At sunrise the following morning, the Bishop was walking
as usual in his little garden, when Madame Magloire
came hurrying toward him in the greatest excitement. 25
"Monseigneur," she exclaimed, "all our table silver is
stolen and the man is gone."
Just then, glancing at the corner of the garden, she saw
that the coping of the wall had been broken away.
"Look at the wall! He must have climbed over into the 30
lane! And all our silver stolen! What a crime!"
After a moment's silence, the Bishop said earnestly to
Madame Magloire,
"As a matter of fact, was the silver really ours?"
The old housekeeper stood speechless. The Bishop
continued, 5
"It was wrong of me to keep that silver; it belonged
rightfully to the poor. And that man was a poor man,
surely."
"Oh, Monseigneur!" murmured Madame Magloire,
"neither Mademoiselle your sister, nor I, care about the 10
silver. It was only for you. What will Monseigneur eat
with now?"