"Beaten your father or mother?"
"No, madame:—My crime is that I have instigated the youth against their superiors."
"What superiors? Against the magistrate?"
"Even superior to the magistrate."
"Perhaps against the priest. Well, Topándy will be delighted. He is a great fool in this matter."
The woman uttered these words laughingly; then suddenly a dark shadow crossed her face. With wandering glance she stepped up to the young man, and, putting her hand gently on his arm, asked him in a whisper:
"Do you know how to pray?"
Lorand looked at her, aghast.
"To pray from a book—could you teach some one to pray from a book? Would it require a long time?"
Lorand looked with ever-increasing wonder at the questioner.