The prelate turned round, covered with confusion, and saw a man in uniform saluting him deferentially.
"Ah! captain," slipped in the priest. "So we're crossing with you, are we?"
"That's it, father. The Michael line's running this week."
"It's a wonderful thing to me——" began Monsignor, but a sharp pressure on his arm checked him—"how you keep the whole organization going," he ended lamely.
The captain smiled.
"It's pretty straightforward," he said. "The Michael line runs the first week of every month; the Gabriel the second, and so on."
"Then——"
"Yes," put in Father Jervis. "Whose idea was it to dedicate the lines to the archangels? I forget."
"Ah! that's ancient history to me, father. . . . Excuse me, Monsignor; I think I hear my bell." he wheeled, saluting again, and was off.
"Do you mean—-?" began Monsignor.