“But I assure you,” repeated Pierre, “that he is over there behind the window-pane. There is a white figure looking this way.”
Narcisse, who was very hungry, began to eat whilst still indulging in banter. All at once, however, he exclaimed: “Well, my dear Abbe, as the Pope is looking at us, this is the moment to speak of him. I promised to tell you how he sunk several millions of St. Peter’s Patrimony in the frightful financial crisis of which you have just seen the ruins; and, indeed, your visit to the new district of the castle fields would not be complete without this story by way of appendix.”
Thereupon, without losing a mouthful, Narcisse spoke at considerable length. At the death of Pius IX the Patrimony of St. Peter, it seemed, had exceeded twenty millions of francs. Cardinal Anto
