"
Gabriel attempted to kneel and kiss his hand but Father Paul
stopped him, and said, pointing to the cross: "Kneel to that--not
to me; not to your fellow-mortal, and your friend--for I will be
your friend, Gabriel; believing that God's mercy has ordered it
so. And now listen to me," he proceeded, with a brotherly
tenderness in his manner which went to Gabriel's heart. "The
service is nearly ended. What I have to tell you must be told at
once; the errand on which you will guide me must be performed
before to-morrow dawns. Sit here near me, and attend to what I
now say!"
Gabriel obeyed; Father Paul then proceeded thus:
"I believe the confession made to you by your grandfather to have
been true in every particular. On the evening to which he
referred you, I approached your cottage, as he said, for the
purpose of asking shelter for the night. At that period I had
been studying hard to qualify myself for the holy calling which I
now pursue; and, on the completion of my studies, had indulged in
the recreation of a tour on foot through Brittany, by way of
innocently and agreeably occupying the leisure time then at my
disposal, before I entered the priesthood. When I accosted your
father I had lost my way, had been walking for many hours, and
was glad of any rest that I could get for the night. It is
unnecessary to pain you now, by reference to the events which
followed my entrance under your father's roof.
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