain, "is quite im-
"
possible !
"As things are, those words are neither French nor Chris-