This was the first time he had
seen her since her unhappy marriage, five years before. Recovering
himself, he asked her, coldly, why she was there. With sobs she told him
she had a small box which she would leave in the confessional for him.
On his asking what was in it, and what she wished him to do with it, she
said it was a small sum of money which he must take with him on his
journey, and always keep by him, and if, at any time, or when old age
overtook him, he were in want, to use it. "You are going far away," she
said. "I shall never see you, may never hear of you, again. I know a
priest's life is one of toil and hardship, especially in the new land,
and his salary very small. It is my own, Jos??," she implored, "do not
refuse me. Take it, and think kindly of me, if you can." Touched by her
thought, he promised, and should he never need to use it, he would leave
it to the Church. Then, as she bowed her head, in broken accents, he
called down Heaven's richest blessing on his loved one. Weeping
bitterly, Dolores arose and left the confessional.
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