_" (Bless me, father, for
I have sinned.)
He gave his blessing.
"Ainsi soit-il--Amen," murmured the penitent, and then, in the soft
accents of the Creole _patois_, continued:
"'I confess to Almighty God, to the blessed Mary, ever Virgin, to
blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy
Apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the saints, that I have sinned
exceedingly in thought, word, and deed, _through my fault, through my
fault, through my most grievous fault._' I confessed on Saturday, three
weeks ago, and received absolution, and I have performed the penance
enjoined. Since then"--There she stopped.
There was a soft stir, as if she sank slowly down, and another as if she
rose up again, and in a moment she said:
"Olive _is_ my child. The picture I showed to Jean Thompson is the
half-sister of my daughter's father, dead before my child was born. She
is the image of her and of him; but, O God! Thou knowest! Oh, Olive, my
own daughter!"
She ceased, and was still. Pere Jerome waited, but no sound came.
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