"Then has he who demands my hand from you brought with him the written consent of his father to his marriage with me?"
"He has no father; he is an orphan."
"You said just now that the smallest lie was a greater sin than the greatest crime honestly confessed. And I say that he, my suitor, has lied. He has a father who is a rich man of high degree."
"Who told you so?"
"The dragon and the balloon. He boasted of it to a friend, and the heavenly posts have brought me tidings thereof."
Now, indeed, the reverend gentleman was as fairly caught as ever the devil was by a witch's foot. To this reply there was absolutely no rejoinder.
"I'll take him to task for it to-morrow," said he, "and meantime I postpone the inquiry. After it is over, however, I shall require the name of this rascally seducer. And now, my daughter Michal, proceed to your chamber and consider yourself in arrest there for the next four and twenty hours."
And thus ended the festive day on which Henry Catsrider was ordained a priest.