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such things might be beyond our knowledge. ‘She’s in very
good health; that’s the best thing.’
‘Yes, she looks sound.’ And the young girl’s father
watched her a moment. ‘What do you see in the garden?’ he
asked in French.
‘I see many flowers,’ she replied in a sweet, small voice
and with an accent as good as his own.
‘Yes, but not many good ones. However, such as they are,
go out and gather some for ces dames.’
The child turned to him with her smile heightened by
pleasure. ‘May I truly?’
‘Ah, when I tell you,’ said her father.
The girl glanced at the elder of the nuns. ‘May I, truly,
ma mere?’
‘Obey monsieur your father, my child,’ said the sister,
blushing again.
The child, satisfied with this authorization, descend-
ed from the threshold and was presently lost to sight. ‘You
don’t spoil them,’ said her father gaily.
‘For everything they must ask leave. That’s our system.
Leave is freely granted, but they must ask it.’
‘Oh, I don’t quarrel with your system; I’ve no doubt it’s
excellent. I sent you my daughter to see what you’d make of
her. I had faith.’
‘One must have faith,’ the sister blandly rejoined, gazing
through her spectacles.
‘Well, has my faith been rewarded? What have you made
of her?’
The sister dropped her eyes a moment. ‘A good Chris-

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