"Must one not act as he believes?"
"But, sir," said the dear girl, painfully, still regarding him with great wonder, "on studying true doctrine, the saints will make you believe; the priest can baptize you. He will be delighted, I am certain, to save a soul from destruction." She could not restrain the flow of a tear.
"My child," Chrysler said, for he saw that curiosity had led him too far: "Leave this to God, who is greater than you or I and knows every heart."
"Monsieur, then, believes in God!" Her present astonishment was equal to that before.
The rising voices of the children relieved him. That of Elisâ, who sat in a ring of the rest, nodding her head decidedly and rhythmically, was conspicuous:
"I am going to join the Sisterhood of the Holy Rosary and go to church early, early, often, often, four times a day, and pray, pray, and say my paters and my aves, and gain my indulgences, and be more devout than Sister Jesus of God; and then I am going to take the novitiate and wear a beautiful white veil and fast every day, and at last—at last—I am going to be a Religieuse."
"What name will you take, Elisâ?"
"I have decided," the little convent girl responded, "to take the name of 'Sister St. Joseph of the Cradle.'"
"Mais, that is pretty, that! But I prefer 'St. Mary of the Saviour.'"
"What are you going to be?" Elisâ asked of the smaller girl.